Wheeling, W. Va. - It was a slow start for the Cardinals offense on Friday afternoon, but they got the job done on day two of the Wheeling Invitational. After dropping the first set, the Wheeling University Volleyball team (5-6, 0-0) took the final three sets of the night to beat Shippensburg 3-1. As a whole, the Cardinals hit .329 throughout the match and had two players finish with 15+ kills as they moved to 2-0 on the week.
After dropping their first match of the day to Fairmont State, Shippensburg came out with a purpose in set one. They would score the first nine points of the set and took a 9-0 lead forcing a Cardinal timeout during the run. Riley Kindall would knock down the first kill of the night to get the Cardinals on the board as they slowly started to battle back in the set. They went on runs of 8-3 and 10-4 during the set to get as close as 22-19. However, the early deficit was too much for the Cardinals to overcome as they fell 25-22 and Shippensburg led 1-0 in the match. As the team's switched benches, Head Coach Christy Benner and Assistant Coach Matt Benner would look to get the women going and their message worked.
Wheeling came out in the match's second set with an attack error by the Raiders, as they scored eight of the first 10 points. Sophomore Katie Wilking had four of her 15 kills during the set and the Cardinals were out to an 8-2 lead. Wilking would continue swinging throughout the set and was joined by Riley Kindall and Lainey Simmons as the Cardinals built an 11-5 lead after 16 points. Shippensburg slowly worked their way back into the match, making it a 12-9 affair before Samantha Comer put the run to a stop. It would start a 9-4 run for the Cardinals as they extended their lead 21-14. The end of the set was in sight as the Cardinals led 23-17 before Karly Niesen set up set point with a kill. A Raiders attack error would end the set and the Cardinals were able to tie things up at 1-1.
In set three, the Cardinals would once again score the first point on an attack error, but the two teams went back and forth with Shippensburg holding a slight 4-3 lead. A service error would get the ball back in the Cardinal's hands and Riley Kindall would smack down a kill to start the run. The Cardinals would score five straight points and 13 of the next 14 points as they built a 16-5 advantage. Wilking and Kindall both played big during the run, with two kills each and the Cardinals put together their best showing of the night They would hold that lead late into the set, sitting atop 22-16, before a service error gave the ball back to Wheeling. Kindall would earn a kill to set up set point and an attack error would end the set at 25-16 and give the Cardinals their first lead of the match at 2-1.
As they did in set two, The Cardinals came out swinging once again in set four as Karly Niesen got things started with a kill and the Cardinals would go on to score the first five points of the set. An attack error would only momentarily derail the Cardinal's offensive push as they went right back on to extend their lead to 8-2. However, Shippensburg battled back to tie the set at 11-11 before Samantha Comer knocked down a kill to get Wheeling back in the lead as they went on an 8-4 run that put them in front 20-15. Shippensburg would pull back to within two on a kill by Kylie Snyder, but a Kindall kill made it 23-20. A service ace from Berit Jones brough up match point and after a Shippensburg kill by Hailey Cappleman, Kindall ended the night with a kill as Wheeling won 25-21 and took the match 3-1.
Leading the way for Cardinals was Riley Kindall, who led the way with 20 kills on 53 total attacks for a .321 hitting percentage. She continues to creep closer to the 1,000 career kill mark, needing just 28 to reach the mark as she heads into day two of the tournament. Katie Wilking also had another big day, finishing with 15 kills and a .600 hitting percentage on the day. Karly Niesen led the passing game, with the Cardinals hitting .329 as a team, as she picked up 48 assists and had a season-high eight kills in the effort. On the defensive side, Kindall also led the way picking up 16 digs to earn her fourth double-double of the season. Finishing right behind her was freshman Olivia Batch, who picked up a career-best 17 digs on the night to wrap up the defense.
The Wheeling University Volleyball team returns to action on day three of the Wheeling Invitational on Saturday, September 21st, when they face Slippery Rock at 11 AM and Clarion at 7 PM.
