Wheeling, W. Va. – As 2024 Homecoming & Family weekend rolls on, the festivities move inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center. The Wheeling University Volleyball team (7-6, 0-0) opens their Mountain East Conference (MEC) schedule on Friday night when they host West Virginia State with tip-off at 7 PM. The top two teams from their respective divisions square off in the conference opener as the road to the MEC Tournament begins.

The Cardinals are coming off a big weekend of action at the 2024 Wheeling Invitational, that saw them go 4-0 against four in-region teams. The weekend began with a classic five set battle between Wheeling and Gannon. The Cardinals would take the first two sets of the match before Gannon came back with two wins in sets three and four to force the fifth set. The Cardinals would get out to a hot start and were able to hold on for the win. Wheeling would drop the opening set of their second match against Shippensburg, but got right back on track the rest of the day. They won the match against Shippensburg 3-1 to close out day two and just had two matches remaining on day three. They would handle both Slippery Rock and Clarion 3-0 to win the weekend.

Leading the way for the Cardinals was senior Riley Kindall, who earned the MEC Offensive Player of the Week award for her efforts. The six-rotation player was strong on both sides of the ball for Wheeling, finishing with a team high 76 kills and 55 dogs across the four matches. On the offensive side, Kindall would knock down the 76 kills on 190 total attacks while putting together a .308 hitting percentage. She had 20 or more kills in three of the four matches and eclipsed the 15 kill mark in all four matches. On the defensive side, Kindall would also lead the way for the Cardinals, picking up 55 digs and an average of 3.67 digs per set. She finished with a double double in all four matches and had 15+kills and 15+digs in two of the four matches.

The Cardinals also continued to have a strong showing from setter Karly Niesen. The two-time MEC Player of the Year is back for her fifth season and is once again leading the Cardinal offense. She was the other Cardinal to make the Atlantic Region Crossover All-Tournament Team after finishing with 176 assists. She is chasing down program history, needing just 657 assists to reach Andrea Thobe's program record of 5920 assists. As the team starts conference play, Niesen looks to stay strong in the middle of the Cardinals offense. Known for her offensive success, Mady Winters has been stepping up on defense this season. She has 58.0 total blocks over the first 13 matches. She is averaging 1.29 blocks per set and is a leader at the front of the net for the Cardinals.

With MEC play kicking off, it officially kicks off the run to the 2024 MEC Tournament. After opening their conference schedule in MEC South Play, the Cardinals quickly transition to MEC North play, taking on their five division opponents in their next five matches. Friday also continues a long string of home events, playing their sixth home match in this seven game stretch. The Cardinals have a heavy home schedule throughout the 2024 season and are looking to take advantage of that home schedule as they try to host the MEC Tournament for the first time since the 2019 season. It all starts with match one and the Cardinals are looking to start off strong in their opening match.

The Matchup

The Cardinals and Yellow Jackets are meeting for the 37th time in program history, with Wheeling leading the all-time series at 31-5. In 12 matches inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center, the Cardinals are 11-1 compared to an 11-3 mark in Institute, West Virginia. Recently, the two teams have been locked in a back and forth battle with the teams going back and forth in each of their last three meetings. These two teams have met in the MEC Championships each of the last two seasons and they start the conference schedule with a rematch this season.

In that 2023 MEC Volleyball Championship match, Wheeling would come out victorious 3-1 in Institute, West Virginia. Leading the way for the Cardinals was Riley Kindall, who finished with 14 kills and 17 digs on the day. Former Cardinal Tylah Yeoman's added 13 kills while Karly Niesen recorded 44 digs in the match. Melia Gorrell led the defense with 22 digs to round out the day.

The Details

Tip-off for Friday's match is scheduled for 7 PM inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center. You can watch the match live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.