Wheeling, W. Va. – It was a special night inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center on Friday night as the Wheeling Volleyball team (8-8, 4-0) hosted Salem on Friday. The Cardinals celebrated Down Syndrome Awareness Day with special guest Kai Schoolcraft as the team's honorary captain. The Cardinals would come through on their home floor, sweeping the Tigers 3-0.
Kai Schoolcraft is the son of Wheeling University head athletic trainer Christy Schoolcraft It was on hand as the honorary Captain for the night after the national anthem was sung and the lineups were announced, Kai would have the honor of delivering the match ball to the head official for the game. He came out to thunderous supplies from the Alma Grace McDonough Center crowd as they celebrated him on the night. In addition to Down Syndrome Awareness night, it was also Kai's birthday and there was one more special surprise in store. Between the 2nd and third sets of the night, the crowd came together to sing Kai happy birthday as he turned six years old today. It was a special night for the young Cardinal fan, and Wheeling would continue to honor him with strong play on the court and down the bench.
The Tigers were looking to spoil the fun in set one, getting out to a 4-1 lead over the first five points of the night. An attack error would turn things around for the Cardinals, and back-to-back kills by Camryn Matus would send the team on a run. They would score nine of the next 10 points as they flip the scoreboard, making it a 10-5 match. Matus And Aleithia Wilson would each get two kills on the Run as the Cardinals started to get momentum on their side. It was the start of a big set for Wilson, who knocked down four of her six kills in the set and helped the Cardinals build a 13-6 advantage. However, Salem would hang around in the game getting as close as 13-10 for the Cardinals went on another run to seal the deal. This time, it was fueled by three kills from Bella DeBarr As she helped send the team on a 7-2 run to make it a 22-13 set. The Tigers would stay alive, scoring or if the final seven points, but it would be a service error that gave Wheeling The 25-17 set one win and a 1-0 lead in the match.
The 4-1 lead that Salem had to start set one would be their biggest lead of the night, and in set two it would be the Cardinals that got things going. Wheeling would get out to a 6-1 advantage as they started to go more to their bench. Ema Manser Picked up her first kill of the night, and Matus would add Two more as the Cardinals got out in front early Salem would battle back to get within two points of the Cardinals before a short 5-0 run created separation again. Josie Schroeder would get her career day started on the court with her first kill, and the Cardinals lead was pushed to 13-6. While it was Wilson stepping up in the first set, the second set would see Schroeder take the spotlight, knocking down four of her seven kills in the set. One of those kills would push the score to 21-11, and Autumn King would make it a 22-12 affair. Salem would Answer with Three straight points, but the Cardinals would take advantage of a few Salem errors and would go on to win the set 25- 15 and take a 2-0 lead on the night.
As the final set came along, Head Coach Christy Benner continued to turn to her bench with more and more players making an impact. The Cardinals once again jumped out to an early lead, scoring the first three points of the set, and the third point was knocked down on a kill by Avery Henschen. The final set would be dominated by Henschen, who knocked down six of her seven kills over the final 25 Cardinal points of the night. She would help the Cardinals build a 6-2 lead and, despite Salem battling back to within 6-5, the Cardinals would never relinquish that lead. Schoeder would continue her big night, knocking down two kills along the way, and Cassidey Wiley would add her first kill of the night along the way. As the set came down to its final points, King would make it match point with a kill, before back-to-back service errors would end the night as the Cardinals got the 25-15 set three win and the sweep of the match.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was Bella DeBarr, who finished with double digit kills for the third match in a row. She knocked down 10 kills on 20 total attacks, hitting .214, while adding seven digs on the Cardinal back line. She was one of 11 Cardinals to pick up at least one kill on the day, with two of those being career-high efforts from Josie Schroder and Avery Henschen. Lexi Duplessis led the passing game, finishing with 27 assists, while Faith Keifer added 17 assists to round out the offense. Kendall Kupper would lead the back line, finishing with 18 digs on the day, while Mara McDougal added 10 to round out the night.
The Wheeling University Volleyball team returns to action on Saturday, October 11th, when they hit the road to face Ohio Dominican with tip-off at 4 PM.
