Wheeling, W. Va. – The Wheeling University Volleyball team (9-11, 5-2) wrapped up their weekend against the Mountain East Conference (MEC) South Division on Saturday inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center. The Cardinals welcomed in Davis & Elkins college and got back in the win column with a straight sets sweep of Davis & Elkins 3-0. The Cardinals would get the chance to empty their bench, with 10 different players recording at least one kill, as the Cardinals got back on track to close out the weekend.
As they played through the first set, Davis & Elkins would get the early lead, picking up three of the first four points in the set. The turnaround began with a kill by Katie Wilking and the Cardinals would go off on an 11-0 run to open up the scoring. Along the way, Katie Wilking knocked down four kills while Bella DeBarr added two more as the Cardinals extended their lead to 13-4. Davis & Elkins would temporarily break the run, but the Cardinal lead was too much for the Senators to overcome. The Cardinals held a 17-7 advantage late in the set before Camryn Matus put down a kill that started another big run. This time, it was a 7-1 swing that brought up set point at 24-8. Matus would knock down three kills during the run while Aleithia Wilson had two and the Senators would keep the set alive with a kill from Melissa Oszar. However, a service error on the next point would give Wheeling a 25-9 set one win as they took a commanding 1-0 lead in the match.
Wheeling would continue their run of success into the second set, knocking down four of the first five points. After a Davis & Elkins kill stopped the run, Wilson would knock down a kill to get the ball back to Wheeling before Camryn Matus stepped into the server's box. She would knock down back-to-back service aces as part of a 5-1 run that pushed the Cardinal lead to 9-3. However, Davis & Elkins would not let the set get out of hand this time, going on a 6-0 run that tied things back up at 9-9. It would be back and forth through the Midway portion of the set until the Cardinals held a 15-13 advantage. Bella DeBarr would knock down a kill that sent the Cardinals on a short 4-0 run and they coupled that with a 4-1 run later that gave them a 23-17 lead. Davis & Elkins would score two more points in the set, before Ava Dickerson and Matus each knocked down kills to pick up a 25-19 set two win.
Despite having a 2-0 lead on their side, Wheeling would fall behind early in set three as the Senators battledto stay alive. They would get out to a 6-3 lead over the first nine points before DeBarr stopped the run. Wheeling got back to within 9-8 before an attack error got the Cardinals going. It would send them on a 5-1 run as they flipped the scoreboard and took a 13- 10 lead. They would go ahead by as much as 17-13 Midway through the set, but Davis & Elkins wouldn't go away as they fought back to make it a 19-18 score late. Wheeling would take advantage of two Senator attack errors, and after knocking down kills by DeBarr and Schroeder, set up match point at 24-19. Davis & Elkins's Kelsey Vanjo would pick up a kill to keep the set alive, before Emma Manser closed things out to give Wheeling a 25-20 set win and a 3-0 sweep of the match.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was Bella DeBarr, who knocked down 12 kills on the day. She has stepped up for the Cardinals due to injury as of late, and finished just three kills shy of her career-high while hitting .450 in the match. She was the only Cardinal to reach double-digit kills on the day, but Wheeling's most efficient hitter was Camryn Matus, who knocked down nine kills while having a .389 hitting percentage. Lexi Duplessis would lead the passing game, finishing with 35 assists and two service aces on the day, while Kendall Kupper paced the effort with 16 Digs.
The Wheeling University Volleyball team returns to action on Tuesday, October 21st, when they battle Ursuline College with tip-off at 6 PM.
