Pepper Pike, OH. - As they prepare to wrap up their Mountain East Conference (MEC) South Schedule this weekend, the Wheeling University Volleyball team (10-11, 5-2) took a break from conference play Tuesday night. They traveled to Pepper Pike, Ohio, where they earned a straight sets sweep over Ursuline in a 3-0 victory. The Cardinals hit an impressive .409 as a team and hit .400 or better in two of the three sets in the win. 

Set one would be back and forth early on, with Ursuline holding a slight 4-3 advantage through the first seven points. Olivia Batch would tie things up with a kill, and sent the Cardinals on their first big run of the night. It would be a seven point swing for the Cardinals, with Bella DeBarr and Camryn Matus each knocking down kills on the run. Ursuline would respond with three straight points, and battled back to within three points of the Cardinals at 13-10. The two teams would go point for point with each other down the stretch, but a 4-1 Ursuline run would tie the set at 20-20 late. Bella DeBarr would knock down a kill to get the Cardinals back in front and the teams would trade the next six points to sit tied at 23-23. Matus would get the ball back in Wheeling's court to set up match point, and an attack error would bring the set to its final score of 25-23. 

Wheeling was staked to a 1-0 lead and would have their most efficient set of the season, hitting .542 as a team in the set. Aleithia Wilson would start things with a kill, and the Cardinals would score the first five points of the set. The Cardinals were out to a 9-4 lead in the early portion of the set, with Katie Wilking leading the charge with two kills during the run. Wheeling's second run would come midway through the set as Matus knocked down a kill that sent the Cardinals on a 7-2 run. It pushed the lead to 19-10, and it would be DeBarr that led the Cardinals to victory. With the score sitting at 19-11, DeBarr would knock down three kills as the Cardinals extended their lead to 23-12. The teams would trade the final four points, and it was a kill by Matus that brought the set to its final score of 25-14. The Cardinals would take a 2-0 advantage and kept the efficient hitting going into the third set. 

As they headed to the third set, the Cardinals would continue to get contributions up and down the lineup. Mara McDougal started things with a kill and Matus and DeBarr would each add kills as the set sat with the Arrows leading 4-3. An attack error would give the ball back to the Cardinals, and they ran with it, going on a 7-1 run as they pushed their lead to 10-5. The Cardinal lead would hold late in the set, with the Cardinals holding an 18-13 lead before Ava Dickerson got things going once again. She knocked down two straight kills and sent the Cardinals on a 4-0 run and had them in the driver's seat with a 22-13 advantage. A Josie Schroder kill and a bad set would bring up match point and, after two straight Arrows points, Megan Platt would finish things off with a kill to seal the 25-17 win. The Cardinals completed their second straight 3-0 sweep as they moved to 10-11 ov the season. 

Leading the way for the Cardinals was the duo of Bella DeBarr and Camryn Matus, who each finished with 11 kills on the day. Both would hit over .400, with Matus hitting .444 and DeBarr hitting .391 in the effort, finishing as two of the five Cardinals to hit .390 or better on the day. The Cardinal's most efficient hitter was Katie Wilking, who finished with seven kills and hit .583 on the night, while Josie Schroder added a .500 hitting percentage of her own while knocking down seven kills. Lexi Duplessis would lead the passing game, leading the team with 38 assists, while helping the Cardinals hold a .409 hitting percentage on the day. Mara McDougal would lead the back line, finishing with eight digs, while Bella DeBarr added seven digs to round out the effort. 

The Wheeling University Volleyball team returns to action on Friday, October 24th, when they travel to Concord with first serve at 5 PM.