Athens, W. Va. - It was the start of a third straight back-to-back road weekend for the Wheeling University Volleyball team (11-11, 6-2) as they traveled to Athens, West Virginia for the weekend opener. The Cardinals battled Concord, who only had one loss in conference play entering the day, in a battle that would help either team in the race to host the 2025 Mountain East Conference Tournament. It would be Wheeling that came out on top with a four-set victory to pull even with the Mountain Lions at 6-2 on the season.
The first set would see both teams go on runs early, with Concord scoring the first three points of the set, while Wheeling responded with a 4-1 run that brought the set even at four. It was a set of runs early, with both teams stringing points together until the score sat even at 10-10. The Mountain Lions would add the next two points to take a 12-10 lead, but Olivia Batch would knock down a kill to get the ball back to the Cardinals, and they hit the first big run of the day at 7-1. Batch would be responsible for four of the seven points and gave the Cardinals some separation. With Wheeling leading 21-17, Concord would score three straight points to make it a one-point set, but Aleithia Wilson would get the Cardinals back on a run. The Cardinals would end up scoring the final four points of the set, with an Attack error by the Mountain Lions giving them a 25-20 win.
With a 1-0 lead in the match, the Cardinals would start set two strong, scoring the first two points. It would be back and forth throughout the early portion of the set, and Concord would overtake Wheeling to hold a 19-17 lead late. The Cardinals would score four straight points to go ahead 21-19, but a 7-1 run by the Mountain Lions would close out the set. Camryn Matus would have the lone kill during the run, tying things at 22-22 late in the set, but Concord went on to win 25-22. The score would sit even heading into set three, and Mara McDougal would come out and knock down the first kill of set three. The Cardinals would get out to a 6-2 lead early, but Concord would once again battle back in the set. The Cardinals would hold a slight 16-15 advantage late, and Bella DeBarr would send them on a 4-1 run as they led 20-16 late in the set.
The Mountain Lions would not go down without a fight, getting to within one point of the Cardinals late at 23-22. DeBarr would once again come through for her team, setting up set point with a kill and closing things out with a kill that gave the Cardinals a 25-23 set three win. Wheeling would be staked to a 2-1 lead in the match and looked to bring things to an end as they headed into set four. It would once again be a set of runs, with the teams tied at 13-13 in the middle of the set. Batch would knock down a kill to give Wheeling a short-lived lead, but Concord came right back and scored five of the next six points to take an 18-15 advantage. With the set hanging in the balance, it was once again Wilson that got the Cardinals going with a kill. It would send the team on a 9-2 run, with a setting error bringing up match point. Concord would respond with three straight points, but it was an error in the server's box that would give Wheeling a 25-23 set four win and a 3-1 win of the match.
The Cardinals were led on the day by a double barrel attack by Olivia Batch and Camryn Matus, who each finished with 13 kills on the day. Batch was the most efficient of the two hitters, putting together a .314 hitting percentage, and finished with her first double-double of the season with 14 digs. Matus would also add a double-double, finishing with 12 digs and 13 kills, while hitting .265 on the night. The final cardinal to reach double digit kills was Bella DeBarr, who finished with 10 kills, while Aleithia Wilson picked up nine kills and finished with a .571 hitting percentage. Lexi Duplessis would lead the passing game, finishing with 47 assists, while adding 11 digs, and Megan Platt and Mara McDougal finished with 11 and 10 digs respectively.
The Wheeling University Volleyball team returns to action on Saturday, October 25th, when they battle Glenville State with first serve at 2 PM.
