Wheeling, W. Va. - As the season comes down to its final three weeks, the Wheeling University Volleyball team (12-11, 7-2) begins the final stretch of Mountain East Conference (MEC) North play before the MEC Tournament. The Cardinals will be back inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center as they host divisional rival Fairmont State with tip-off at 7 PM. Wheeling looks to hit their stride to end the regular season, with a chance to host the MEC Tournament still hanging in the balance.
The Cardinals wrapped up their MEC South weekend last time out when they traveled to take on Glenville State. The Cardinals provided a consistent offensive attack throughout the night, hitting between .260 and .300 in three of the four sets and held the advantage in every statistical category on the team side. Wheeling made an early statement in set one, hanging on for a 25-22 victory, but Fairmont State would answer in set two, taking the run 25-17 to tie things up at 1-1. The Cardinals needed a response, and hit .279 in the third set, while holding Glenville State to an 0.094 mark, as they won 25-17 to take the 2-1 advantage. The Cardinals would not stop there, wrapping things up with a 25-14 set four win as they took the match 3-1 for their seventh conference win of the season.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was Olivia Batch, who had a strong return this weekend after missing time due to an injury. Batch would knock down 11 kills on the night to go along with 20 digs as she picked up her fourth double-double of the season. Batch has been fighting through an injury over the last few weeks, and was able to fully let it go this weekend, picking up two of those four double-doubles over the weekend. Batch earned the MEC Freshman of the Year award a season ago, and looks to continue that leadership as the team heads down the stretch. She has been able to play all over the court for the Cardinals, sitting fourth on the team with 125 kills and 124 digs, and looks to continue climbing the statistical charts over the next three weeks.
On the back line, the Cardinals were led by Megan Platt, who stepped in as the team's libero for the first time since the opening season tournaments. Platt finished with 21 digs in the effort against Glenville State, and added 11 against Concord as she hit double digit digs for the first time since October 3rd. She had just one reception error total last week and provides strong depth on the Cardinal backline. Wheeling also saw a nice bounce back performance from Faith Keifer, who finished with 30 assists and helped the Cardinals to a .255 hitting percentage in the effort. She hit the 30 assist plateau for the first time since racking up 39 assists against CAL-U back on September 20th. Her and teammate Lexi Duplessis look to continue leading the Cardinal passing game down the stretch.
Entering Tuesday night's match, the Cardinal have the chance to officially clinch their spot in the 2025 MEC Volleyball Tournament. The Cardinals can clinch a playoff berth with either a win against Fairmont State or a Point Park loss to Frostburg State on Tuesday. The Cardinals currently hold a one-match lead over West Liberty for the top spot in the MEC North Division, and are one of two teams across the MEC with two losses this season. In the race to host the MEC Tournament, the Cardinals trail the University of Charleston by one match, making Friday's upcoming match between the two a big one. The Cardinals will need to win out in order to host this year's tournament, which would bring it back to the Alma Grace McDonough Center for the first time since 2019.
The Matchup
The Cardinals and Falcons are meeting for the 73rd time in program history, with Wheeling leading the all-time series at 50-12. Half of those wins have come on Wheeling's home floor, where they are 25-4 compared to a 20-1 mark when they travel to Fairmont State. The Cardinals have won each of the last 11 meetings between the two teams, with each team taking at least one set in two of the last three meetings.
Their last meeting came back on September 30th in a match that the Cardinals would win 3-1 in Fairmont, West Virginia. Leading the way for the Cardinals was Camryn Matus with 20 kills, while Cami Black finished behind her with 13. Kendall Kupper would lead the back line defense, finishing with 34 digs while Faith Keifer added 28 assists in the win.
The Details
Tip-off for Tuesday night's match is scheduled for 7 PM inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
