Wheeling, W. Va. – The competition around the Mountain East Conference (MEC) has been fierce throughout the 2025 season. On Friday, the Wheeling University Volleyball team (12-12, 7-3) takes on the University of Charleston in a showdown between two of the top teams in the MEC Tournament race at 7 PM. The winner jumps into the driver's seat in the race to host the 2025 MEC Tournament with two and a half weeks of play.
On Tuesday, the Cardinals took in Fairmont State as they kicked off their final stretch of MEC North play. It began a stretch where they will play three of their final five matches at home, but early on it was Fairmont State that had the momentum. Wheeling was held to a .154 hitting percentage in the set and, despite battling back, the Cardinals would fall 25-20. In the second set, it was all about defense with neither team hitting over .100 in the set. The Cardinals would fall for the second set in a row 25-18 and had their backs against the wall as they headed into the third set. The Cardinals would respond with their best set of the match, jumping out to a 13-9 lead early. They would hold that lead the rest of the match, hitting .273 during the stretch, and picked up a 25-15 set three win. However, it just wasn't meant to be as Fairmont State took a 9-3 lead early in set four and went on to win 25-22 as they won the match 3-1.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was Bella DeBarr, who continued her recent string of success stepping up due to injury. She finished with 11 kills on the night on 28 total attacks to finish with a .250 hitting percentage on the night. It was the fourth time in the last five matches that the sophomore has hit the double digit kills mark, with three of those five efforts seeing her hit .300 or better. DeBarr got her feet wet with the Cardinals last season, and has already set a career high with 106 kills this season. Along with her work on the offensive end, DeBarr has also helped out on the defensive back line as well. DeBarr picked up the first two double doubles of her career this season, with the last one coming back on October 11th against Ohio Dominican. She currently sits at 77 digs on the season, averaging 1.08 digs per set. She looks to keep contributing on both sides of the ball and will play a big role in the team's push to host the 2025 MEC Volleyball tournament.
Leading the back line effort against Fairmont State was Megan Platt, who finished with 21 digs in the effort. It tied her career high in the effort, and marked the second straight time that she has hit the 21 dig mark. With some illness spreading around the back line, the freshman got back into the libero role for the first time since the start of the season and took advantage of her opportunity. Wheeling has had several contributors to the back line effort this season and Platt looks to continue being one of those contributors. The Cardinals have also seen a strong return from injury by Olivia Batch, who has contributed on both sides of the ball. Against the Falcons, she fell one kill shy of her third straight double-double, finishing with nine kills and 15 digs in the effort. Batch picked up back-to-back double-doubles over the weekend and is looking to get back to her dominant ways as the team heads down the postseason stretch.
Friday night's match will be the annual Halloween match-up, with Charleston and will be one that sends a shock through the final week of Volleyball action. Whichever team wins Friday's match will be in the driver's seat for the chance to host the 2025 MEC Volleyball tournament. Charleston currently holds a one-game advantage over Wheeling in the overall standings but, with the two teams only meeting up once during the regular season, a win would give Wheeling the tie breaker over Charleston. Concord and West Liberty also find themselves right in the thick of the race, with the Mountain Lions sitting tied with the Cardinals at 7-3, while the Hilltoppers trail by just a half game at 6-3. The Cardinals defeated Concord last weekend 3-1 to earn the tiebreaker over the Mountain Lions, but fell to the Hilltoppers earlier this season with one meeting still remaining. The Cardinals would have to win each of their remaining five matches to keep the hope of hosting alive and it starts with a battle on Friday night.
The Matchup
The Cardinals and Golden Eagles are meeting for the 47th time in program history, with Wheeling leading the all-time series at 31-15. The Cardinals have played well at home against the Golden Eagles, going 17-3 in 20 previous matches compared to a 10-3 mark when going on the road. It has been a back and forth series as of late, with Wheeling winning three of the last five matches, and the two teams splitting each of the last three meetings.
Their last matchup came on November 2nd, 2024, in a match that the Cardinals swept 3-0 in the semifinal round of the MEC Volleyball Tournament. Leading the way for Wheeling was former Cardinal Riley Kindall, who finished with 14 kills and 16 digs for the double-double. Former Cardinal Karly Niesen added the second double-double, with 38 assists and 11 digs, while Katie Wilking rounded on the effort with 11 kills.
The Details
Tip-off for Friday night's match is scheduled for 7 PM inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center. You can watch the action live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
