Salem, W. Va. - The final week of the regular season is here and the Wheeling University Volleyball team (16-12, 10-3) kicked things off with their final non-conference match of the season. The Cardinals would travel to Salem University, and earned the sweep over the Tigers for their 16th win of the season. It improved their in-region record to 16-6 as they look ahead to both the Mountain East Conference (MEC) and the NCAA Tournament.
The first set would see the two teams go back and forth early, with Wheeling taking a 3-2 lead, before Salem flipped the scoreboard to take a 6-3 lead. Salem would hold a 7-5 lead before a service error gave the Cardinals back the ball. Wheeling would take advantage, going on a 7-1 run that got them back in the driver's seat at 13-8. Olivia Batch would lead the way on the run, picking up three service aces while Bella DeBarr and Lexi Duplessis each knocked down kills along the way. DeBarr would be the catalyst for a 5-1 run just a few points later and the Cardinals would take a 19-12 lead. They would set up set point on a Cassidey Wiley kill, but a setting error kept the Tigers alive. An attack error would end up bringing the set to an end as the Cardinals won 25-17 and took an early 1-0 lead.
Set two would be the closest of the day between the two teams, with Wheeling being held to a .139 hitting percentage in the set. Wheeling would roll off the momentum from the end of set one, going on an 8-2 run to kick things off, with Mara McDougal and Camryn Matus each knocking down kills on the run. The lead would hold through the middle of the set, as Salem tied things up at 14-14 after a 4-1 run got them back into the match. The back and forth continued until late in the set, with Wheeling holding a 22-21 lead. Batch and Matus would knock down back-to-back kills to bring up set points, before Salem's Noemi Combi kept things alive with a kill. That is as close as the Tigers would get as Batch ended the set with a kill of her own to give Wheeling a 2-0 lead in the match.
After being held to a sub .200 hitting percentage in the second set, Wheeling would end the night with a bang in set three. It was their most efficient set of the day, hitting .306 as a team to wrap up the sweep. It started with an attack error for Salem, before the Cardinals went on a 5-0 run to start the set. Faith Keifer would pick up two service aces along the run and the Cardinals would end up pushing that advantage to 9-2. By mid set, the Cardinals continued to hold Salem to single digits, and a service error would make it a 15-8 Wheeling lead. Salem would get to the double digit mark on a kill by Alexandra Vigneron, and got as close as 18-12. That is when Ava Dickerson would knock down a kill that started the final run of the night. Matus would take the server's box and picked up back-to-back service aces that brought up match point at 24-12. She would keep the success going, picking up a final service ace to give the Cardinals a 25-12 set win and a 3-0 sweep of the match.
Leading the way for the Cardinal offense was Olivia Batch, who finished with a team-high 13 kills in the effort. She was the Cardinal's most efficient hitter on the day, hitting .324 across the day while adding three service aces. As a team, the Cardinal servers finished with nine service aces on the day, led by Camryn Matus, who had four service aces in the effort while knocking down six kills. The defensive side was led by Megan Platt, who finished with 16 digs in the effort, marking her fourth straight double digit effort in the win. Faith Keifer would lead the way with 19 assists, while Lexi Duplessis rounded out the day with 11 assists in the passing game.
The Wheeling University Volleyball team returns to action on Friday, November 14th, when they host West Liberty with first serve at 7 PM.
