Wheeling, W. Va. – It all came down to the final match of the season as "The Battle for Wheeling" went down on the Volleyball court inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center. The Wheeling University Volleyball team (16-13, 10-4) took on West Liberty in what was a five-set classic, but the Cardinals would fall to the Hilltoppers 3-2. With the loss the Cardinals earn the #2 seed in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Volleyball Championships next week in Buckhannon, West Virginia.
It was a match of runs with both teams hitting their strides throughout the night. In set one, West Liberty jumped out to an early 7-3 lead, but Wheeling would rally back on a 4-0 run to tie the set at 7-7. The teams would continue to throw punches back and forth, with West Liberty. Building a 15-11 lead before the Cardinals took it down to 22-17 late in the set. Bella DeBarr would knock down a kill that sent the Cardinals on a 4-1 run, bringing the set score to 23-22 late. The Hilltopper's Ashley Cudnik Picked up a kill to bring it to set point, but Wheeling answered with a service error to stay alive. However, Cudnik would not be denied as she knocked down the final kill to give West Liberty the 25-23 set one win. The Cardinals were down 1-0 early, but the young team was able to bounce back in set two.
Wheeling would take an early 2-1 lead as the back and forth from set one bled into set two. The two teams sat tied at 9-9 heading into the mid portion of the set before A serving air gave the Cardinals the ball back. They would take advantage going on a short 3-1 run, but it created the separation. They needed to carry them through the rest of the set. West Liberty was able to keep it close, getting as close as 19-18, but they were never able to overthrow the Cardinals from the lead. Camryn Matus would pick up a kill and sent her team on a 4-1 run that made it a 22-18 affair. Three points later, a service Ace courtesy of Olivia Batch brought up set point for the Cardinals at 24-19. However, the hilltoppers would not go away, adding three straight points to make it a 24-22 affair. It would be junior Katie Wilking that brought the run to an end With the final kill that gave Wheeling the 25-22 set two win.
With the match tied at 1-1, Wheeling would make their biggest statement of the night in set three. Their hitting percentage would skyrocket to a match best .455 on the night, And it started with a Matus kill. The Cardinals ended up scoring nine of the first 11 points of the set and we're put out to an 11-3 lead in the early going. Matus and Wilking led the charge, combining for three kills along the way, and the Cardinals would never look back. They would hold West Liberty under the five-point mark before they hit 15 points, and late in the set it would be an 18-9 Wheeling lead. A Hilltopper attack error would get the ball back in the Cardinal court and they would run with it. Wheeling would score the final seven points of the set, and a pair of Wilking kills would round out the set with the Cardinals winning set three 25-9. Wheeling was staked to a 2-1 lead, but West Liberty was not ready to go quietly.
They would come out in set four and the Hilltoppers staked themselves to a 5-3 lead. The Cardinals were able to flip the scoreboard to 10-7, and would push that lead to 12-9 thanks to back-to-back kills from Olivia Batch. West Liberty would respond with a 6-1 run that got them back in front. 15-13 and that was a lead they would not let go of. They stretched their advantage to 24-18 late in the set and, despite a kill by Ava Dickerson to keep the set alive, West Liberty's Lily Brinker would knock down the final kill of the set to give West Liberty a 25-19 set four win. It would send the match to a decisive fifth set, with Wheeling's chances of hosting the playoffs on the line. West Liberty would jump out to a 3-1 advantage in the decisive set, but Wheeling would keep pushing. They would tie the match at 4-4, and kept West Liberty within one point at 7-6. However, West Liberty would rattle off a 7-2 run that put the match on ice as West Liberty won 15-9 and took the match 3-2.
Leading the way for the Cardinals in the effort was Bella DeBarr, who finished with 16 kills on 41 total attacks to finish with a .317 hitting percentage in the match. She would come up big during the Cardinal's strong showing in the second and third set, and was one of two Cardinal hitters to get above the .300 mark. The other was Katie Wilking, who was the Cardinal's most efficient hitter of the day, finishing with 15 kills and a .444 hitting percentage. Olivia Batch would round out the players with double-digit kills, finishing with 13 to go along with Tthree service aces on the night. Camryn Matus would also reach three service aces, while Mara McDougal. Led the effort with 17 digs in her first start as a libero.
The Wheeling University Volleyball team now awaits their seeding and official first round match-up for the 2025 MEC Volleyball Championships, beginning Thursday, November 20th.
