Wheeling, W. Va. – As the postseason runs officially begins, the top teams in the Atlantic Region are chasing down their respective conference championships. On Wednesday evening, the NCAA released their third week of regional rankings, and the Wheeling University Volleyball team moved up two spots in this week's rankings. They jumped up to the #6 spot in this week's rankings, and they look to continue to climb the ladder as they head into this week's Mountain East Conference (MEC) Volleyball Championships.
In the final week of the regular season, the Cardinals took on Salem and West Liberty and finished 1-1 across the two matches. The week started out on the road as the Cardinals completed their non-conference schedule with a battle against Salem. It was the Cardinal's most efficient match of the week as the Caridnal's hit .234 as a team. They got out to an early lead in each of the three sets and picked up wins of 25-17 and 25-22 as they built a 2-0 lead. In the final set, the Cardinals would put together a dominant performance, taking down Salem 25-12. They would wrap up the week with a big match-up against West Liberty that would determine whether or not Wheeling would host the MEC Tournament. After dropping the first set, the Cardinals came back and took the second set 25-22 and earning a dominant third set win 25-9 to take a 2-1 lead. However, the Hilltoppers would end up taking the final two sets and the Cardinals would fall 3-2. It moved them to the #3 seed in the MEC North Division and they look to make a run for the title.
Leading the way for the Cardinals during the week was Katie Wilking, who was one of two First Team All-MEC honorees for the Cardinals. She was the Cardinals most efficient hitter in the win against West Liberty, knocking down 14 kills on 41 total attacks for a .444 hitting percentage. She would only have two attack errors on the day, and has hit .300 or better in four of the last five matches. She has also made her presence known on the defensive side of the ball, racking up five block assists against the Hilltoppers. She has had four or more blocks in two of the last four matches and will be a leader on the front row. The back line has seen both Megan Platt and Mara McDougal pace the effort during the week. Platt would be the starting libero against Salem, finishing with 16 digs. She would rack up 26 digs during the week, and has a streak of eight straight double digit dig matches. McDougal got her first career start as a libero, finishing with 17 digs to lead the way and finished just three digs shy of her career high.
Remaining in the top spot in this week's poll is Gannon, sitting at a 22-6 overall record and a 21-5 mark in Atlantic Regional play. They are followed by a pair of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) schools, with IUP (19-7, 19-6) sitting second and East Stroudsburg (23-5, 23-4) sitting third. The Cardinals are one of three MEC teams featured on the list, with Fairmont State holding the #4 spot and West Virginia Wesleyan sitting at #10.
The Wheeling University Volleyball team is back in action this afternoon when they take on the University of Charleston with tip-off at noon.
