Wheeling, W. Va. – As they entered the 2025 season, the Wheeling University Volleyball team took on a new look. After losing 10 players to graduation in the summer, 10 new freshman stepped up to take their place. The Cardinals were once again in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament field and, with several of the new players playing big parts in that success, they have continued to lay the foundation of winning that the program has been known for over the last few decades.
As they always do, the Cardinals challenged themselves in the early weeks of the season, battling some of the top teams in the nation. They competed in tournaments at West Florida and Grand Valley State, before wrapping up the tournament run at their home tournament. They finished the stretch sitting at 3-8 and began to pick up speed in MEC play. They would win their opener against West Virginia State, and got off to a 4-0 start to conference play. They would take their first MEC loss to West Liberty on the road, and fell to West Virginia Wesleyan to move to 4-2 in conference play. They would get back on track with wins in their final three MEC South games, before taking their third conference loss to Fairmont State. It would come down to the final match of the season, and a loss to West Liberty would send the Cardinals to the MEC tournament as the #3 seed in the North. They would match up with eventual MEC Champions The University of Charleston, and would fall in a five set battle to bring their 2025 season to an end.
The 2025 Cardinals were led by a strong freshman core headlined by the work of Camryn Matus. The 2025 MEC Freshman of the Year led the Cardinals with 297 kills while averaging 2.75 kills/set across her 30 matches played during the season. She would reach double digit digs in 18 of those 30 matches, and eclipsed the 15 kill mark six times during the season. Her top performance would come in an October 7th match-up with Frostburg State, where she finished with the first Wheeling Triple-Double in the past decade. She finished with 10 kills, 10 digs, and 23 assists to round out the strong day on the court and solidify herself in the starting lineup. She would end up ranking seventh in the conference in kills and first among freshmen in that category. For her efforts, she earned the conference's top freshman honor, marking the second straight season after her teammate Olivia Batch earned the MEC Freshman of the Year last season. Along with the title, she also received First Team All-MEC honors and a spot on the MEC's All-Freshman team as she looks to be a foundation piece for the future.
The other Cardinals first teamer was Katie Wilking, who was a force in the front row for the Cardinals. She would take home First Team All-MEC honors after finishing as the team's most efficient hitter. She finished with a .321 hitting percentage on the season, knocking down 265 kills on 647 total attacks. She committed just 57 hitting errors during the season, the lowest on the team among qualified attackers on the season. Along with her offensive success, Wilking was also a force on the defensive side of the ball, leading the team with 82.0 blocks, 14 solo and 68 block assists. She finished as the conference's third most efficient hitter, while sitting 10th in total blocks. In the passing game, it was Lexi Duplessis leading the way with 563 assists while averaging 5.85 assists/set. She would also play a big role in the Cardinal's blocking game, finishing just behind Wilking with 34.0 Blocks, two solo and 32 block assists. For her efforts, she was named to the MEC All-Freshman team, earning her first All-MEC honors.
On the defensive side of the ball, Megan Platt would lead the way after rotating in and out of the libero spot. She would finish with 298 digs, finishing second on the team while averaging 3.39 digs per set. She stepped up big for her team when injury struck, having a string of nine straight double digit dig matches, running from October 24th through the end of the season. She would set a career-high with 26 digs against Point Park on November 7th, and broke the 20-dig mark three times during the run. She was one of three freshmen to lead the way on the back line, with Mara McDougal and Kendall Kupper each producing on the back line. McDougal would finish with the team lead in digs, finishing with 306, and would be the team's starting libero over the final two matches. The Cardinal leader in digs/set was Kupper, who took over as the team's starting libero early in the year. She averaged 3.57 digs/set on the season and finished one dig shy of Platt for third on the team. The Cardinal defense stepped up throughout the season and looks to continue to grow.
The Wheeling University Volleyball team now heads to the off-season as they look to continue their growth into 2026.
