Wheeling, W. Va. – Throughout the preseason, the Wheeling University Volleyball team (3-8, 0-0) challenged themselves with three non-conference tournaments. All that set them up for their run at the Mountain East Conference (MEC) North title, which kicks off on Friday. The Cardinals start things off on the road as they travel to Institute, West Virginia, to take on West Virginia State with tip-off scheduled for 5 PM.
Wheeling is coming off a strong run at the Wheeling Invitational, which saw them go 3-1 across the four matches played. The tournament began with a rematch of the 2024 NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Championships, as the Cardinals welcomed in Gannon. Wheeling would pick up their first win of 2025 with a 3-1 victory that propelled them into the rest of the weekend. The success continued in Friday night, when the Cardinals battled Shippensburg, and picked up their first sweep of 2025 with a 3-0 victory. They headed into the final day of competition with a chance to sweep the tournament with two matches on the docket. Wheeling began the day with a 3-1 win over CAL-U and headed into the final match of the day against Clarion. The two teams battled, going to a fifth and decisive set. That set would go to a win-by-two scenario, but it would've the Cardinals that fell 3-2 in the match, and went 3-1 on the weekend.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was freshman Camryn Matus, who had a breakout weekend on the court. After entering the week with just 38 kills, Matus knocked down 62 across the four-game span, while holding a .373 hitting percentage. She set a new PR each time she took the court finishing in double digit kills in each of the four matches she played in. Her biggest performance would come in the match against Clarion, where she knocked down 18 kills on 44 total attacks for a .250 hitting percentage. Of those 18 kills, eight of them would come in the first set as she got the Cardinals off to a hot start. Her most efficient match would come against Shippensburg, where she knocked down 15 kills and didn't commit a single attack error. She finished with a .652 hitting percentage and led the Cardinals to their first sweep of the year. For her efforts, she was named the MEC's Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in her career.
Leading the back line effort was Kendall Kupper, who had a breakout weekend on the back line. She would finish with 78 digs across the four matches while also adding 11 assists and four service aces on the weekend. Her biggest performance came in the five-set match with Clarion, where she set a career-high with 25 digs, while adding eight assists and one service ace. Kupper established herself as one of the team's top Libero's heading into their conference schedule. The other top performer for the Cardinals was junior Katie Wilking, who finished with 46 kills and 12 blocks, two solo and 10 block assists. Willing has led the Cardinals with 25.0 total blocks, four solo and 21 assisted, as she helps to lead the front line. With Wilking being one of the veterans on the young roster, she looks to lead the Cardinals as they try and continue the winning culture that surrounds the Cardinals volleyball program.
As they tip-off conference play, the Cardinals will be batting on the road in the early portion of the season. Three of their first four conference matches will come on the road, with three of those four matches coming against MEC North Division opponents. The Cardinals enter conference play sitting fourth in the MEC North Division after battling through their tough non-conference schedule. However, they faced one of the toughest preseason schedules in the conference, playing four ranked opponents over their first 11 matches of the season. The Cardinals are looking to get off to a hot start, and will look to do so against a West Virginia State team that they are very familiar with. The two teams have met in each of the last three MEC Championship matches, with the Cardinals going 2-1 in those meetings. A win would go a long way in trying to bring the MEC Championships back to the Alma Grace McDonough Center in November.
The Matchup
The Cardinals and Yellow Jackets are meeting for the 39th time in program history, with Wheeling leading the all-time series at 31-7. The Cardinals are 11-4 in road matches against the Yellow Jackets, compared to an 11-2 mark inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center. The Cardinals are trying to break a two-match losing streak to the Yellow Jackets, including their meeting last year in the MEC Championship match.
That meeting came on November 23rd, 2024, in a match that West Virginia State would win 3-1. The Cardinals were led by former Cardinal Mady Winters, who finished with 19 kills on the night. Former Cardinal Riley Kindall finished behind her with nine kills while also leading the defense with 16 digs. Former Cardinal Karly Niesen led the way with 35 assists to round out the match.
The Details
Tip-off for Friday's match is scheduled for 5 PM inside the Walker Convocation Center on the campus of West Virginia State. You can watch the match live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
