Wheeling, W. Va. - On Friday, the Wheeling University Volleyball team opened their 2025 Mountain East Conference (MEC) schedule with a 3-1 win over West Virginia State. It was a big night on the court for the Cardinals, with the team starting 1-0 in conference play for the first time since the 2022 season, and they were rewarded by sweeping the weekly MEC Volleyball Player of the Week honors, presented by the Healthplan. Junior outside hitter Cami Black would earn the Offensive Player of the Week honors, while freshman libero Kendall Kupper earned Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Cami Black earns her first Conference Player of the Week honors this season after leading the Cardinal's offense, setting a new career-high in kills against West Virginia State. The junior would knock down 18 kills on 52 total attacks, while finishing with a .250 hitting percentage for the day. Black was all over the court, adding three digs and two block assists to help out the defensive effort, as the Cardinals went 1-0 in MEC play for the first time since the 2022 season. Black beat her old career-high by one kill and finished with 15 or more kills for the fifth time across 12 matches. She is one of just two Cardinal players to record a double-double this season as she helped the team start conference play with a bang.
Kendall Kupper is also earning her first Conference Player of the Week honors thanks to a career performance on the Cardinal back line. The freshman libero was one of four Cardinals to finish with double digit kills on the day, and led the group with 34 digs in the effort. It was the first time that the freshman has eclipsed the 30-dig mark, and set a new career-high for the freshman by nine digs. Along with her work on the back line, Cooper also finished with five assists on the day as she helped out in the passing game. Since taking over as one of the team's two liberos back on September 18th, Kupper has taken the role and ran with it, averaging 22.4 digs/match, and has been a welcome addition to the Cardinal's back line.
With volleyball sweeping the weekly Conference Player of the Week honors, the Wheeling Athletics Department has now had 12 players earn conference player of the week honors. Black and Kupper are the second and third Wheeling Volleyball players to take home honors, joining teammate Camryn Matus who earned Offensive Player of the Week a week ago. Last week, the Cardinals had five conference player of the week honorees, with football players Ade Olanegan, Leonard Sherrod III, and Day Day Bates, Volleyball player Camryn Matus, and Men's Golfer Elias Ekenes-Fosback take home honors.
The Wheeling University Volleyball team returns to action on Tuesday, September 30th, when they hit the road to face Fairmont State with tip-off at 7 PM.
