Wheeling, W. Va. - The Wheeling University Volleyball team (0-1, 0-0) made their way down to the sunshine state on Thursday as they opened the SpringHill Suites Invitational, hosted by the University of West Florida. The Cardinals played in one of two opening night matches as they battled Northern Michigan, falling 3-1 in a four-set battle. It was a career-best night for outside hitter Cami Black as the Cardinals saw several of their young players make their collegiate debuts on the court.
The young Cardinal team was tested right from the get-go, with the Wildcats jumping out to a 3-1 lead over the first four points of the first set. However, a pair of Northern Michigan attack errors got the Cardinals back on attack, and they would knock down four of the next five points to take a 5-4 lead, thanks to the first career kill by Aleithia Wilson. It was a back-and-forth set throughout, with neither team holding more than a two-point advantage until the middle of the set. Back-to-back Wildcat Attack Errors pushed Wheeling ahead 15-2, and Katie Wilking kept it a three-point set with a kill. Wheeling would get their big break late in the set, with another attack error sending them on a 4-0 swing. Sophia Barber would bring up set point with a kill that made it 24-17, and a final Northern Michigan Attack error would allow Wheeling to take the opening set 25-17. Wheeling would hold their opposition to a .116 hitting percentage in the set and looked to keep the momentum rolling.
With one set win under their belt, Barber would get the second set started with a kill, and the Cardinals went on a 4-1 run to kick things off. The Wildcats slowly battled back to tie the set, and a 4-1 run would help them open a 10-7 lead. The Cardinals would get three straight points of their own to tie things back up at 10-10, and continued fighting throughout the set. Wheeling had Northern Michigan on the ropes late, keeping the set tied at 19-19, but a 5-1 run was enough to make the difference as the Wildcats took the set 25-21. With each team taking a set, the two teams would battle for the advantage in the third set, where things sat tied at 23-23 late in the set. The Cardinals would set up a set point opportunity on a kill by Black, but Northern Michigan would knock down the final three points to take a 26-24 set win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Cardinals would have to fight with their backs against the wall as the fourth set started with five of the first six points going to Northern Michigan. Black would try to will her team back into the lead, knocking down kills on four of the next six points, and Wheeling cut the lead to 10-7. When Northern Michigan went on an attack, Wheeling had a counter, and Wilking would get their biggest push going with a kill. It led the Cardinals on a 5-0 run that took the Cardinals from being down 12-7, to tying the set at 12-12. However, Northern Michigan would answer with a 10-1 run that all but sealed the deal on the match. Black would knock down the final Cardinal kill of the day, but it wasn't enough as Northern Michigan won the set 25-16, and took the match 3-1.
It was a career-best day for outside hitter Cami Black, who set a new career high with 15 kills in the effort while also hitting a team-best .400. She would turn it on late for the Cardinals, knocking down five of those 15 kills in the final set as she got her 2025 season started strong. She was the only Cardinal to reach double-digit kills on the day, with Aleithia Wilson and Sophia Barber following her with nine kills each. Lexi Duplessis and Faith Keifer would split the setting duties, with Duplessis finishing with 19 assists and Keifer setting a new career high with 18 in the match. On the backline, it was Megan Platt who shined in her collegiate debut, putting up 17 digs to round out the night for the Cardinals.
The Wheeling University Volleyball team returns to action for day two of the SpringHill Suites Invitational on Friday, September 5th, when they battle The University of West Florida at 10 AM, followed by Spring Hill College at 5:30 PM.
