Wheeling, W. Va. – After starting their run through the Mountain East Conference (MEC) South Division over the weekend, the Wheeling University Volleyball team (12-6, 6-2) is taking a break to return to non-conference play. The team will be back inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center on Tuesday night when they host IUP with first serve at 6 PM. Wheeling looks to get some momentum on their side with a big Homecoming weekend looming as the team's push for the postseason continues.
On Saturday, the Cardinals wrapped up their first back-to-back conference weekend of the season when they battled Glenville State inside the Waco Center. After taking the loss on Friday night to West Virginia Wesleyan, the Cardinals were looking to bounce back and did just that. The team would put together a season-best .444 hitting percentage across the three sets, and didn't hit lower than .340 in any of those sets. In sets one and two, the Cardinal defense was dominant, not allowing Glenville State to get over the 15 point mark. Each set saw the Cardinals take an early lead, getting ahead 13-5 in set one and 23-8 in set two to set the tone. Set three would again see Wheeling take and early lead, this time a 17-9 lead, but Glenville State would battle back. The Pioneers would score the most points they had in any set on the night, but Wheeling was able to close out the sweep with a 25-17 win that moved them to 6-2 in MEC play.
One of the standout performances throughout the weekend came from senior Josie Schroder, who came off the bench for a career-best performance. She would knock down 11 kills against the Pioneers to set the new career-best on 17 total attacks to lead the way with a .647 hitting percentage. She would add a team-high five block assists and two dogs to round out the effort on the front line. It wrapped up a weekend that saw her knock down 17 kills between the two matches and adding five block assists to wrap up the weekend. Schroder was efficient throughout the weekend, not committing an attack error between the two matches and finishing with a .643 hitting percentage between the two matches. As they continue down their playoff push, Schroder looks to continue being an asset for the Cardinals in that front row attack.
Rounding out a big weekend of competition of her own was Camryn Matus, who picked up a double-double against the Pioneers, finishing with 11 kills and 13 assists in the effort. She tied with Shroder for the team lead in kills, while leading the Cardinal passing game with the 13 assists. She would also keep up her streak of efficiency, finishing with a .524 hitting percentage, coming off the heels of her second career triple-double earlier this week. In total, five different Cardinals would finish with a .300 or better hitting percentage on the day, with Aleithia Wilson rounding out the big front line contributions. She would finish with five total blocks, one solo and four assisted, while adding four kills in the effort. She has been leading a Cardinal front line that has totaled 126.0 blocks this season, sitting fifth in the conference in that category. She has finished with three or more blocks in four of her last seven matches and looks to continue that success throughout October.
Despite taking their second conference loss of the season, Wheeling still holds on to their second place spot in the MEC North Division. They sit two games behind Fairmont State for the division lead, and hold a one-game lead over West Liberty for the second place spot. As they continue their run through the MEC South Division, the Cardinals will look to go perfect the rest of the way heading into their second round of North Divisional matches. With the goal of hosting the 2026 MEC Volleyball Championships still on the line, the Cardinals will need some help as they look to take care of business on their own. All three of their matches this week come on their home floor, where they are 9-3 this season, as they look to keep the home cooking rolling.
The Match-up
The Cardinals and Crimson Hawks are meeting for the 20th time in program history, with Wheeling leading the all-time series at 16-3. Wheeling holds a 7-3 record on their home floor, compared to a 4-1 record when they travel to Indiana, PA. The Cardinals have won nine of the previous 10 matches against the Crimson Hawks, with the teams splitting each of the last three matches that they have played.
The last meeting between the two teams came on December 6, 2024 in a match that the Cardinals would win 3-2 in the semifinal round of the NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Tournament. Former Cardinal Riley Kindall led the way with 26 kills while former Cardinal Mady Winters finished right behind her with 18. Kindall would also lead the defensive effort with 23 digs, while former Cardinal Karly Niesen added 51 assists and 15 digs to wrap up the night.
The Details
First serve for Tuesday's match is scheduled for 6 PM inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center. You can watch the match live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
