Wheeling, W. Va. - The final week of Mountain East Conference (MEC) Volleyball play tipped off Friday as the Wheeling University Volleyball team (16-10, 10-4) traveled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Cardinals would head to Point Park for the second meeting between the two teams this season, and the Cardinals would complete the season series sweep with a 3-0 win. Wheeling would knock down 41 kills and hit .227 as a team as they earned back-to-back sweeps for the second time this month.
It was a familiar face that established herself early on, with freshman Ava Green getting the day started with a kill. It was part of back-to-back Cardinal points to open the first set, but it would be Point Park that took the commanding 9-4 lead early on. By the media timeout, the Pioneers held a 15-8 advantage and the Cardinals were looking for a run. A service error would open the door for Wheeling, and they ran with the opportunity, scoring 10 straight points to flip the scoreboard to 18-15 in favor of Wheeling. Freshmen Tatum Creps and Green would lead the way, combining for five kills on the run, and Wheeling would keep on swinging. They would lead 22-18 late in the set, but Point Park came back to within one point at 22-21. Aleithia Wilson would get Wheeling back on the board with a kill, and a pair of Point Park attack errors brought the set to its final score at 25-21.
With the Cardinals ahead 1-0 in the match, the second set started similar to the first, with Wheeling scoring the first two points before Point Park took a 6-4 lead. Bella DeBarr would start a 4-0 run with a kill that made it an 8-6 in favor of Wheeling as the teams went back and forth. The back and forth continued through the midway point of the set, with the Cardinals holding a 15-12 lead at the media timeout, and holding a 20-17 advantage late in the set. Camryn Matus and Katie Wilking would combine for a block assists that would end up being the set winning run. After a second Point Park attack error, Wilking would knock down a kill that made it 23-17. Point Park's Patricia Calero-Irizarry would keep the Pioneers alive, but another block assists from Wilking and Creps brought up set point. Wilking would be the one who knocked down the final kill and the Cardinals would take the 25-18 set two win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
With a 2-0 lead on their side, the Cardinals were looking to wrap up the sweep, but Point Park was able to keep things close. The teams traded the first 13 points of the set, before Point Park went on the first run of the night, scoring seven of the next nine points to take a 13-9 advantage. By the media timeout, Wheeling's block would help them battle back, tying the set at 15-15, and the match would stay tied at 21-21 late in the set. It was once again the Cardinal block that put Wheeling ahead, with DeBarr and Wilking combining for a block assist, and a second block assist would make it a 23-21 score. After Point Park got back to within one point on a kill from Leilani Fongyen, Wheeling's attack would close things out. Wilking brought up match point with a kill and Green would knock down the final kill to give Wheeling the 25-22 set three win and the 3-0 sweep of the match.
Leading the way for the Cardinals for the third match in a row, knocking down 14 kills and hitting .306 across 36 total attacks. It marked the fourth straight match that Green has gone into double-digit kills, and the second time during that run that she has hit .300 or better. Katie Wilking and Aleithia Wilson each knocked down seven kills each, while Tatum Creps would add five kills to round out the offense. In the setting game, Camryn Matus would lead the way with 19 assists, while Faith Keifer added 15, and needs just five more assists to reach the 1,000 career assist mark. Mara McDougal would lead the defense with 19 digs on the day, while Kendall Kupper would add 18 digs to round out the night.
The Wheeling University Volleyball team returns to action on Monday, November 2, when they host Davis & Elkins with first serve at 7 PM.
