Wheeling, W. Va. – With their first run through the Mountain East Conference (MEC)
North Division in the books, the Wheeling University Volleyball team (11-5, 5-1) begins
inter-divisional play this weekend. They travel down to Buckhannon,West Virginia and
Glenville, West Virginia for a back-to-back weekend on the road as they continue
through their October schedule. The Cardinals will take on West Virginia Wesleyan in
the weekend opener on Friday, and will follow it up with a match against Glenville State
on Saturday.

Last time out, Wheeling would host the first round of "The Battle for Wheeling" when
they welcomed in West Liberty on Tuesday night. It was another efficient showing for
Wheeling, with the team hitting a collective .250 as a team. That efficiency would begin
right off the bat as the Cardinals hit .429 In the opening set and jumped out to a
commanding lead. They would go ahead as buy as much as 23-11 late in the set before
closing out the 25- 12 set win. After taking the second set in a much closer fashion,
West Liberty continued to show fight earning a 25-13 set three win to force a fourth set.
Wheeling would respond with their best showing of the night, hitting .455 over the final
set as they secured the 25-19 set win and earned a 3-1 win over their rivals from up
Route 88.

There were several solid individual performances throughout the night, but none were
stronger than the performance put together by sophomore Camryn Matus. She would
pick up the second triple-double of her career, finishing with 13 kills, 13 assists and 11
digs on the night. She has been asked to play all over the court due to injury and has
excelled at all three spots. Her second triple-double came almost a year to the date of
her first one, which came back on October 7, 2025, against Frostburg State. While
playing all those different positions, Matus has continued to be one of the more efficient
cardinal attackers, finishing with a .385 hitting percentage on the night. For the season,
she holds a .273 hitting percentage while hitting .250 or better in each of her last Five
matches.

Playing alongside her in the passing game has been Junior Faith Keifer, who collected
her second straight double double against West Liberty. She would lead the Cardinal
passing game with 23 assists on the night, while tying Matus with 11 digs. Keifer has
been on a tear of her own lately, as she finished with her fifth double double of the
season with all five of those coming in the last 10 matches. Rounding out the day for the
Cardinals was senior Katie Wilking, who continues to be a menace in the front row for
the Cardinals. She would pick up eight kills and held the team-best .333 hitting
percentage on the night while also finishing with two block assists. Wilking has been the
Cardinals most efficient hitter this season, holding a . 329 Mark for the year, while sitting
second on the team with 42.0 Total blocks.

After a slight hiccup to start the MEC North portion of their schedule, Wheeling finished
out strong picking up four straight wins against divisional opponents. The key to the
Cardinal's success has been taking the first set with Wheeling sitting a perfect 8-0 when
they take the opening frame. After their first run through the division, Wheeling currently
sits second in the MEC North sitting just one game behind Fairmont State, their only
hiccup along the way. With the Cardinals still holding the goal of hosting the 2026 MEC
Volleyball Tournament, Head Coach Christy Benner and her team will have some work
to do down the final stretch in October. They will have to do so while also playing on the
road, with seven of their final 11 matches coming away from the Alma Grace
McDonough Center. The Cardinals look to start to stretch strong on the road this
weekend with their first conference back to back of the season.

The Match-ups
West Virginia Wesleyan: The Cardinals and Bobcats will be meeting for the 36th time
in program history when they open the weekend on Friday, with Wheeling leading the
all-time series at 30-5. West Virginia Wesleyan got the better of Wheeling a season
ago, breaking a wind streak for the Cardinals the dated back to 1998. In 11 previous
trips to Buckhannon, the Cardinals are 11-0 with two of the five losses in the all-time
series coming on the Cardinal's home court. The last meaning between the two teams
came back on October 17, 2025, In a match that West Virginia Wesleyan would win 3-0.
Faith Keifer would lead the offense in the passing game with 11 assists while Mara
McDougal led the defense with 11 digs.

Glenville State: The Cardinals and pioneers are meeting for the 36th time in program
history on Saturday, with Wheeling leading the all-time series at 31-4. Wheeling has
won each of the last 26 matches between the two teams dating back to 1998, with all
but one of those being wrapped up in three sets. The Cardinals are 12-0 when the two
teams meet in the Waco Center, while holding a 13-0 record when they meet in
Wheeling, the last meeting between the two teams came back on October 25, 2025, In
a match that the Cardinals would win 3-1. Leading the effort for Wheeling was Katie
Wilking, who finished with 15 kills, while Camryn Matus Added 12 kills in the effort.
Former Cardinal Megan Platt led the defense with 21 digs while Faith Keifer addedd 30
assists.

The Details
First serve for Friday's weekend opener is scheduled for 7 PM inside the Rockefeller
Center on the campus of West Virginia Wesleyan College. You can watch the match live
by clicking HERE or follow along with live stats by clicking HERE.