Wheeling, W. Va. - After clinching the #2 seed in the 2026 Mountain East Conference (MEC) Volleyball Tournament, the Wheeling University Volleyball team is preparing for their quarterfinal match-up with The University of Charleston on Wednesday. Before tournament play begins, the conference released their annual Volleyball All-Conference list on Tuesday, and the Cardinals would place four players on the list. Senior Katie Wilking and sophomore Camryn Matus each earned First Team All-MEC honors, while sophomore Mara McDougal was named Honorable Mention All-MEC and freshman Ava Green earned a spot on the MEC's All-Freshman team.
Camryn Matus is earning the second All-MEC honor of her career as she takes home First Team All-MEC honors. She was the offensive leader for the Cardinals, pacing the team with 251 kills, while sitting second on the team with 342 assists. Due to injury, she was forced into a dual role with the Cardinals and handled it by leading the team with nine double-doubles on the season, including two of the three total triple doubles across all of NCAA Division II. Her 251 kills on the season put her ninth in the conference, while her 2.64 kills/set ranked her just outside the top 10. While handling a dual role on the team, Matus was also one of the most efficient hitters on the season, hitting .258 across 662 total attacks and she head into the postseason looking to continue to lead the offensive effort.
The Cardinal's most efficient hitter on the season was their other First Team All-MEC honoree, senior Katie Wilking. It is the third time in her career that Wilking has been recognized as an All-Conference player, and the second time she has been a First Team honoree. Wilking was a force to be reckoned with on the Wheeling front line, finishing second on the team with both 170 kills and 70.0 total blocks. She would also be the Cardinal's most efficient hitter on the season, holding a .328 hitting percentage across 439 total attacks. She would end the season as the second most efficient hitter in the conference, sitting 43 points behind Glenville State's Deniz Selem Yazar Diaz for the conference lead. As the most veteran starter for the Cardinals, Wilking looks to lead the Cardinals through their postseason run.
Mara McDougal takes home All-MEC honors for the first time in her career, earning Honorable Mention All-MEC honors. She would be the Wheeling leader on the back line, finishing the regular season with a career-best 475 digs, while averaging 4.90 digs/set on the season. She was also one of the Cardinal's top servers during the season, finishing tied for second on the team with 21 service aces, and averaging 0.22 service aces per set. She came on strong as the season went on, and finished out the season with a career-high 32 digs in the regular season finale against West Liberty. She enters MEC Tournament play sitting fourth in the conference in both digs and digs/set throughout the season. As they enter tournament play, the Cardinal defense will be called on to limit the opposition with McDougal leading the way.
The final All-MEC honoree for the Cardinals was freshman Ava Green, who earned a spot on the MEC's All-Freshman team. She was one of seven freshman honored on the team, after bursting onto the scene as a freshman. She would end the regular season third on the team with 147 kills, while averaging 2.63 kills/set to sit second on the Cardinals. Green enters postseason play on a tear, having reached double digit kills five times in the past seven matches, including setting her career-high with 17 kills against the University of Charleston on October 23rd. Green has been a strong compliment to Matus and the other Cardinal attackers, and looks to continue her success into tournament play.
With the announcement of the All-MEC Volleyball list, the Wheeling University Athletics Department has now had 13 student-athletes earn All-Conference honors this season. Wheeling Volleyball had four All-Conference honorees for the second season in a row, matching the four players that were honored a season ago. The last team to be honored was the Wheeling Men's Soccer team, who had two honorees this fall.
The Wheeling University Volleyball team returns to action on Wednesday, November 11, when they take on the University of Charleston in MEC Quarterfinal action at 11:30 AM
