Wheeling, W. Va. - With the regular season in the rear view mirror, the Wheeling University Volleyball team (18-9, 12-4) now begins their quest for a Mountain East Conference (MEC) Championship. It all begins in Fairmont, West Virginia, when the Cardinals get set for an MEC Quarterfinal rematch against the University of Charleston, with first serve at 11:30 AM. The Cardinals are looking to avenge their MEC Quarterfinal loss from a season ago against the Golden Eagles as they compete for their first MEC Championship since the 2023 season.
The Cardinals wrapped up the regular season for a trip up the Hilltop for a five-set thriller with West Liberty University. The Cardinals were down early, dropping the first two sets to go down 2-0, but they weren't out as they began to battle back. They put together their most efficient set of the night in set three, putting up a .390 hitting percentage, while knocking down 13 kills on 50 total attacks. They would jump out to a 10-3 lead early on, and rode that to a 25-22 set three victory to get back in the match. They followed that up with a 25-21 win in set four, and it forced the teams to a fifth set to close out the regular season. It would be a set of runs, with Wheeling jumping out to a 7-3 lead, before West Liberty battled back to tie things at 7-7. However, it would be the Cardinals that got the last laugh as they took the 15-10 set win and took the match 3-2.
Leading the offense for the Cardinals was freshman Ava Green, who finished with 14 kills across a team leading 46 total attacks. It was the fifth time in the last six games that Green has been in double digit kills, and has raised her season average to 2.63 kills/set across 56 sets played. She was one of seven freshmen in the conference named to the MEC All-Freshman team and has really come to life down the stretch. Over her last 10 matches, Green has knocked down 101 kills while averaging 3.15 kills/set across the 32 sets played during that time. She set her career-high in kills against the University of Charleston with 17 during the regular season, and looks to build on that career-high as she heads into her first collegiate postseason match.
Another Cardinal freshmen who made her presence known was Tatum Creps, who set a career-high with 11 kills against the Hilltoppers. She would be Wheeling's most efficient hitter on the night with a hitting percentage of .320 across 25 total attempts. Like Green, Creps has worked her way into the Cardinal lineup late in the season, hitting .273 or better in each of her last three matches. The final career-best effort came from the Cardinal back line, where Mara McDougal set her career-high with 32 digs. She would not commit a single reception error across the five sets, and added two service aces to round out a strong night on the court. She earned her first-ever All-MEC honor this season, taking home Honorable Mention All-MEC honors, and sits fourth in the conference with 475 digs.
As they head into the MEC Tournament, the Cardinal's path to an MEC Championship will begin at the Joe Feaster Center on the campus of Fairmont State University. Wheeling will play in the first match of the tournament, when they take on The University of Charleston in the 11:30 AM match on day one. The Cardinals and Golden Eagles were involved in a five-set thriller during the regular season, and the Cardinals are looking to get back at Charleston for the regular season loss. If the Cardinals were to advance to day two, they would play in the 4:30 PM semifinal match against the winner of #1 N Concord and #4 S Frostburg State. The 2026 MEC Championship match is then set for Friday, November 13, with a 7 PM first serve. Since last winning the MEC Championship back in 2023, the Wheeling Volleyball team has gone 2-2 in their previous four tournament matches, and look to get back in the win column on Wednesday.
The Match-up
The Cardinals and Golden Eagles will be meeting for the 50th time in program history on Wednesday morning, and it will be the fifth MEC postseason meeting between the two teams. Wheeling leads the all-time series at 32-17, while holding a 4-1 record in the MEC Tournament against Charleston. The Golden Eagles got Wheeling in last year's MEC Quarterfinal, but the Cardinal's had won each of the prior four postseason games against the Golden Eagles.
The first meeting between the two teams this season came on October 23, 2026, in a match that Charleston would win 3-2. Ava Green would set her career-high with 17 kills in the match-up, while Autumn King finished right behind her with 12. Mara McDougal would lead the defensive game with 26 digs, while Camryn Matus paced the passing game with 22 assists.
The Details
First serve for Wednesday's Quarterfinal match is scheduled for 7 PM inside the Joe Feaster Center on the campus of Fairmont State University. You can watch the match live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
