Fairmont, W. Va. - After a long four months of battling, the Wheeling University Volleyball team (20-10, 12-4) were back on the conference championship stage for the 2026 Mountain East Conference (MEC) Championship match. After falling behind 2-0 early, the Cardinals kicked it into overdrive, forcing a fifth and decisive set, setting the stage for fireworks inside the Joe Feaster Center. In the end, the Cardinals fell just short, dropping the final set 15-11, and falling 3-2 to the 2026 MEC Champion Fairmont State Falcons.
After dropping the two regular season meetings between the two teams, the Falcons came out aiming for the sweep of the championship match in the first two sets. They took a commanding 7-1 lead in set one, and put together a late rally in set two as they put Wheeling back on their heels. Fairmont State would earn wins of 25-9 and 25-14 that had the Cardinals down 2-0. As they went into the second set break, the Cardinals were looking to make adjustments, and turned to their middle blockers to lead the way. In set three, Camryn Matus got the Cardinals started with a kill, and the Cardinals would score five of the first six points to take the early lead. The Cardinal bigs would play strong throughout the set, and they kept the Cardinals in front early on with Aleithia Wilking, Katie Wilking, and Tatum Creps each picking up blocks along the way.
Fairmont State would get back to within four points, and it was Kreps who got the Cardinals started on their biggest run of the night. She knocked down three straight kills, and four kills total as the Cardinals went on a 9-2 run that extended their lead to 16-6 late in the set. Wheeling's middles would continue to swing, and a Katie Wilking kill would extend the Cardinal's lead to 20-9. Fairmont State would get into double digits and got as close as 22-12 before Creps and Olivia Batch went back-to-back on kills to bring up set point at 24-12. Fairmont State's Natalie Zemba would add a kill to keep Fairmont State alive, but it was Matus who knocked down the final kill as Wheeling earned the 25-13 set three win. It forced a fourth set on the night, and Wheeling continued to play like they have nothing to lose as they headed to set four.
They would once again score the first point of the set on a kill by Wilson, and they would end up holding a 4-2 led after a Katie Wilking kill. The Falcons battled back to take a 7-6 lead, and extended that to 11-6 in the early portion of the set. The Cardinals would go back to Wilson for a pair of kills as part of a 4-1 Cardinal run, in a preview of what to come in the middle of the set, when a service error sent the Cardinals on a 5-1 run that had them ahead 17-16 coming out of the media timeout. Fairmont State would tie the score once again at 17-17, before Wilson would continue her dominance in the front row. She added two more kills to lead the Cardinals on a 7-2 swing, and it would be a service ace that brought up set point at 24-19. A service error would keep Fairmont State alive for one more point, and Wilking would knock down the final kill to earn a 25-20 set win and force a fifth set.
It brought up a winner-take-all fifth set in the MEC Championship match, and the Cardinals would try to complete the reverse sweep. Fairmont State would earn the first three points of the fifth set, before Isabella Faro knocked down a kill to get Wheeling on the board. Fairmont State would build an 8-3 lead in the early portion of the set, before Wilking got the Cardinals back on track. Creps would follow her with a kill before Wilson and Autumn King went up for the block assist to cut the lead to 8-6. Fairmont State would continue swinging in the fifth set, taking a 12-7 lead before the Cardinals made one final push. A service error would get the ball back in Wheeling's court. The Cardinals would go on a 4-1 run, with Matus and Faro knocking down kills along the way and Wheeling cut the lead to 13-11. However, it would be kills by Fairmont State's Josie Nobbe and Elena Thompson that ended the night, giving the Falcons the 15-11 set win and the 3-2 win of the match.
It was a strong finish to the MEC Volleyball Championships for the Cardinals, and they were led by a career-best day of Aleithia Wilson. Wilson would set a career-high with 12 kills, while adding five digs and finishing with six total blocks to round out the effort. She would be the Cardinal's most efficient hitter on the day, hitting .423 to round out the postseason run. Katie Wilking and Camryn Matus would finish right behind her, with each knocking down 10 kills, while Matus added a double-double with 18 assists. Faith Keifer would lead the passing game with 24 assists, while adding a double-double of her own with 18 digs. Mara McDougal would lead the defensive game, finishing with 20 digs, while Kendall Kupper added 12 digs and Olivia Batch finished with 11 digs on the day.
The Wheeling University Volleyball team will now wait for their standing in the NCAA DII Atlantic Region Tournament to see if their playoff run continues.
