Wheeling, W. Va. – With the first week of action in the books, the 2026-2027 season is officially underway for the Wheeling University Athletics Department. On Tuesday, the department announced it's weekly Cardinal High Flyer of the Week awards, with a pair of standout performances earning the first honors of the year. Wheeling Volleyball player Autumn King won the Female High Flyer of the Week honor, while Men's Soccer player Jon-Michael Gordon took home the Male High Flyer of the Week award.
The 70th anniversary of Wheeling Athletics kicked off on the road with both soccer teams and Wheeling Volleyball starting their season. Volleyball was up first from the sunshine state, going 1-2 across three matches and one exhibition at the SpringHill Suites Tournament. They opened the weekend with a win against Spring Hill College, before falling to The University of West Florida and Southwest Minnesota State across three matches. Wheeling Women's Soccer was up next, Playing the first game under Head Coach Jaclyn Ketter, as they fell to Walsh 5-1. Wheeling Men's Soccer was also under new leadership, with Jack Shearer leading his team to a tough battle against CAL-U that saw the Cardinals fall 2-1.
Saturday would see the first Cardinal home game of the year, with Wheeling Football hosting their week 0 match-up, with food trucks and celebration for the Opening Day Tailgate. After falling behind early, the Cardinals came roaring back to a 27-10 come from behind win over Thomas More. It was their first opening week win since the 2023 season as they started their three-game non-conference stretch. The week wrapped up at home with Wheeling Men's Soccer hosting Walsh and earning a 3-1 win to move to 1-1 through their two non-conference games. It was the first win in the career of Head Coach Jack Shearer, and wrapped up a week that saw Wheeling Athletic teams go 3-4 across seven contests.
Autumn King takes home her first Cardinal High Flyer of the Week award of the season, after putting together a career-best week at the SpringHill Suites Invitational. The sophomore would knock down 26 kills across nine sets played, averaging 2.89 kills/set while holding a .136 hitting percentage. She would get the success going right from the get-go, knocking down 13 kills to lead the Cardinals to a 3-0 sweep of Spring Hill College. It was an all-around strong performance for the sophomore, who held a .407 hitting percentage in the match, while adding two digs and two block assists. As the weekend went on, she finished with 13 kills combined between the two matches against Southwest Minnesota State, while adding three digs and two more block assists. King burst onto the scene in the opening week, and looks to continue to be a leader for the Cardinal offense throughout the season.
Jon-Michael Gordon is also taking home his first Cardinal High Flyer of the Week award of the season, helping lead the Cardinals to a 3-1 win over Walsh in their home opener. It was Gordon's first career multi-goal game, as he finished with two goals while leading the team with five shots, four on goal, to wrap up the winning effort. It was Gordon's first career multi-goal game, and puts him just one goal behind his total from the 2025 season. For the week, Gordon would finish the week with two goals while taking six shots and putting four of those on goal to total four points. Gordon led the Cardinals in goals in each of the last two seasons, and looks to continue to be an offensive weapon for the Cardinals into the 2026 season.
The Wheeling University Volleyball and Men's Soccer teams kick-off the weekly award season, with each team taking home their first awards of the season. Each week, the department will be announcing one male and one female High Flyer of the Week, honoring them for their performance. The stats will be tallied from the previous Monday through Sunday, with the awards being announced on Tuesday each week.
The next Wheeling University home athletic event will be Wednesday, September 2nd, when the Wheeling Women's Soccer team takes on Lake Erie College at 4 PM.
