Wheeling, W. Va. – After falling on opening night of the Mountain East Conference (MEC) / Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Crossover, the Wheeling University Volleyball team (4-4, 0-0) was back on the court for the middle match on day two. They would take on Shippensburg, and used a pair of double digit attack efforts to pick up the four-set win. After falling in the opening set, the Cardinals came soaring back with three straight set wins to pick-up the 3-1 win.
The first set of the day would start with an Isabella Faro kill, and the Wheeling offense would ride the momentum to a 9-2 early lead. Their lead would only continue to grow, with the Cardinals leading by as much as 11-4 before the Raiders started to battle back. Wheeling held a 15-11 lead at the media timeout, but a 9-3 Raiders run flipped the scoreboard to 20-18 in favor of Shippensburg. The Cardinals would tie things up at 22-22 on a block assist by Aleithia Wilson and Carmen Muzingo, but Shippensburg scored three of the final four points on their way to a 25-23 set one win. Shippensburg would carry that late set momentum into set two, scoring the first two points to take a 2-0 advantage. Katie Wilking would knock down a kill to get the ball back in the Cardinal's side, and they would score three straight to flip the scoreboard back in their favor. Autumn King would add back-to-back kills to begin the run, and got her big day started with five kills as Wheeling built a 13-8 lead midway through the set.
Shippensburg brought the score back to within three at 16-13, before Wilson added a pair of kills that had Wheeling up by five late at 20-15. Four points later, a Wilking kill brought up set point at 24-20, before Wilson ended the set two points later with a kill. Wheeling took the second set 25-22, and the teams sat deadlocked heading into the third set. Both teams were looking to grab the momentum, and the score sat at 9-8 at the midway point of the set. Wilking would knock down a kill that swung the momentum in the Cardinal's favor as they scored seven straight to take a 15-9 lead. Wilking would knock down three kills over the final part of the third set, including a strike that brought up set point at 24-15. It would be a Shippensburg attack error that would close out the set, and the Cardinals took a 2-1 lead in the match thanks to the 25-15 set three win. With the lead in their hands, the Cardinals looked to close things out in the fourth set, and bring their record back to even at 4-4.
Just like the third set, the fourth set, was back and fourth early, with Shippensburg holding the 8-6 lead. An attack error would get the ball back in the Cardinals court and they went on a 9-2 run that ballooned the Cardinal advantage to 15-10 at the media timeout. Bella DeBarr would lead the way with two kills on the run and Wilking added a kill out of the media timeout to move the score to 16-11. The Raiders would keep things close, staying within four points at 18-14 late in the set, and the Cardinals would need one more run to close things out. Wilson would be the one to start that final run with a kill, and the Cardinals would tack on six of the next seven points, with a service error bringing up match point at 24-15. Wheeling would close things out on a kill by DeBarr , and the Cardinals would take the match 3-1. It was the first four set match of the season for Wheeling as they improve to 2-0 in matches of four sets or more this season.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was Autumn King, who knocked down 16 kills on 40 total attacks for a .250 hitting percentage. The 16 kills were a career high for the sophomore, as she has grown into her role as an outside hitter. The other Cardinal to reach double digit kills was Katie Wilking, who set a new season-high with 11 on the night. Camryn Matus would lead the passing game with ,26 assists, and fell just shy of a triple-double with eight kills and nine digs. Leading the back line effort was Mara McDougal, who fell one shy of her career-best with 24 digs, while Faith Keifer picked up a double-double with 11 digs and 18 assists.
The Wheeling University Volleyball team returns to action on Saturday, September 12, When they take on Clarion with first serve at 2:30 PM.
