Wheeling, W. Va. – All good things must come to an end, and the Wheeling University Volleyball team (9-5, 3-1) brought their 11-match home stand to an end on Tuesday when they welcomed in Frostburg State. It was another efficient night for the Cardinals, hitting .324 as a team, as they earned their third straight sweep with a 3-0 win over the Bobcats. They would finish their 11-match home stand at 8-3 and improved their Mountain East Conference (MEC) record to 3-1 through their first four matches.
Early on, both teams were feeling each other out as they went point for point through the first 19 points of the opening set. Frostburg State would hold the slight 10-9 advantage, but an attack error would get Wheeling back to even and send them on their first run of the night. Aleithia Wilson followed with a kill, and the Cardinals would score six of the next seven points to get to the media timeout with a 15-11 lead. It was just the start of what would be the Icebreaker in the set as the Cardinals' run reached its peak at 11-1. Along the way, five different Cardinals would contribute kills, with Ava Green, Camryn Matus, Bella DeBarr, and Wilson picking up two kills each during the run. DeBarr would knock down the final kill of the run to bring up set point, and Frostburg State would have to battle to stay alive. They ended up answering with four straight points before Wilson knocked down the final kill of what would be a 25-15 Set One win.
Wheeling would show off their efficient, offensive attack right away, hitting .324 in the first set, and there was plenty more to come as the night went on. After the Bobcats scored the opening point of Set Two, Wheeling would get out to their hottest start, taking a 9-3 lead through the first 12 points. Wheeling continued to spread the ball around, with five Cardinals registering kills in those nine points, and by the media timeout, the Cardinals were staked to a 15-7 lead. Coming out of the timeout, the Cardinal offense continued to push, taking their lead to 21-11 before Frostburg State was able to get their footing. Senior Katie Wilking continued to swing a perfect hand, locking down her fourth kill on four swings, while Green continued her contributions on the outside. A pair of Frostburg State attack errors would bring up set point at 23-13, before the Bobcats would fight to stay alive once again, scoring three straight points, including two kills, before a Wilson kill made it set point, Cardinals. Wilson would then go up with Green on the block assist that ended the set at 25-16, and gave the Cardinals a 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set would be the most efficient of the night for the Cardinals, seeing them hit .406 to close out the night. Wilson and Green would go up to block the first point of the final set, and Wheeling would score four of those first five points to take a 4-1 lead. The set would stay close through the early going, with Wheeling holding a 10-8 lead, 18 points in, as the Cardinals were looking for separation. Their lead grew to five at 15-10 by the media timeout, with Matus contributing a service ace and Wilson knocking down a kill. The Cardinals would keep the good times rolling coming out of the break, going on a 5-2 run that made it a 20-13 game in the late portion of the third set. Frostburg State would continue to fight, getting as close as 20-16 before Green knocked down the kill that would lead to the Cardinals icing the match. A Matus kill would cap a short 3-1 Cardinal run before a Frostburg State kill got them to the 18-point mark. That's as far as they would go, with Matus bringing up match point with a second kill before DeBarr brought the night to an end with a kill of her own to secure the 25-18 set win and the 3-0 win of the match.
Leading the Cardinals in the effort was sophomore Camryn Matus, who picked up a double-double with 12 kills and 10 assists on the day. It was her third double-double of the season, while she put together a .345 hitting percentage on the night. Wheeling's most efficient hitter was Katie Wilking, who knocked down seven kills on eight total attacks for an .875 hitting percentage, while Bella DeBarr knocked down eight kills while holding a .421 mark. Faith Keifer would end up leading the passing game with 18 assists, while Mara McDougal led the back line with 19 digs.
The Wheeling University Volleyball team returns to action on Friday, October 2, when they hit the road to face Davis & Elkins at 7 p.m.
