Wheeling, W. Va. – After a weekend in the sunshine state, the country roads have taken the Wheeling University Volleyball team (1-2, 0-0) home to the Alma Grace McDonough Center. The Cardinals will be celebrating the history of their program when they host the first Wheeling Volleyball Alumni/Hall of Fame Tournament on Friday, September 4 and Saturday, September 5. Wheeling will play three matches over the span of two days as they celebrate the 2015 National Championship team's Hall of Fame Induction, while inviting five program alumni back as coaches on the opposite side of the court.
The opening weekend sent the Cardinals to Pensacola, Florida, where they competed in the annual SpringHill Suites Invitational. The Cardinals played three matches and one exhibition over the three-day span and got momentum from the first serve. They would open tournament play against Spring Hill College and earned a 3-0 sweep to open the season. The Cardinals won a win-by-two scenario at 26-24 in the first set, and swept the match the rest of the way, hitting .208 in the match. The competition only got stiffer as the weekend moved on, with an exhibition match and a meeting with #14 Southwest Minnesota State awaiting the team on Friday. Wheeling battled, but fell in straight sets both time out, while giving some of their younger players their first taste of college competition. As they entered the final day, the Cardinals would once again face the Mustangs, and once again fell 3-0 to close out the weekend. However, it was a much stronger showing in match two, raising their hitting percentage from .000 to .194, and forcing a win-by-two scenario in the final set of the tournament.
After serving as a bench piece for the Cardinals a year ago, Autumn King stepped up and had a breakout weekend for the Cardinals. She finished with 26 kills across the three matches, putting up a .136 hitting percentage and averaging 2.89 kills/set on the weekend. She played a big part in the Cardinals' weekend-opening win, setting a career-high with 13 kills while hitting a team-best .407 across the three sets. She helped the Cardinals close out the straight sets performance, knocking down six of those 13 kills in the third set. After the first weekend of action, King sits in the top 10 in the MEC in both kills and kills/set as she started her season strong. For her efforts, King was named the Wheeling University Female High Flyer of the Week honoree, the first such award of her career. She looks to bring her efficient swing to the Alma Grace McDonough Center as the Cardinals open what will be an 11-match homestand.
On the back line, it was Mara McDougal taking the lead in the opening weekend, stepping back into the libero position. She finished with 48 digs, averaging 5.33 digs/set, while holding a .951 reception percentage. McDougal transitioned into the libero role for the Cardinals at the end of the 2025 season, and looks to continue leading the Cardinal back line in 2026. The first Wheeling double-double of the season would come courtesy of freshman Isabella Faro, who made her Cardinal debut over the weekend. She accomplished the feat in the final match of the weekend, knocking down 10 kills and adding 10 digs in the final 3-0 loss to Southwest Minnesota State. It wrapped up a weekend that saw the freshman sit third on the team with 20 kills, averaging 2.22 kills/set, while also finishing third with 23 digs.
As they head into their first home weekend of the season, the Cardinals will be celebrating their program history throughout the weekend. They welcome in Ursuline College,
Point Park, CAL-U, and UINDY, with five of the opposing coaches being alumni of Wheeling University. UINDY Head Coach Haley Case (Class of '17) and assistant Riley Kindall (Class of '25), Ursuline Head Coach Rachel Tolbert (Class of '15) and assistant Allonda Watkins (Class of '23), and CAL-U Head Coach Audrey Emerich (Class of '22) all played under Wheeling Head Coach Christy Benner during their careers. Benner has had previous meetings with both Tolbert and Emerich, and will be matching up with some of her other alumni for the first time. The weekend then wraps up with the induction of Benner's 2015 National Championship team into the Wheeling Athletics Hall of Fame. The Cardinals will take the court three times during the weekend, as they look to start their regional schedule strong.
The Matchups
CAL-U: The Cardinals and Vulcans will be meeting for the 27th time in program history on Friday night, with CAL-U leading the all-time series at 15-11. The Cardinals have picked up six of their 11 all-time wins at home, and are currently riding a seven-match win streak in the all-time series. During that streak, four of the seven matches have gone at least four sets, including the most recent meeting on September 20, with Wheeling earning the 3-1 win. Katie Wilking led the way with 18 kills in the effort, while Kendall Kupper led the back line with 19 digs.
Ursuline: The Cardinals and Arrows will be meeting for the second time in program history on Saturday, with Wheeling leading the all-time series at 1-0. The only previous meeting between the two teams came in Pepper Pike, Ohio, with Ursuline making their first trip to the Alma Grace McDonough Center. The Cardinals would win the most recent meeting in straight sets back on October 21, 2025. The offense was led by the combination of Bella DeBarr and Camryn Matus, who each knocked down 11 kills in the effort. Former Cardinal Lexi Duplessis led the passing game with 38 assists, while Mara McDougal led the back line with eight digs.
UINDY: The Cardinals and Greyhounds will be meeting for the 10th time in program history when they wrap up the tournament on Saturday night. The Cardinals lead the all-time series at 7-2, including a 3-1 record when the two teams meet inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center. The Cardinals have won each of the previous six meetings between the two programs, however, Wheeling and UINDY will be facing each other for the first time since the 2018 season. The last meeting was on October 3rd, 2018, in a match that the Cardinals would win 3-0. Former Cardinal Cassie Meyer would lead the offense with 24 kills, joining with former Cardinal Stephanie Sylvester, who led the way with 49 assists. On the defensive end, former Cardinal Makenna Babb led the way with 19 digs.
The Details
Wheeling opens play in the Hall of Fame/Alumni Tournament on Friday. September 4th, when they take on CAL-U with first serve at 6 PM. You can watch the match live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
