Last week, the Wheeling University Volleyball team (18-7, 11-1) clinched their spot in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) playoff tournament with a 3-0 week. Now the race is on to host the MEC Tournament as the season enters its final two weeks of the regular season. Wheeling will look to start the final two weeks on the right note when they head to Frostburg State Tuesday night to take on the Bobcats, with tip-off at 7 PM.
Last time out, the Cardinals finished off a weekend sweep when they defeated Davis & Elkins 3-0 on Saturday. The team hit over .300 for the second consecutive, match, finishing with a .315 hitting percentage across the three sets. The first two sets of the night were close early on before an early run by the Cardinals created separation. They picked up wins of 25-12 and 25-16 to take a 2-0 lead in the match and looked for their second sweep of the weekend. That was when the Cardinals hitters turned it on, hitting .371 during the final set. They started the set fast, scoring the first seven points and added three more later to score 11 of the first 12 set points. The Cardinals went on to win 25-15 to secure the 3-0 match win as they improved to 11-1 in MEC play.
While the Cardinal's hitters did their part racking up the kills, setter Karly Niesen had a big day leading the offense to their second straight .300 + hitting performance. The junior finished with 29 assists on the night, and as a result the Cardinals hit .315 (43-108 with nine errors) in the match. Niesen currently leads the MEC in assists/set (11.87) and is second in assists (1001) through the first 25 games. She only trails Charleston's Maria Hernandez (1007) in that category as she continues to be a strong leader for the team. She has 40 or more assists in 13 of the team's 25 games this season and looks to continue to be a strong setter for the Cardinals offense down the stretch.
A pair of Cardinals hitters took advantage of those strong sets in the match with Tylah Yeomans and Riley Kindall each finishing with 10 kills on the day. Yeomans has been the Cardinal's offensive leader throughout the season, with 310 kills, and sists fifth on the team with a .274 hitting percentage. For Kindall, she has been strong on offense, with 183 kills, but lately has taken a greater role on the defensive side of the ball. Kindall finished with 25 digs in her three matches over the past week and has nine double digit dig games this season.
With the season coming down to its final two weeks, Wheeling and Charleston are battling as the two front runners to host the MEC Tournament. Both teams sit at 11-1 in conference play, with Wheeling's lone loss coming against the Golden Eagles while Charleston fell to West Virginia State in their first meeting. The team with the best conference record will host the tournament and right now Charleston holds the tiebreaker over Wheeling. With four games left to play, the Cardinals look just one match at a time as they try to bring the tournament back to Wheeling in 2022.
The Matchup
The Cardinals and Bobcats are meeting for the ninth time in program history and the second time this season. Wheeling has won each of the first eight matches in the all-time series, including three wins in Frostburg, Maryland. Wheeling has not yet lost a set against Frostburg State and looks to keep their streak going as they hit the road.
In the first meeting of the year between the two teams, Wheeling picked up a 3-0 win in the second conference game of the year inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center. Tylah Yeomans led the way for the Cardinals in that game with 13 kills while Mady Winters added 10. Riley Kindall would lead the defensive effort with 14 digs on the day.
The Details
Tip-off for Tuesday night's match is scheduled for 7 PM inside Bobcat Arena on the campus of Frostburg State. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
Original source can be found here.
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