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Jesuit Claims MEC Title; To Host Atlantic Regional

WHEELING — The No. 13 Wheeling Jesuit University volleyball team secured its sixth straight Mountain East Conference Tournament championship with a convincing 3-0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-14) win over Charleston on Saturday evening inside the McDonough Center.

The Cardinals (34-3) earn the automatic qualifier from the MEC into the NCAA Division II Tournament.

“I thought we had great energy,” Cardinals coach Christy Benner said. “The girls stuck to the game plan and played extremely well. All of our players stepped up when they were called on and stepped up together.”

Sophomore Makenna Babb led WJU with a kill-dig double-double of 12 kills and 13 digs. Junior Cassie Meyer posted 14 kills, while redshirt sophomore Breanna Kramer added eight.

Junior Stephanie Sylvester guided the offense with 40 assists and tallied 13 digs for a double-double, while sophomore Audrey Francis led the defense with 24 digs. Sylvester, Francis, Meyer and junior Haley Kramer were all named to the MEC All-Tournament Team following the match.

The Cardinals got off to a fast-start and matched the high-energy that Charleston brought to the court. WJU scored the game’s first four points and eventually built up a 17-10 lead to force a UC timeout. The Golden Eagles closed the gap to five, 17-12, before the Cardinals scored eight-straight points to close out a dominant 25-12 win. WJU left nothing to chance in the third set and cruised to the 25-14 set win to clinch the MEC Tournament Championship.

WJU and UC were tight in the second set, with the Cardinals holding on to a 17-16 lead, but another big run ended things quickly. Wheeling Jesuit scored on eight of the final nine points to win 25-17 and take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Wheeling Jesuit defense flustered the Golden Eagles all night. Charleston was held to hitting percentages under .100 in each of the first two sets, while the Cardinals posted a team hitting percentage of .318 for the match. WJU closed out the match with an impressive 21 kills in the third set to secure the championship.

“I’m excited to have another championship,” Benner said. “I’m excited for next week, but we want to really enjoy this for a little while.”

Wheeling Jesuit to Host

Atlantic Regional

INDIANAPOLIS — After earning the league’s automatic qualifier for winning the MEC Tournament, the Cardinals were selected the top seed in the region and the host for the eight-team 2018 NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Tournament. The tournament will be hosted at the McDonough Center, beginning noon Thursday.

The Wheeling Jesuit University volleyball team received their seventh consecutive bid to host the regional tournament after posting a 34-3 overall record. The Cardinals will face Shaw (23-8), the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) champion, on Thursday in the first round.

The other opening round matches on Thursday include second-seeded Gannon (30-2) against Shepherd (20-12), third-seeded Seton Hill (24-8), the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Champion taking California (Pa.) (20-12) and fourth-seeded Shippensburg (25-7) against Clarion (21-11).

West Liberty, which began last weekend ninth in the Atlantic Regional rankings, did not make the tournament after bowing out in the second round of the MEC Tournament to Wheeling Jesuit.

Detailed information regarding the NCAA Atlantic Regional Tournament will be available on today.

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