Wheeling Sweeps Charleston to Win 19th Straight
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WHEELING -- It was business as usual for the Wheeling University volleyball team. The No. 15 Cardinals came out of the gates hot in the first set and never look back as it swept Charleston 25-13, 25-13, 25-18 in their final home game of the season inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center Tuesday night.
It was also the 19th straight victory for Wheeling.
"I loved our team effort," Wheeling (24-3, 12-0 MEC) coach Christy Benner said. "Charleston always plays us very well. They're a very exciting team and they always come here ready to play. I think our girls really stepped up to the plate, did a great job, played as a team and I liked some of our defensive efforts. So, I'm pretty happy."
The Cardinals only trailed once during the match when the Golden Eagles (8-19, 3-8) grabbed a 7-6 lead in the early going of the second set.
And even when Wheeling scored the next two points, Charleston still put up a fight. The teams exchanged points during on five straight serves as the score read 10-10.
The Cardinals then scored six straight to take a comfortable lead, before scoring nine of the next 12 points, including the last seven to take the second set and go up 2-0.
During the second set, there were 10 occasions where the score was tied.
"I think what happens sometimes when you win the first set like that, sometimes you let your guard down a little bit," Benner said about the back-and-forth battle to begin the second set. "One thing that Charleston didn't is they didn't stop pushing us and that's what happens. We kind of had to settle back in and get back what we were doing in the first set. Luckily, we went on that run and our offense was a little too much for them to handle at that time."
The Cardinals came out swinging in the third set when they scored the first four points and nine of the first 12 to take a commanding 9-3 lead. Wheeling led by as many as eight during the third set, but still had to hold off a small Charleston rally.
Up 20-12, the Golden Eagles scored six of the next eight points to cut their deficit to four, 22-18. However, the Cardinals were able to capture the final three points to secure the sweep.
The fast start to the third set was almost a mirror image of the first set. The Cardinals scored the first five points and eventually took a commanding 17-5 lead as they never looked back.
The Cardinals, finished their home slate of their schedule as they have four straight road games to conclude the regular season.
Next on their schedule is Urbana, who is right on Wheeling's tail in the Mountain East Conference standings.
The Blue Knights currently are in second place in the MEC with a conference record of 10-1. There lone MEC loss came against the Cardinals on Oct. 11.
"It always seems someone is on our tail. The competition's getting better and better each year," Benner said. "We go to Urbana and they always play really well at home. They're a great team. I don't like going four matches on the road at the end, but we have to really be focused one day at a time and one game at a time."
Breanna Kramer tallied 11 kills, eight digs, three aces and thee blocks for the Cardinals.
Cassie Meyer had 10 kills and 10 digs while Haley Kramer supplied seven kills.
Stephanie Sylvester had 33 assists and Audrey Francis compiled 13 digs.
For the Golden Eagles, Sydney Burt tallied seven kills and 10 digs while Erin Thomas had 33 assists and four digs.