Wheeling University Claims Another Mountain East Conference Volleyball Crown
Seventh Straight Title Is Benner’s 600th Victory
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WHEELING -- Wheeling University volleyball coach Christy Benner walked out of the gymnasium inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center on Saturday night with a trophy and a handful of balloons.
The Cardinals continued to build their legacy and Benner continued to solidify her's as they captured their seventh straight Mountain East Conference Tournament title with a 25-15, 29-27 and 25-12 sweep of Urbana. No other team has won the tournament in the conference's seven-year history.
The victory also gave Benner her 600th career victory.
"I'm just so glad to win that game in three," Benner said. "These players have played so hard this year. They've been through a whole heckuva lot to be in this position and I'm just so proud."
Benner's milestone meant a lot to seniors Haley Kramer and Stephanie Sylvester, who have been a part of 142 of those wins in their four years with the program.
"It's awesome," Kramer said. "Thursday (assistant coach) Matt (Benner) texted us and said that we need to get two more wins for her to get her 600th win and we really wanted to do that for her, so it's really exciting."
Sylvester had an impressive feat, as well. The setter amassed 49 assists to put her over 5,000 career assists.
She supplied 18 helpers in the match's second set and the Cardinals needed every one of them.
Urbana led the majority of the set with 12-8 being its largest lead.
The Cardinals continued to rally, tying the contest 11 times throughout but didn't see their first lead until they secured a 23-22 edge late.
Both teams went back-and-forth the rest of the way until Kramer blasted back-to-back kills over the net to complete the nail-biting triumph.
Sylvester provided assists on the final two plays.
"Our coaching staff was talking about what kind of adjustments they would make," Christy Benner said. "We knew they would make some adjustments. They did a really good job and they got us down but we knew if we could continue what we had done in the first set and just get back to the blocking scheme and picking up a couple tips here and there, we knew if we could get it close that we might have a chance in the end and we did."
For the Cardinals, it just came down to staying focused and coming through in the clutch moments.
"We just had to stay composed," Cassie Meyer said. "That's what we work for is those high-pressure situations.
"So, it was really about sticking to it. When we got down by one point late in the game we didn't lose that composure. We came back and finished it."
In the opening set, the Blue Knights grabbed an early 6-4 upper hand.
After rallying to take an 8-7 lead, Wheeling's Kenzie Schroer stepped behind the service line and reeled off seven straight points to put the Cards up 15-7. The Knights never recovered.
Then, after dropping a thrilling second-set, Urbana held its final lead of the day at 3-0 in the third.
Kramer followed with a four-point burst before Sylvester went on a 6-0 run to put it out of reach at 12-4 as the Cardinals cruised the rest of the way.
Wheeling (31-3) has won 26 matches in a row, including a 16-0 mark in conference play, where it has only lost two sets all season.
"The last eight months have been up and down," Christy Benner said. "We're finally in a stretch where we feel really good about things.
"These players stuck by the school and stayed here and believed what we were going to do and here we are.
"They have created their own identity and I'll be talking about this season for a long time."