BUCKHANNON, W.Va. – West Virginia Wesleyan volleyball beat Wheeling 3-1 (25-16, 25-19, 20-25, 25-21) in a Mountain East Conference match Friday night at the Rockefeller Center to kick off Homecoming Weekend.
The Lady Bobcats (8-11, 4-3 MEC) pick up an important win over Wheeling (11-7, 5-2 MEC) to make a push towards hosting the MEC tournament in back to back seasons.
Wesleyan hit .357 in the opening set and, after a tie at 11, pulled away for a 25-16 win. The Lady Bobcats carried that momentum into set two, taking it 25-19. Wheeling did not go down without a fight though as they hit .444 in the third set to win 25-20 and force a fourth. Wheeling looked like they were going to force a winner take all fifth set, but Wesleyan closed out the match with a 25-21 win in set four to take the match. The Bobcats trailed 20-15 late in that set before finishing on a 10-1 run.
MacKenna Halfin led the attack with 23 kills on .404 hitting, along with two aces and four blocks. Bhrooke Axe added 17 kills and four blocks, and Sabrina Carleton had 10 kills. Emily Denison and Emonie Fennell each had eight kills, and Denison also led the team with 18 digs.
Mia Myers dished out 29 assists and added 10 digs, and Liliana Beckstedt had 28 assists. Zoey Hopkins contributed 11 digs.
As a team, Wesleyan hit .294 to Wheeling's .246 and held advantages in kills (67-50), assists (61-48), digs (65-53) and aces (5-1).
Katie Wilking led Wheeling with 10 kills and five blocks, and Ava Green added nine kills. Camryn Matus had 27 assists, and Mara McDougal led all players with 21 digs.
Wesleyan returns to the court on Saturday, Oct. 10, at 10 a.m., hosting West Liberty at the Rockefeller Center as Homecoming Weekend continues.
