WHEELING, W. Va. – The second-seeded Urbana University women's volleyball team fell in straight sets to No. 1 seed Wheeling University in the MEC title match Saturday night by scores of 25-15, 29-27 & 25-12.
UU wraps up the season with a 19-13 overall record with its highest finish ever at the MEC Tournament. The Blue Knights have an outside shot of gaining an at-large bid to the NCAA playoffs. The selection show will air Monday night at 7:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.
Hannah Delor led the Blue Knights with 13 kills and eight digs, including a few clutch points in a thrilling second set. The sophomore surpassed 400 kills for the season following her outing in the finals match.
Maggie Burns added seven kills and six digs while
Lexi Reinert and
Kaitlin Trace chipped in with six and five kills, respectively.
Courtney Niesen produced 13 digs and
Anna Davis handed out 32 assists with eight digs and two kills.
Urbana jumped out to a lead in all three sets, but the consistency of seven-time champion Wheeling outlasted the Blue Knights.
In the first set, Urbana moved ahead 6-4 following early kills by Reinert, Burns and
Natalie Perez. Wheeling eventually claimed its first lead of the match and moved ahead by as much as nine during the first-set victory.
The second set would be a heartbreaker for the Blue and Grey.
Urbana led the majority of the set, going up four when a Reinert kill and block made it 12-8, and then UU's 18-15 advantage forced a Wheeling timeout. The Cardinals climbed back to take their first lead and had a set-point opportunity, but the Blue Knights rallied from a 24-22 deficit. Three straight kills by Delor put Urbana in the driver's seat with a 26-25 lead and when UU couldn't close it, another Delor kill tied it 27-27. However, the Cardinals were able to put two consecutive kills together and took the set, 29-27.
In the final set, Urbana grabbed a 3-0 lead after kills by Delor and Trace. But Wheeling responded with a 12-1 run to take control.
Wheeling's Haley Kramer had 16 kills while Cassie Meyer produced a double-double with 14 kills and 13 digs. Breanna Kramer also notched a double-double with 10 kills and 18 digs. WU setter Stephanie Sylvester recorded 49 assists.
The Cardinals outhit the Blue Knights, .293 to .094, while holding a 69-41 digs advantage. Neither team recorded a service ace.
All-Tournament Team
Jenna Dufresne (West Virginia State)
Kaitlyn Lacour (Davis & Elkins)
Hannah Delor (Urbana)
Courtney Nieson (Urbana)
Audrey Francis (Wheeling)
Stephanie Sylvester (Wheeling)
Cassie Meyer (Wheeling)
