FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg State volleyball team hosted the Wheeling Cardinals at Bobcat Arena on Tuesday evening, losing in three sets.
In the first set, the Bobcats came out strong against the MEC North Division leaders with a kill from sophomore AJ Thompson. WU then gained the lead before freshman Joie Allen and junior McKaily Thomson-Moran came up with a big block, making the score 5-5. The Cardinals would pull ahead on multiple occasions and each time the Bobcats would answer. The game pulled even for the fourth time when junior Beverly Braun would pick up a kill to make the score 13-13. Wheeling showed their prowess, scoring seven of the next eight points to go up 20-14. FSU would go on a three-point run to tighten up the set, with wo of those points coming off kills from Allen to a score of 20-17. The Cardinals were too much to handle at the end of the set, however, as they would end up winning 25-20.
Set two began with Wheeling jumping out to a quick 7-2 lead with a strong offensive attack. Braun got two kills in a row to get the Bobcats turned around, as after a WU attack error, the score was 7-5. The Cardinals were able to pull ahead once more before freshman Amanda Knieper would place a strategic tip to pull FSU within four at 11-7. Momentum would shift to the side of Frostburg, as they were able to pull within two on a Thomson-Moran kill to make the score 16-14. The Cardinals would then take six of the next eight points to a 22-16 lead and finish off the set again by a score of 25-20.
Down two sets to none, FSU made the third set a back-and-forth battle as they looked to stay in the match. Neither team took a lead of more than two early on, as each side played fantastic volleyball up to 13-12 Cardinals. Wheeling took the first bit of momentum in the set, rattling off four of five points to go ahead 17-13. Knieper scored Frostburg's next three kills, with another from Thompson just keeping the Bobcats in the set at 21-17. Once more, however, WU took control late on with four points in a row to take the set 25-17 and the match sweep.
Braun led all scorers with 14 kills, with Knieper providing a career-high nine kills as well. Redshirt junior Hayley Delor tallied 37 assists, as the defense was led by sophomore Fiona Gonzalez Medina's 13 digs and Thomson-Moran's three blocks.
With the loss, Frostburg falls to 16-13, while Wheeling improves to 19-7 on the year. The Bobcats are back in action on Friday, October 28 for a key road match at West Liberty set for 7 p.m. Information and updates will be posted at frostburgsports.com.
