ELKINS, W. Va. – Davis & Elkins extended the opening set against No. 21 Wheeling but ultimately suffered a 3-0 setback at the hand of the Cardinals on Saturday afternoon in Mountain East Conference (MEC) play from The McDonnell Center.
Wheeling (18-3, 7-0 MEC) remains unbeaten in conference play after picking up the win in set scores of 26-24, 25-15 and 25-16. Meanwhile, Davis & Elkins (11-6, 5-2 MEC) suffered just its second conference loss and had its five-match winning streak snapped.
Kaitlyn LaCour once again paced the Senators offense with 11 kills, while
Mya Mintschenko added nine.
Raleighanne Weaver had another all-around effort with seven kills and five blocks while
Sarah Warren passed out 28 assists.
Kelly Smith recorded a team-high 17 digs while LaCour notched 15 and
Essence West added eight. Allonda Watkins powered Wheeling with 13 kills with Haley and Breanna Kramer combined for 16 spikes.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Set One: Hitting .208 in the frame as a team, Davis & Elkins used a 5-0 run late to tie the set at 24. LaCour and Mintshenko has kills in the run, but Wheeling countered back with the next two points for the set win.
- Set Two: Wheeling jumped ahead to a 5-0 lead to start and seven consecutive points pushed the Cardinals in front by a 15-5 score. A Mintschenko kill trimmed the deficit to 21-13, but the Cardinals scored the final four points for the 25-14 win.
- Set Three: Consecutive kills from Solei Daniels and Mintschenko gave D&E the early 7-6 edge. Wheeling scored the next six points for a 12-7 lead and never looked back.
MATCH NOTES
- Wheeling hits nearly .300 as a team in the second set, while Davis & Elkins was limited to a .021 hitting percentage in the frame.
- LaCour had her third consecutive outing with double-digit kills.
- Smith was held without a service ace for just the third match this year.
- Two of Wheeling's three losses this season have come against teams ranked in the top 10.
- Weaver recorded her sixth match of the season with five or more block assists.
UP NEXT
- D&E begins a three-match road swing on Friday, October 25 against Urbana at 6:00 PM.
