MEC Volleyball Tournament Quaterfinal Preview: #4 Frostburg vs #1 Wheeling

FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg State Volleyball team is set to travel to Institute, WV to face North No. 1 seed Wheeling on Thursday afternoon in the first round of the Mountain East Conference Tournament. 
 
How They Got Here: Frostburg goes into the tournament as the fourth seed in the South Division finishing the regular season at an even 15-15 record and a 5-9 MEC record.  The Bobcats, the fifth-place team in the North Division, replaced the fourth seed in the South Division to qualify for the tournament.  This is FSU's first MEC Tournament appearance since 2021.
 
Wheeling was crowned regular season champs of the North Division, finishing with an overall record of 22-7 in the regular season, for a 12-2 conference record.  The Cardinals went undefeated at home 14-0, finishing second overall in the MEC.
 
The Matchup: The Cardinals hold the all-time advantage over FSU, with an 11-0 record in the series history.  Wheeling took both matches over Frostburg this season with scores of 3-1 and 3-0.
 
The Players: The Bobcats are led by senior outside hitter Beverely Braun, who leads the team and the conference in kills with 398, while also leading the MEC in points.  Braun is coming off her third straight All-MEC honor, having been named Second Team All-MEC this season.  Also this season, Braun surpassed both 1,000 career kills and digs in a Bobcat uniform.  Another key piece to FSU's offense is redshirt senior Hayley Delor, the main setter for Frostburg, who currently sits at 1,010 assists on the season.  Filling out the rest of the offensive power for the Bobcats are senior McKaily Thomson-Moran and juniors Amanda Knieper and AJ Thompson, all who put up points for Frostburg as well.  On defense, FSU is led by junior libero Fiona Gonzalez Medina, who leads the team in digs with 506, for third most in the MEC.  Gonzalez Medina joined the 1,000 career digs club as well this season for the Bobcats.
 
WU comes in ranked fourth in the Atlantic Region, being led by MEC Player of the Year and First Team All-MEC senior Karly Niesen, who leads the team and the conference in assists with 1,149, to go along with 288 digs and 50 blocks.  Also receiving First Team All-MEC honors are senior Tylah Yeomans and junior Mady Winters.  Yeomans leads the Cardinals in kills with 359 on the season, sitting for second most in the conference, going for fifth most points in the MEC.  Winters leads the MEC in hitting percentage with a .376 for 251 kills.  Playing all around the ball, Winters also sits second in the conference in blocks with a team-high 107.  Rounding out Wheeling, junior Riley Kindall was named Second Team All-MEC, smacking down 320 kills on the season for seventh most kills and points in the MEC, along with a team-leading 357 digs, for eighth most in the conference.  Katie Wilking was named MEC All-Freshman team, knocking down 320 kills in her first year, for a .309 hitting percentage for fifth best in the MEC.
 
The Rest of the Field: To set out the tournament field, South two seed Charleston (WV) plays North three seed Fairmont State to kick off the tournament., while South champions West Virginia State plays North four seed Notre Dame College, followed by North two seed West Liberty facing South three seed Concord.
 
2023 MEC Volleyball Tournament Seedings
NORTH: #1 Wheeling, #2 West Liberty, #3 Fairmont State, and #4 Notre Dame College
SOUTH: #1 West Virginia State, #2 Charleston, #3 Concord, and #4 Frostburg State
 
Thursday, November 16 – QUARTERFINALS
#2S Charleston vs. #3N Fairmont State – 12 p.m.
#1N Wheeling vs. #4S Frostburg State – 2:30 p.m.
#1S West Virginia State vs. #4N Notre Dame College – 5 p.m.
#2N West Liberty vs. #3S Concord – 7:30 p.m.
 
All games played at Walker Convocation Center in Institute, WV