WHEELING – Wheeling University’s Fall Sports Media Day on Tuesday gave the Cardinals coaches an opportunity to speak their peace about their team’s upcoming season,. After reviewing Wheeling’s football, men’s and women’s rugby teams yesterday, today the Cardinals volleyball, men’s soccer and women’s soccer go under the magnifying glass.

VOLLEYBALL

Last Season’s Record: 27-11 (12-2 MEC)

NCAA DII Regional Championship runners-up

Cardinals head coach Christy Benner made it clear what her squad’s mission this year will be: to maintain her team’s past level of success while working in several new faces.

Wheeling graduated 10 seniors this past year, a group that had won three MEC championships in their careers. In their place comes a 10-woman freshman class.

“We’re entering the season with a completely new look,” Benner said. “We graduated 10 incredible players last year, a great group that helped carry on the tradition of excellence and our winning culture. Now we welcome 10 freshmen into the program. With that comes a new identity, a lot of excitement and an opportunity to build something special. I truly believe we have a great schedule this season. It’s challenging, and that is exactly what this young team will need.”

On the court, Wheeling will be led on the attack by players like Katie Wilking and last year’s MEC Freshman of the Year, Olivia Bach, while players like senior libero Melia Gorrell will be critical on the backline.

“Our program has a strong winning culture, one that is built over time- the tradition, high standards and core values that we reinforce every day,” Benner said. “It is not just about what we do on the court but how we carry ourselves in everything we do. We emphasize commitment, pride and unity, and above all, the importance of being a great teammate. These values are the foundation of who we are and what makes Wheeling volleyball special.”

Wheeling is welcoming former Wheeling volleyball standout- and the Cardinals’ all-time leader in assists- Karly Niesen to their staff as an assistant this year.

The Cardinals will begin their season with tough competition at a series of invitational tournaments which includes the West Florida Invitational, Grand Valley State Invitational, and the Cardinals’ own Wheeling Invitational.

“Fall is such an exciting time of year,” Benner said. “It brings in new student-athletes, and another opportunity to build on the tradition of excellence that defines Wheeling volleyball.”

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Last Season’s Record: 5-13-1 (3-10-1 MEC)

The Cardinals made it to the MEC Tournament last season for the second time in three years, and embark on the 2025 fall season looking to build upon a strong spring soccer season.

“The most important thing we’ve had to do is kind of reset expectations, to make sure everyone in the program understands we’re here to win, not just to compete or take part, we’re here to win,” head coach Ryan Wall said.

“We’ve done a good job of doing that, I feel. We earned a playoff berth in the fall, we made a good account of ourselves there, We went on to have a spring season which was a very positive spring season. We won more games this spring than we’d won in a while, which showed that we’re trending upwards and we’re really excited about that.”

The Cardinals will feature players like sophomore Lily Hanna, who tied for the team lead last year with nine goals, and senior keeper Sam Faulkner out on the pitch.

“To add to that, with the quality of the returning class coming back, we have a really good recruiting class coming in- which includes two players coming in who’ve represented their countries at the national team-level- we’re really excited,” Wall said.

“One of the most important things we want to do is make sure this program is back to where it used to be […] which is competing for the MEC title. We think we’re in a good way this fall, and we’re excited to give that a good push and I’m looking forward to a really strong season.”

MEN’S SOCCER

Last Season’s Record: 2-12-4 (1-10-3)

Wheeling head coach Brandon Regan understands last year contained some struggles for his young team, but is looking forward to seeing a still-developing group grow up this season. The question is, how much growth is in store?

Strong continuity is a good start to answering that question.

“We have a very good core of guys returning, we return 27 from last year,” Regan said. “A very young group- six of the 11 starters were freshmen last year. Certainly had growing pains last fall but the spring was a big turning point for us. We had some very good results, we beat Tiffin who were G-MAC champions. The six freshmen [starters] are all returning.”

Players to look out for this year include All-MEC honorable mention Joergen Bjerkreim as well as Jon-Michael Gordon, who missed all of last year with an injury, and Jordan Taylor.

“We’re looking forward to being back in contention in the conference again,” Regan said. “Young group last year, I think we can be very competitive this year and hopefully within the top four, competing for a conference championship.”

The Cardinals are welcoming eight freshmen and transfers onto their team for the fall. Regan noted the short amount of time his crew would have to get ready for the season, with a few weeks of practice before playing three preseason games.

“It’ll be interesting to find out how the new guys integrate in a short timespan, but certainly they’ll be valuable to the team and hopefully they can help us out,” Regan said.