The Charleston Women's Volleyball team is headed to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2007. They will begin play on Friday, November 18 against Fairmont State University at 7:30 p.m.
This season has been one of dominance for second-year head coach Tyler Kanelos. In 2021 he took over a program that had its share of struggles in recent years. Since 2016 Charleston was just seven games over .500 (77-70) while reaching the Mountain East Conference Championship just once in that span.
In his first season, Kanelos began to get back on the right track track, finishing 22-11 overall but falling to West Virginia State in the MEC Semifinal in 2021. That team was led by a group of young players who had few experiences in big matches throughout their careers.
In 2022, UC Women's Volleyball made a statement, finishing the regular season 30-3 overall and 15-1 in conference play, while remaining undefeated at home during the regular season. They captured the MEC regular season title and earned the right to host the MEC Tournament for the first time in school history. Kanelos was also named MEC's 2022 Women's Volleyball Coach of the Year.
At the core of the team sit three veterans in Erin Carmody, Pia Selke, and Sage Bearnson. Carmody, a graduate transfer from the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, leads the team on defense with 4.61 digs per set. She was named MEC honorable mention and is ranked third in the MEC for digs with 558 on the season.
Selke is the first part of the two-headed beast that is the UC offense. The German transfer student from the College of Southern Idaho was named All-MEC First Team MH/RH tallying 380 season kills with a .324 hitting percentage. Selke is second on the team in kills behind her counterpart Sage Bearnson. She was also announced as an All-Atlantic Second Team Selection by the Conference Commisioners Association for 2022.
Bearnson, a transfer from Central Wyoming College, was named All-MEC First Team after leading UC with 400 kills on the season. She finished fourth overall in the MEC for total kills and is fifth in kills/set with 3.28.
Charleston boasts another weapon on defense in MB Reagan McLean. McLean, a redshirt freshman and transfer from Marshall University was named MEC Freshman of the Year as well as being among those awarded All-MEC Honorable Mention 2022. She leads UC in blocks with a staggering 129.0 total blocks and holds an MEC best 1.29 blocks/set.
Finally, Maria Hernandez, the Junior from Bayamon, Puerto Rico, rounds out the UC offensive force. She was named All-MEC second team after finishing the season with a team best 1,320 assists. Hernandez is second best in that category in the MEC and boasts 11.0 assists/set for the season.
Charleston fell in the MEC Championship to Wheeling 3-1, but will look to right the ship against the Fighting Falcons of Fairmont State. Prior to the loss at the hands of the Cardinals, UC had won 15 straight matches with the lone conference loss coming in five sets to West Virginia State University on October 4th.
In their last two meetings with Fairmont in 2022, the Golden Eagles have swept their way through each of their matches, winning by an average margin of 5.83 points. UC also took a five set victory from the Fighting Falcons in the MEC Tournament in 2021.
Charleston will look to keep their season alive on Friday and face Clarion in the semifinal of the Atlantic Regional on Saturday.
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