WISE -- The CVC Women's Volleyball Team didn't win many matches in its closing matches but some of the season's best play provided exciting games and some close calls for some larger schools.

The Milligan Invitational Tournament provided the stage on October 28 and 29 for some of the best volleyball the CVC women have come up with in several seasons.

In one of the tourney's opening matches the Clinch Valley girls gave last year's tournament champs Carson-Newman a run for their money. The heavily favored Carson-Newman solidly defeated CVC in the first game of a best of three series 15 to 8. Donna Carter with one point and Maureen Meadows with two provided the Cavaliers only scoreboard showings. The second game of the match proved to be a real 'horse of a different color" as Clinch Valley handily slapped a 15-9 victory on the odds-on-favorite. Jennifer Yates led the lady volleyballers with 7 points. Donna Carter added 3 points while Geri Wallace and Jill Adams added 2 points each. Linda Walker chalked up a single point to finalize the scoring. A stunned Carson-Newman team then regrouped to come back for a 15 to 5 final game to win the match. Maureen Meadows scored two for the Cavaliers and Linda Walker provided three points. 

Against Mars Hill, another of the tournament's rated "big guns", the CVC women again electrified the whole match by showing a larger, more experienced team some solid volleyball. Once again the slow starting lady Cavaliers dropped the opening game 15 to 3 with Donna Carter and Maureen Meadows combining for the total points. The second game once again proved to be inspirational to the CVC-women as they bounced back for a 15 to 13 victory. Geri Lynn Wallace led the scoring with 7 points, Jennifer Yates provided 3 points, Delcina Wilkerson two points, Donna Carter one point, Maureen Meadows one point, and Linda Walker one point. Instead of fizzling out in the third game as they did against Carson-Newman the women volleyballers continued to struggle. After getting behind in the early part of the game CVC regained the momentum. A questionable call which cost Clinch Valley the serve allowed Mars Hill to gain the match by winning the third game 15 to 13. 

A fatigued Cavalier team lined up for its' third match of the day and found that some of the fire was gone. Cincinnati Bible College defeated The Cavs in two straight 15 to 5 and 15 to 12. In the first game Donna Carter gained one point, Maureen Meadows two points, and Geri Wallace two points. The second game proved far more competitive but nonetheless was a loss. Geri Wallace led the team with 4 points. Maureen Meadows scored 3 points, Jennifer Yates, two, Donna Carter one, Kathy Barnette one, and Linda Walker one point.

Coach Stephanie Pierce expressed pride in the team's performance at the tournament. "In past years CVC hadn't even won a game at times," she noted, "but our girls played very well against a taller, stronger Carson-Newman team and a quicker Mars Hill squad. We should have beat Cincinnati Bible but costly errors held us back." 

In the season finale the lady Cavaliers played their best match of the season against a powerful Milligan College team. The best three of five series went a full five games with CVC losing the home stretch. The first game was a close 15 to 13 victory for CVC with Geri Wallace leading the pack with 6 points. Kathy Barnette put in her strongest performance of the season with a 5 point input. Jill Adams added 3 points and Maureen Meadows one point. Milligan bounced back to win the second game 15 to 9. Jennifer Yates scored 4 points in this losing effort while Geri Wallace added three points, Delcina Wilkerson added one, and Linda Walker one point. CVC won the third game in this see-saw bout by a narrow 19-14. Jennifer Yates came through with 9 points when it was needed sail the team through troubled waters. Geri Wallace contributed 3 points, Donna Carter one point, Jill Adams one point, Delcina Wilkerson one point, arid Linda Walker one point After the third game the seesaw fell Milligan's way to 15 to 4 and 15 to 2. Game four found Jennifer Yates with 2 points, Donna Carter with a single point and one-for Linda Walker. Game five had only two CVC points with Geri Wallace and Jill Adams with one apiece. 

Coach Pierce expressed her appreciation for a determined team. The 4 wins 8 losses season record included many close matches against larger schools. "The team had few problems and tried hard to compete wherever they played."

(NOTE - This story was written in 1977 and reflects the style of writing and team names used at the time. It is presented here in it's historical context, unedited, for archival and educational purposes. The only changes made were to space out the sentences in a more modern layout.)