Box Score WISE, Va. – The UVa-Wise women's volleyball team was edged by King University (Tenn.) in five sets (26-24, 18-25, 23-25, 25-20, 15-6) Wednesday night inside the David J. Prior Center.
 
Despite holding a two sets to one lead, the Cavaliers (14-11, 9-1 MEC) were unable to capture the fourth or fifth set against the Tornado (15-11, 8-4 Conference Carolinas). The Cavs were seeking their first win against King since the 2007 season. Handing UVa-Wise only their second loss at home this season, the Tornado won their seventh match in a row.
 
Falling behind 9-14 in the opening set, the Cavs mounted a comeback and won six of the next seven points to tie the score up at 15-all. The two teams would go back and forth before UVa-Wise took a 24-22 lead off of a kill by junior outside hitter Karley Allen. However, the Tornado stormed back and won the final four points of the set to take the opening stanza 26-24 off of a Cathy Williams service ace.
 
The second set proved to be quite different and much more positive for the Cavs as UVa-Wise jumped out to a 9-4 lead. Leading 15-8 the Cavs forced King to call a timeout but the points continued to fall for the home team. UVa-Wise built a 19-10 advantage before the Tornado made a push, but the Cavs would not let go and claimed the second set 25-18 to tie the match at a set a piece.
 
The Cavs continued their excellent play in the third set and despite falling behind 11-8, UVa-Wise fought hard to tie up the set at 15-15. Facing a four-point deficit the Cavs rallied to tie the set up once again, this time at 22-all. The Cavs won three of the next four points with Allen claiming the last two points of the set off of kills to give UVa-Wise the 25-23 set win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
In the fourth set the Cavs quickly grabbed a 5-2 lead on the Tornado and remained ahead at 8-7. However, that would be the last lead for UVa-Wise in the set as King quickly mounted a dominant 18-11 advantage. The Cavs battled but were only able to get within five points of the Tornado, eventually falling 25-20 in the set.
 
With the match tied at two sets a piece the Cavs began the fifth set and were unable to get things going offensively. King jumped out to 6-2 lead before Head Coach Kristen Salyer was forced to call a timeout. UVa-Wise only won one of the next four points and had to use another timeout down 9-3. The Cavs tried to make a late push in the set but were ultimately stopped after a couple of attack errors and a service ace by King's Casey Williams. King won the final set 15-6 to earn the 3-2 win.
 
UVa-Wise was outdone 63 to 53 in the kills department on the night as the Cavs hit .128 for the match compared to the Tornado's attack percentage of .180. The Cavs recorded 49 assists and 80 digs in the five sets to go along with 13 total team blocks. King made 63 assists, 97 digs and 10 total team blocks in the match.
 
Allen led the Cavs with another double double, tallying 19 kills and 13 digs while freshman middle blocker Amanda Auxier added 10 kills herself. Junior middle blocker Santana Bishop had an outstanding game for the Cavs, registering 10 kills and hitting .318 while tying her career high in blocks with seven.
 
Senior right side hitter Simona Zduoba registered a career-high eight kills off of hitting .500 and also made a career-high six blocks. Junior defensive specialist Erin Anderson earned 19 digs while junior libero Erin Lee added 17 more and senior outside hitter Kelsey Smith contributed 14 of her own. Freshman setter Chandler Rouse dished out 46 assists for the Cavs in the five sets.
 
King was led by Lauren Willoughby who made 19 kills and 16 digs as Cathy Williams recorded 14 kills for the Tornado and Grace Underwood tacked on 13 more. The Tornado's Amy Serowski totaled 21 digs to lead King defensively while Casey Williams added 15 digs.
 
"I think we battled hard one through four in those sets", coach Salyer commented after the match. "In the fourth set we got ourselves in a hole there but we did try to come back, we were battling out of that. Then in the fifth set we knew we had to win it, we lose a couple points there in the beginning and we never really recovered. We made a bunch of hitting mistakes. They made us make mistakes and we made mistakes, we didn't do anything to them really. We weren't really executing anything across the board, especially on the front row and then we got lazy on the back row too."
 
"Simona and Santana did play well, they stepped in and had great hitting percentages", added coach Salyer. "Santana did a great job blocking and so did Simona; Amanda stepped up and did some blocking as well. There were a lot of things we did well but just ending it in the fifth set like that is disheartening a little bit, especially after they did put in such a good effort throughout the entire match."
 
UVa-Wise will now host senior night Friday at 5 p.m. inside the Prior Center as the Cavs battle MEC foe and nationally-ranked Wheeling Jesuit University. Prior to Friday's match, graduating seniors Kelsey Smith and Simona Zduoba will be honored.
 
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