WISE, Va. – The UVa-Wise women's volleyball team will host Mountain East Conference leader and No. 7 nationally ranked Wheeling Jesuit University Friday evening on senior night inside the David J. Prior Convocation Center at 5 p.m. Senior outside hitter Kelsey Smith and senior right side hitter Simona Zduoba will be honored prior to tomorrow night's match.
 
The Cavaliers (14-11, 9-1 MEC) will take on the Lady Cardinals (24-3, 11-0 MEC), who sit in first place in the conference and have not dropped a set in league play this year. UVa-Wise is currently in second place in the MEC standings, holding a one-match lead on Fairmont State and the University of Charleston who both own an 8-2 conference record.
 
UVa-Wise is coming off of a five-set heartbreaking non-conference home loss to King University Wednesday night. Despite holding a 2-1 lead over the Tornado the Cavs were unable to capture the fourth or fifth set, eventually falling 15-6 in the final set.
 
The Cavs have a daunting task ahead of them Friday as Wheeling Jesuit has not dropped a single set to any MEC opponent since 2013. The Lady Cardinals have made appearances in the previous four NCAA Division II Elite Eights and have claimed four straight NCAA Atlantic Region Championships. Furthermore, Wheeling Jesuit has won 38 matches each of the last three years and has won more than 35 matches each of the previous four seasons.
 
The Lady Cardinals are ranked first in the NCAA Atlantic Region with their only three losses this season coming against ninth-ranked University of Minnesota at Duluth twice and No. 5 University of Tampa.
 
Last season the Cavs were swept by the Lady Cardinals in Wise after falling 3-0 to Wheeling Jesuit on the road during the 2013 season. UVa-Wise will try to improve their performance last year against the Lady Cardinals, where the Cavs were held to only 37 combined points in the three-set loss and scored no more than 15 points in any set.
 
UVa-Wise enters Friday's match hitting .193 on the season and averaging 12.2 kills per set to go along with 11.5 assists per set and 16 digs per set. The Cavs are giving up 11.8 kills per set as opponents have hit .165 on UVa-Wise and averaged 11.2 assists per set and 15.6 digs per set. In league matches UVa-Wise ranks third in the MEC in hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage, assists per set and kills per set, while ranking fourth in both blocks per set and digs per set.
 
Wheeling Jesuit has shown its prolific offense this season as the Lady Cardinals are hitting .291 on the year with 14.3 kills per set, 13.6 assists per set and 18.1 digs per set. The Lady Cardinals are allowing opponents to hit .128 on them and average 11.1 kills per set, 10.7 assists per set and 15.3 digs per set. Wheeling Jesuit ranks first in conference matches in the MEC in hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage, assists per set and kills per set, while ranking second in blocks per set and digs per set.
 
Outside hitter Karley Allen continues her outstanding junior season, ranking first in league play in the MEC in both total kills (172) and kills per set (4.65) while averaging the sixth-most digs per set (4.32). The Lanexa, Virginia (New Kent H.S.), native has registered 405 kills this season at 4.31 per set and is only 29 kills away from reaching Head Coach Kristen Salyer in career kills, who is third on UVa-Wise's all-time kills list at 1,214 total. Allen has also made a team-leading 359 digs this year (3.82 per set).
 
Freshman outside hitter Ciara Kain is having a great inaugural season, totaling 195 kills this season at 2.38 per set. In her first collegiate season, freshman setter Chandler Rouse ranks first in the MEC in league contests in total assists (403) and second in assists per set (10.89).
 
Juniors Erin Lee and Erin Anderson have been holding down the back line for the Cavs this season. Libero Lee has made 306 this year (3.26 per set) while defensive specialist Anderson has tallied 256 digs at 3.41 per set. Middle blockers Santana Bishop and Amanda Auxier have been a huge help on the block for UVa-Wise as of late. Junior Bishop has recorded 65 total blocks in 25 matches as freshman Auxier has contributed 61 of her own.
 
Wheeling Jesuit is led by Kayce Krucki, Emma Schleucher and Haley Kindall on offense who have each registered more than 200 kills on the year and are averaging more than 2.6 kills per set. The Lady Cardinals are led on defense by Jessica Thobe who has made 409 digs (4.76 per set) this season and Lauren Graves who has recorded 89 total blocks (1.11 per set).
 
Admission to all home volleyball matches this season is free for everybody.
 
Both live streaming video and live stats for Friday night's match can be found by clicking the links at the top of the page and also by visiting the 2015 women's volleyball schedule on uvawisecavs.com. Viewers can watch the live stream in HD format for a charge of $5.
 
Following tomorrow night's contest, the Cavs will embark on a five-match MEC road trip to complete the 2015 regular season beginning with a trip to Concord University Tuesday for a 7 p.m. match.
 
Visit uvawisecavs.com for all Cavalier volleyball news, statistics, complete schedule and more.