Box Score WISE, Va. – Despite taking a set off of Mountain East Conference leader and seventh-ranked Wheeling Jesuit University Friday evening on senior day, the UVa-Wise women's volleyball team was not able to pull off the monumental upset and fell 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-15, 25-9).
 
The Cavaliers (14-12, 9-2 MEC) won the second set against the Lady Cardinals (25-3, 12-0), becoming just the second MEC-member school to take a set off of the two-time conference champions in 52 league matches. The second-set win gave Wheeling Jesuit its first set loss in the last 33 MEC matches dating back to a 3-1 win against Fairmont State on Nov. 16 of 2013. The Lady Cardinals have not dropped a single conference match since the MEC began in 2013 and have only lost four total sets against league opponents. Furthermore, prior to today's match 22 points was the most points any MEC team had scored in one set against the Lady Cardinals this season.
 
Prior to the match senior outside hitter Kelsey Smith and senior right side hitter Simona Zduoba were both honored on the court by Chancellor Donna Price Henry, Director of Athletics Danny Sterling and Head Coach Kristen Salyer as the 2015 graduating seniors.
 
The Cavs hung with the Lady Cardinals throughout the first set, trailing by no more than three points until falling behind 17-13. UVa-Wise would come within two at 19-17 but that is as close as they got before Wheeling Jesuit earned the opening set 25-20 after a couple Cavalier errors.
 
Although the Cavs fell behind early in the second set, they continue to battle and clawed their way back from a 15-12 deficit to tie up the match at 16-all after a kill by Zduoba. Both teams went back and forth before the score became tied again at 20-20, from their freshman middle blocker Amanda Auxier took over and recorded three-straight kills for the Cavs to give them a 23-20 lead. After a Wheeling Jesuit kill coach Salyer called a timeout before Auxier gave the Cavs match point off of another kill at 24-21. The Lady Cardinals earned a kill and a block before UVa-Wise burned another timeout with a 24-23 lead. Following the quick break Zduoba and Auxier stepped up and made a block to give the Cavs the 25-23 second-set win and tie the match at a set a piece.
 
The Cavs picked up where they left off in the third set and jumped out to a 4-1 and 7-5 lead, however, the Lady Cardinals came back and tied up the set at nine-all. At 10-10 Wheeling Jesuit won 15 of the next 20 points in convincing fashion to take the third set 25-15 and a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
The fourth set proved to be very difficult for the Cavs to get much going offensively as the Lady Cardinals played true to their No. 7 national ranking. UVa-Wise fell behind 9-3 before coach Salyer was forced to call a timeout and things did not get much better from there. Another timeout was taken by the Cavs just four points later at 13-3 but the Wheeling Jesuit did not lose its grip in the set. UVa-Wise was only able to muster nine points in the fourth set as the Lady Cardinals took home the 3-1 match win.
 
The Cavs hit .125 for the match and registered 51 kills, while Wheeling Jesuit recorded an attack percentage of .256 with 62 kills. UVa-Wise made 85 digs and 50 assists as the Lady Cardinals totaled 96 digs and 61 assists. Perhaps the most telling story of the night was the blocking as Wheeling Jesuit recorded 17 total team blocks compared to the Cavs' seven.
 
Freshman outside hitter Ciara Kain led UVa-Wise on offense with 15 kills followed closely by Auxier with 14. Junior outside hitter Karley Allen recorded 10 kills and 24 digs to move within 19 kills of third place on UVa-Wise's all-time kills list.
 
Junior defensive specialist Erin Anderson moved to libero for the match and made a career-high 30 digs for the Cavs. Freshman setter Chandler Rouse continued her fine play with 45 assists made in the four sets. Auxier and junior middle blocker Santana Bishop each registered five blocks for UVa-Wise.
 
Wheeling Jesuit was led on offense by Lauren Graves and Emma Schleucher who both had 14 kills on the night, followed by Kayce Krucki and Haley Kindall with 13 each. Jessica Thobe made 28 digs for the Lady Cardinals while Kindall tallied nine blocks and Graves had eight blocks. Wheeling Jesuit's Thobe also totaled 55 assists as Krucki added 16 digs.
 
The Cavs will now 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. first serve.
 
Visit uvawisecavs.com for all Cavalier volleyball news, statistics, complete schedule and more.