WISE – UVA Wise volleyball fell 3-0 (25-19, 25-7, 25-16) in its season and conference opening match against Queens University of Charlotte Sunday afternoon inside the David J. Prior Convocation Center.
The Cavaliers (0-1, 0-1 SAC) opened the scoring on a kill by sophomore Zoe Avery, but the Royals (1-0, 1-0 SAC) quickly pulled ahead taking a 8-4 advantage later in the first set following a series of UVA Wise errors and a kill by the Royals' Logan Witt. Junior Kelsey Green's kill put UVA Wise down by three later in the set, but another point for Queens extended the Royals advantage to 15-9 into a Cavalier timeout.
Trailing by as many as six in the first set, UVA Wise managed to pull within two late but a kill for Queens and a UVA Wise attack error gave the Royals the 25-19 set one win.
Queens jumped out to a 9-1 lead as a Royals attack error put UVA Wise on the board in the second set. The Cavs would be unable to come from behind as the Royals took a 25-7 set two win.
The third set went back-and-forth to start with senior Madelyn Lawrence striking first on a kill assisted by freshman Rylee Waye. Four consecutive points in favor of the Royals gave Queens a 12-8 lead as the Cavs took their first timeout of the set. Queens went ahead by nine later in the third set and managed to hold onto its lead as the Royals claimed set three, 25-16, for the 3-0 sweep.
Queens finished with a .301 attack percentage as Chanel Turner led the Royals with 10 kills and hit .562 in the match. Brooke Farley recorded a match-high 24 assists while JayCee Jones added a team-best nine digs for the Royals.
The Cavs totaled 20 kills led by Green's seven while the junior added seven digs. Senior Brooke Abbott posted six kills while Lawrence added four with each registering a solo block in the match. Freshman Bethany Smith tallied a team-high eight digs as Ledford led the Cavs with 14 assists. Freshman Rylee Waye notched a pair of service aces in the match while freshman Evynne Stafford and Green tallied seven digs apiece.
Head coach Kristen Salyer's team will return to action on the road Wednesday, March 3 at Mars Hill University. First serve is slated for 7 p.m.
