The UVA Wise Highland Cavaliers volleyball team reigned supreme against the Concord Mountain Lions tonight in the David J. Prior Convocation Center by a score of 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-21).
The beginning of the first set was tightly contested, with each team attacking point by point. It wasn't until the UVA Wise Cavaliers (3-7, 0-4 SAC) had a Kelsey Green kill to hit their eleventh point that the Mountain Lions (2-5, 0-0 MEC) started to spiral out of control. Back-to-back kills by Kaylee Scarce and Adison Minor gave the Cavs an edge and they started to pull away from Concord by a four-point margin. Concord responded with two kills by Sheridan Herron towards the end of the match to get them to 21, but Concord was never able to take the lead. Another Green kill, an ace by Zoe Avery, and an attack error by Concord's Amber Hall sealed the deal for the Cavs as they won 25-21.
In the second set, the Cavs made the first move as Cassidy Farley had a monstrous block to prevent a Mountain Lion early lead. Hannah Steele from Concord then responded with a ferocious kill to keep the score even. Yet, in Farley fashion, she had the last laugh and produced a kill to make it 2-1. Concord's team communication started to suffer, as the team made multiple errors to give the Cavs a greater lead. A kill by Dannah Persinger, a kill by Morgan Blevins, and an Avery ace gave a 4-point lead to the Cavs, making it 8-4. Points 9 through 13 for the Cavs consisted of two attack errors from the Mountain Lions and three aces for Green. Their offense was unstoppable by Concord, and UVA Wise didn't let their opponent score more than 14 points. UVA Wise won by a 11-point margin to end the second set in their favor.
In the third and final set, UVA Wise jumped out of the gate and scored four points right off the bat from kills by Adison Minor, Scarce, and Green. Concord stayed in the game through the efforts of Steele and Jessica King to slice the Cavs lead in half, but Minor struck again and made the score 5-2. Concord had their fair share of attack errors to aid the Cavs to an even larger lead, making the score 16-9. When it looked like the Cavs had ultimately secured the win, Concord surprisingly scored four consecutive points with attack errors on the Cavs' side and a ball-handling error from Avery. UVA Wise sped ahead once again, snagging three unanswered points to create a 19-13 lead. Concord refused to let the Cavs win that easily, and had a remarkable six-point run to tie the score up 19-19. Although the Mountain Lions were able to snag another two points, the Cavs never let them take the lead and were able to wrap up the set with a score of 25-21.
This win marks the first win at home for the UVA Wise Cavaliers since Sept. 11, 2018 when they beat Lees-McRae College 3-1.
Green was the overall kill leader on the night with 14 kills. On Concord's end, Steele put up 12 kills to add to her stats. Farley had seven blocks on the night, with Concord's Hall with five. Rylee Waye of the Cavs led the night in assists with 25 and Concord's Imani Rodgers trailed right behind her with 17. Rounding out the stats for the Cavs was Green with five aces and Matelyn Gibson with 11 digs. Concord's Kristin Lough had two aces and Kaylee Spees had 22 digs.
Next, the Cavs take on Lincoln Memorial University in a SAC battle on Sept. 24 at 7:00 p.m. in Harrogate, Tenn.
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