HARROGATE, TENN. – The UVA Wise volleyball team fell in a SAC road match to the Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters in four sets Tuesday night. The Railsplitters won 25-19, 24-26, 25-15 and 25-22.
It's the fourth consecutive SAC loss for the Cavs since matching their conference win total Sep. 26 with a five-set win at Emory & Henry.
The Cavaliers have dealt with injuries all season long. They entered Tuesday's match without sophomore outside hitter Bailey Conner, freshman outside hitter Riley Brandon and senior middle hitter Cassidy Farley.
The SAC leader in blocks per set (1.4) and Cavalier leader in hitting percentage (.197% min. 100 attempts) was out with injury.
The Cavs were noticeably stagnant on both sides of the ball without Farley. Despite missing their lead blocker, the Cavs jumped out to an early 5-1 lead and forced a timeout from LMU head coach Kaylee Hogard.
The Railsplitters responded with a 7-3 run to tie the set at 8-8. From there, LMU outscored UVA Wise 17-11 behind seven kills from senior outside hitter Kristen Moehring.
The Cavs entered Tuesday night's match as the conference leader in team blocks per set at 2.4. They had zero in the opening frame.
The second set was much more competitive than the first.
The two teams traded points all the way into the late stages of the set. The Cavs benefited from better defense to keep the set close, tallying four blocks including a pair from both junior outside hitter Dannah Persinger and freshman outside hitter Serina Petersen.
Petersen has seen much more floor time lately, picking up the slack for a UVA Wise team battling a flurry of injuries. The freshman took advantage of the boost in playing time with a kill, assist and two blocks in the second set. She finished the night with a career-high five kills and added two blocks.
With the Cavs trailing 22-18, it was another freshman who helped UVA Wise mount a comeback.
A pair of blocks and kills pushed the score to 23-22 in favor of LMU, as freshman defensive specialist Abigail Curtis held serve. She dotted an ace to tie the set at 23.
With their backs against the wall, the Cavs benefited from a trio of timely errors from the Railsplitters. Senior libero Maddie Steele fired a service error, followed by a pair of attacking errors from freshman outside hitter Megan Maier giving UVA Wise the second set.
The third set was all Railsplitters as they dominated UVA Wise, hitting .545 pct. The Cavs were held to -0.100 hitting with seven errors on just 20 total attacks, to boot.
Moehring had another dominant set with seven kills to pace LMU.
The Cavaliers fought hard but ultimately fell in the fourth and final set, 25-22. The combination of attacks from Moehring and sophomore opposite hitter Abigail Kesler was too much for UVA Wise to handle.
With the fourth set close at 23-22 and LMU in front, the end of the match was all too fitting. Moehring scorched back-to-back kills to win it for the Railsplitters.
Those final two kills capped off a career night for the senior as she finished with a career-high 26 kills, contributing to her SAC best 270 total kills this season. Even more impressive, Moehring did it all on just 52 swings, ending the night with a .346 hitting percentage.
Next for UVA Wise, the team returns home to face Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday Oct. 14 at 2 p.m.
