JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The UVA Wise volleyball team traveled to Carson-Newman and lost in three sets Tuesday night. Despite a hard fought battle, the Cavs fell 25-23, 25-20 and 25-16 to the Eagles.
The Cavs fell behind early in the opening set 6-2 but rallied on a 6-0 run a few points later to take the lead 9-7. From there the teams traded points all the way until the late stages of the set.
Leading by one point, 21-20, senior outside hitter Julia Wheeler got a kill and a service ace on back to back points to grab a stranglehold of the set. The Cavs responded with kills from junior outside hitters Kaylee Scarce and Morgan Blevins to pull within one, 23-22.
Carson-Newman would win the set just three points later after junior middle blocker Emmagrace Cobb scored two kills. Cobb finished the night with 12 kills, second on her team behind Wheeler with 13.
The second set saw UVA Wise jump out to a 13-10 lead over the Eagles before they went on a 6-0 run to retake the lead at 16-13. That run proved to be the difference as Carson-Newman ended the set on another 3-0 run to win, 25-20.
Despite the injured senior middle hitter Cassidy Farley not participating, the Cavs showed improvement and stability on defense.
In the season's first match against Carson-Newman on Sep. 20, the Cavs totaled eight blocks as a team and Farley was responsible for five of them.
On Tuesday, in Farley's absence, the Cavs scored another eight blocks and this time freshman middle hitter Serina Petersen was the one to tally five personal blocks.
Petersen has been immensely impressive in the last month for UVA Wise. Her five blocks against the Eagles mark her third consecutive match with five blocks. She added four kills on just eight swings on offense, improving her season hitting percentage to .284 percent. Petersen has now racked up four or more kills in six of seven matches this year, with the lone outlier match being her collegiate debut against Concord University on Aug. 31.
Another bright light for UVA Wise was the offensive production of Blevins. She finished the night pacing the Cavs with 11 kills on 36 swings for a .194 hitting percentage. 11 kills is a season-high for Blevins and the most kills she's had in a match since scoring a career-high 16 kills on Oct. 10, 2021 against Catawba during her freshman season.
The Cavs will return home to face the Tusculum Pioneers on Friday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m.
