WILSON, N.C. - The Cavaliers traveled to Barton College Sunday to compete in the Barton Tri-Meet with Virginia State and Barton. 

UVA Wise swept the tri-meet with a reverse sweep of Barton in match one followed by a four-set win in match two against Virginia State. 

In the first match, UVA Wise found itself against the ropes after two sets. Barton took the pair 25-14 and 25-22. However, the Cavaliers turned it around with resilient wins in the next three sets 25-13, 25-14 and 17-15. 

Freshman defensive specialist Abigail Curtis made her first start as the libero for UVA Wise against Barton. She responded with the first double-double of her young career racking up 10 assists and 13 digs. In seven matches this year, Curtis has recorded double-digit digs in five of them. 

Offensively, the Cavaliers' comeback was led by freshman outside hitter Riley Brandon and junior outside hitter Kaylee Scarce. Brandon tallied a career-high 13 kills while hitting .357 percent, the first double-digit performance of the year for the powerful swinging rookie. Scarce notched her sixth consecutive outing of 10+ kills with 12. She added 11 digs for a double-double, her fifth of the season. 

After rallying back to tie the match at two sets a piece, the fifth and final set was a heated battle. In the closing stages the Cavaliers appeared to be in control with a 13-11 lead. That was until junior right side Lily Haaga and senior outside hitter Allison Gambill recorded back-to-back kills for Barton. 

The two teams would trade the next four points back and forth and keep the set knotted at 15-15. Kills from Scarce and junior middle hitter Dannah Persinger buried the Bulldogs and lifted UVA Wise to its first road win in the last five years. The last such road win for UVA Wise came on Sep. 18, 2018 at Glenville State. 

In match two the Cavs had an easier go of handling Virginia State. After conceding the first set 25-23, UVA Wise rattled off three straight wins 27-25, 25-19 and 25-17. Curtis, starting as the libero again, shined on defense with a career-high 20 digs. The Cavs were aided to the win by 66 digs in total as they had four players record 10 or more. 

Scarce again led UVA Wise in kills with nine. This was her first match all season not reaching double-digit kills but she contributed again on defense with 13 digs, the second most of any Cavalier. 

With the pair of wins at Barton, UVA Wise now moves to 5-2 on the season. It's the best seven-match start to the year for the volleyball program since also going 5-2 to start the season in 2005. 

Next on the docket, the Cavaliers will return home and return to conference play as they welcome Limestone University on Saturday, Sep. 16 at 2 p.m.