WISE – The UVA Wise volleyball team lost in four sets during the SAC home opener against Limestone Saturday night 25-20, 17-25, 25-20, 25-22.
With the loss, the Cavs fall to 5-3 on the season and 0-2 within the conference.
In the opening set, UVA Wise jumped out to an early lead by taking four of the first five points of the match. Limestone responded by making it 6-5 suddenly thanks to two kills by sophomore outside hitter Mia McMillen.
The Saints would not concede the lead for the rest of the opening set. They went on a 6-0 with a few more kills from McMillen and a trio of attack errors from the Cavs that made the set 15-9 in favor of Limestone.
After getting up as much as seven points, UVA Wise made a rally to try and get back into the opening set as the Cavs rattled of a 5-0 run that included kills from three separate players. However, Limestone was able to outlast the late effort from UVA Wise and win the set, 25-20.
Sophomore outside hitter Tatum Riddle finished with five kills for Limestone in the first set, one behind McMillen for the most in the first set as she had six.
The second set was hotly contested in the beginning, but the Cavs blew Limestone out of the water with a tumultuous 11-1 run in the middle stages to lead 17-8. Sophomore outside hitter Bailey Conner picked up a pair of kills on the run that contributed to her match-total of six.
Junior setter Lily Gutierrez capped of the run with back-to-back service aces. Her three aces in total on the night led all players.
It was more of the McMillen and Riddle show in the third and fourth sets for the Saints. The two had an outstanding night with 19 kills each, combining for 27 of Limestone's kills in the final three sets.
The two each had a 19-kill, 16-dig double-double while hitting a combined .230 hitting percentage. Junior setter Jenna Szabelski also had a double-double of her own with a whopping 47 assists that were paired with 16 digs.
The struggle for UVA Wise was on the offensive front of the match. As a team UVA Wise hit for just .117 percent which included 25 attacking errors and four service errors.
With the win, Limestone improved to 2-1 in the SAC and 4-1 overall.
Next on the docket, UVA Wise welcomes Carson-Newman to the friendly confines of the Prior Center on Wednesday, Sep. 20 at 6 p.m.
