NEWBERRY, S.C. - The Cavalier volleyball team was swept by Newberry College in its third straight road match. The Cavs fell to the Wolves 25-17, 25-23 and 25-20.
UVA Wise was riding high after an emotional, highly competitive road win against rival Emory & Henry Tuesday night. The Cavs won that match in five sets after an exhausting back and forth battle.
The emotional rollercoaster caused by the win over Emory & Henry seemed to pose some challenges for the Cavs against Newberry.
The Wolves came into this match 3-11 (2-4 SAC) on the season. Included in the 11 losses was a nine-match losing streak after the opening match of the season.
However, the Wolves were ready for UVA Wise and showed it in the opening set.
Freshman outside hitter Anna Schneider was the main benefactor of 15 good assists from sophomore setter Annie Dill.
Dill, who set a career high with 43 assists in Newberry's most recent match against Limestone, finished the match with 38 total assists. It was the second-best performance of her career behind the aforementioned Limestone match.
Schneider was the lead scorer for Newberry on a night in which three Wolves hitters reached double figures. The freshman had five kills in the opening set that contributed to her 13 total on the night. 13 kills ties a career high for Schneider and marks her third straight match with 12+ kills.
Newberry dominated UVA Wise beginning in the middle stages of the set and held that all the way to the finish line.
Winning 25-17 in the opener, Newberry did something no other team in the SAC had done this year; beat UVA Wise by more than five points in a set.
Despite a losing conference record, the Cavs had remained competitive in every set this season. That changed when Newberry was in complete control of the first set.
The Wolves would only ride that momentum from set one into the rest of the match.
In the second set, after expanding their lead to three points early on, Newberry saw UVA Wise claw back and retake the lead 15-14 thanks to junior setter Lily Gutierrez who had both a dump-kill and assist in the short run.
After that, Newberry took the lead 16-15 and never relinquished it. The 15-14 lead for UVA Wise would be their last of the entire match, as Newberry won the third set wire-to-wire.
The bright spots for UVA Wise were minimal. Junior outside hitter Kaylee Scarce was the only Cavalier with double-digit kills, finishing with 12. She was followed by sophomore outside hitter Morgan Blankenship who had eight. The next highest scoring Cavalier hitter had just three kills.
Sophomore setter Piper Suddeth had another good performance both offensively and defensively.
She was coming off a career performance against Emory & Henry on Tuesday in which she tied a career high with 22 assists and set a new career-best with 18 digs.
Against Newberry, Suddeth was the only Cavalier to record a double-double in any categories, as she put up 12 assists and led the team with 13 digs.
Continuing her streak of reaching 12+ assists in every match, this was Suddeth's eighth double-double of the season to go along with it.
UVA Wise falls to 7-5 (2-4 SAC) on the season.
The Cavs look to bounce back with one final road match before returning home to Wise.
A trip to Wingate, S.C. is on the itinerary to face the 10-2 (3-1 SAC) Wingate Bulldogs Saturday, Sep. 30 at 2 p.m.
