WISE – After a strong first set victory by the UVA Wise volleyball team, Mars Hill would grab a quick lead in the remaining three sets and hold off the Highland Cavaliers to take the South Atlantic Conference match by a 3-1 margin Friday evening on the Quillen Court.
It was the second match this week for UVA Wise, who will host Newberry Saturday afternoon.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Result: Mars Hill 3, UVA Wise 1
Records: UVA Wise (8-9, 2-6 SAC); Mars Hill (7-8, 5-4 SAC)
Location: Wise, VA | The Quillen Court in the David J. Prior Convocation Center
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After spotting the Lions a 1-0 lead,
Mailea Hufnagel had a very hard hit kill to tie the match. It would be the only lead for MHU as the Cavs shot out to a 4-1 lead. Mars Hill would chip away at the lead and eventually tie the match at 12-12 with a kill by Timmons Yates. The teams traded points and then a series of Lion errors allowed the Cavs to grab the 17-13 lead. The closest Mars Hill would get the rest of the set was 23-22, but kills by Hufnagel and
Riley Brandon slammed the door on the Lions as UVA Wise took the set 25-22.
- Mars Hill scored first to open the second set and a few minutes later a Jada Cannon kill would spark a 5-1 Lion run. After that the Cavs made several small runs but the Lions had an answer each time and held on for the 25-16 win.
- UVA Wise would use a pair of
Serina Petersen kills to tie the third set at 9-9 and take a small lead. A 4-0 run by the Lions gave them an 18-14 lead. The Cavs would cut the lead to 22-19 with a kill by
Cassidy Farley, but Mars Hill held on to take the set 25-20.
- The Lions came out strongly in the fourth set as they opened with a 5-1 run. They would hit .353 for the frame as they took the 25-13 set win and claimed the match
.
ABOUT UVA WISE
- Brandon and
Kaylee Scarce led the Cavs with 10 kills apiece. Scarce also added in 14 digs. Petersen and
Morgan Blevins each had seven kills, and the third of Farley's five kills put her past the 400 mark for her career.
-
Abigail Curtis (20 assists) and
Lily Gutierrez (17 assists) led the team in setting with Curtis also grabbing a team-high 25 digs and Gutierrez added 10 digs of her own.
- Other players with double-digit digs were
Kamryn Livingston with 13 and
Piper Suddeth with 12. Suddeth passed the 500 digs mark for her career during the contest.
- Petersen also had a solid night defensively as she had four blocks.
ABOUT MARS HILL
- Three MHU players had ten or more kills. Kaitlyn Grant led the way on both sides of the net with 15 kills and nine blocks, followed by Ioana Poenaru (11 kills and 11 digs) and Jada Cannon (10 kills, 17 digs, six blocks).
- Mackenzie Schmucker had a double-double with 25 assists and 11 digs. Alyssa Kornegay also had a double-double with 17 assists and 13 digs.
- Laela Jimenez had 27 digs to lead all players.
UP NEXT
The Cavs host Newberry Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. in a makeup game for one that was postponed due to damage to the Newberry area and the roads in between from the remnanes of Hurricane Helene. The Wolves played at LMU earlier tonight, falling 3-1.
