WISE – The UVA Wise volleyball team will have a few days off this week before hitting the road next weekend for two games in South Carolina. They will play a South Atlantic Conference contest at Anderson Friday evening and a non-conference match at Erskine Saturday morning.

The match vs. Converse previously scheduled for Tuesday has been cancelled. Because of all the changes due to the remnants of Hurricane Helene, the team will now have a stretch of six matches over ten days, with five of them being on the Quillen Court. They will host LMU on Oct. 16, Mars Hill on Oct. 18, and Newberry on Oct. 19. They will then travel to Lenoir-Rhyne on Oct. 21 before returning home to host Tusculum on the 23^rd. They close out the ten-day stretch when they host Wingate on Oct. 25.
 
GETTING WISE
- UVA Wise is currently 8-6 overall and 2-3 in the SAC after winning both matches last week. The eight wins are the second-most in the Coach Hanley era, after the nine the team had last season. The most wins by the Cavs in the NCAA era (2012-present) are 15 in 2015, followed by 14 in 2014.
- Sophomore Riley Brandon averaged a triple-double last week as she had 20 kills, 39 assists, and 21 digs for the week. The triple-double she had against Emory & Henry tied her for first in the SAC and fourth in the NCAA in that category.
- Kaylee Scarce leads the team in kills (124) and is second in digs (146). She ranks 15^th in the NCAA in attacks per set. Brandon is second in kills with 118, third in assists with 90, and fourth in digs with 83. Serina Petersen is third in kills with 80.
- Piper Suddeth leads the team in assists with 224 and is third in digs with 123. Abigail Curtis is the team's leader in digs with 224 and ranks 25^th nationally in digs per set. She passed the 500 career digs mark at Carson-Newman on Sept. 28.
- The Cassidy Farley block party continues as she had 14 last week, which puts her at 58 for the season, or a 1.26 blocks per set average. She currently has 298 blocks for her career, and she will be the fourth Cavalier to pass 300 career blocks.
- The difference between the team and their opponents is very close statistically, with opponents out hitting the Cavs .144-.136. They have 11.98 kills a set compared to 11.93 for Wise. The opposition also has a slight lead in sets (11.17 – 11.13 sets per set), and blocks (2.19 bps – 2.15 bps). The Cavs are out digging the opposition 18.77-18.47.

ABOUT ANDERSON
- The Trojans are currently 6-7 overall and 3-3 in SAC play. They will play at Limestone on Tuesday before hosting UVA Wise Friday evening and Mars Hill Saturday afternoon. Their most recent outing was a five-set battle against Tusculum which the Trojans won 3-2 Saturday evening.
- AU is outhitting the competition .174 to .169. As a team they are averaging 12.4 kills a set to 10.8 by the opposition. They also are out-digging opponents 14.6-13.9.
- Ava Reeves (179 kills, 121 digs) leads the team offensively, while Emily Campbell is second in kills with 127 and leads the team in digs with 167 and is second in blocks with 40. Brantley Chipley leads the team in blocks (42) and is third in kills (126).
- Ellie Nieporte has 522 assists, with the next most being Katy Smith's 34.
- AU Coach Todd Hay is in his 8^th season as head coach of the Trojans.
 
ABOUT ERSKINE
- Erskine's nickname, the Flying Fleet, comes from the wide-open passing attack of the football team in the late 1920s and was coined by a local reporter.
- The team is 5-8 overall and 2-2 in Conference Carolinas. They have had three common opponents with UVA Wise to this point (and two more in Anderson and King over the next few weeks) in Lees-McRae (L, 0-3), Valdosta State (L, 0-3), and Bluefield State (W, 3-2). They host Belmont Abbey on Wednesday and play at Emmanuel Friday evening before facing the Cavs on Saturday.
- Opponents are outhitting the Flying Fleet .262-.142, by a 12.5 kills per set – 10.0 kills per set average. Erskine are also trailing opponents in digs (14.9-13.2 digs per set) and blocks (1.7-1.1 blocks per set).
- Becca Yohe (129 kills, 93 digs) leads the team offensively, while Ali Angeli has chipped in 98 kills and Ryleigh Taylor 97.
- Ailena Mykins leads in assists with 211 and Mahayla Law is the team's digs leader with 125. Mykins is second in digs with 97.
- Five Fleet student-athletes have double-digit blocks, led by Ella Dietrich with 15.
 
UP NEXT
The team returns home to open the six-game stretch when they host Lincoln Memorial on Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. It will be the annual Dig Pink night for breast cancer awareness. They will then host Mars Hill Friday and Newberry on Saturday.
You can keep up to date with the Highland Cavs on www.UVAWiseCavs.com