WISE – The UVA Wise volleyball team will begin South Atlantic Conference play in earnest as they have three SAC matches this week, with the middle match being their return home after two weeks on the road.

They will play at Wingate Tuesday evening and return home for the SAC home opener vs. Coker on Friday before hitting the road a few hours later to play at Carson-Newman Saturday afternoon.

All matches will be streamed on FloVolleyball.tv. Links to those broadcasts and live streams can be found above.

GETTING WISE
- The Highland Cavaliers are currently 5-4 overall and 0-1 in the SAC after a narrow 3-1 loss in their only match of the week at Limestone on Friday. That was despite a career night from sophomore Riley Brandon, who had the program's first triple-double with 16 kills, 13 assists, and 19 digs in addition to five blocks.  
- In that match the scoring difference in the first three sets was a combined six points as they all were hard-fought matches.
- Other key Cav performances were Piper Suddeth's 21 assists and 26 digs by Abigail Curtis. Limestone was led by Mia McMillen's 22 kills and 21 digs.
- For the season the Cavs are led by Kaylee Scarce's 83 kills, with Brandon close behind at 76. Serina Petersen has 47. Brandon is hitting .199 and Petersen .248.
- Suddeth has 136 assists, and Lilly Gutierrez has 103. Four players have 10 or more aces, led by Kamryn Livingston with 11.
- Defensively, Curtis has 143 digs, while Scarce has 89 and Suddeth 76. Four Cavs have double-digit blocks thus far, led by 29 from Cassidy Farley. Petersen has 23, and Dannah Persinger and Brandon have 19 apiece.
- As a team, UVA Wise (.141) and their opponents (.142) are close in hitting. Aces are a factor, as the Cavs average 1.94 a set compared to 1.48 from their opponents. They are close in digs as well, with their opponents (18.74 dps) slightly ahead of UVA Wise (18.35). The Cavs are also out-blocking their opponents by a 1.94 to 1.84 advantage.

SCOUTING WINGATE
- The Bulldogs are off to a strong start once again as they come into the match with an 8-2 record, 1-1 in SAC play. Their two losses are to 23^rd ranked West Florida on UWF's home court, and to LMU in a 3-2 upset last Friday in Harrogate, TN. It is only the second time ever that WU has lost to that team.
- Wingate has 538 kills to 380 by their opponents. They also have an impressive 75-42 advantage in aces and are out-digging opponents 626 to 548.
- Sydney Moreland comes into the match with 96 kills and 28.0 blocks. Lorna Stacherski (87 kills), Emily Johnson (86), and Gabby Saye (77) are also key players on offense.
- Maya Van Heyst and Katie Jamerson are the two main setters as Van Heyst has 240 assists and Jamerson 178 on the season. Van Heyst also leads the team in aces with 18, while Jamerson and Elsa Lamphere have 11 aces apiece.
- Maddie Hoffman's 184 digs lead the Bulldogs, while Van Heyst has 133.
- Wingate leads the all-time series 7-0 since the series began in 2019.

SCOUTING COKER
- The Cavs trail in the series 4-2, but are riding a two match win streak following wins in 2022 and last year. UVA Wise is 0-5 in SAC home openers.
- The Cobras enter the matchup Friday evening with a 3-6 overall and a 2-2 conference record with their SAC wins coming over Limestone and Newberry.
- Opponents are out-hitting the Cobras .156 to .137 with a 434-390 margin in kills. The Cobras have a 15 ace deficit (54-39). Blocks are the key stat as the Cobras have an 82-63 advantage in that stat.
- Taylor Hills leads in kills with 95, followed closely by Cayla Gilmore with 87 and Alyssa Carey with 87. Laila Hixon leads in assists with 169 and Maddy Roberts has 139.
- Meadow Morse leads the team with 168 digs, followed by an even 100 for Carey. On the blocking front, Kailyn Ivey has 41 to lead the team, while Kaspar McKay has 33 and Gilmore 26.

SCOUTING CARSON-NEWMAN
- The Eagles enter the week with a 6-3 overall and a 2-0 SAC record, but they will have a home match vs. Limestone on Tuesday and a short trip to face Tusculum Friday evening in Pioneer Arena before returning home to host UVA Wise Saturday afternoon.
- Currently, the Eagles are averaging 12.95 kills per set, 14.68 digs per set, and 1.87 blocks per set.
- Emerson Ahsmus has 123 kills to lead the Eagles, with Maddie Hurst chipping in 111. Blair Cherry leads the team with 381 assists (no other player has more than 25) and 13 aces. She also has 85 digs.
- Blake Cherry  leads the team with 114 kills, while Bennett McCombs has 102.
- Five Eagles have double-digit blocks, led by Hurst's 33. Taylor Keeran has 32, Ahsmus 20, Taylor Adams has 14 and Blair Cherry 12.
- Carson-Newman is one of five teams on the schedule that the Cavs played in the early years of the sport at Wise as the two first played in 1975. The others are Tusculum (who was the first team the Cavs ever played when the two first met on Nov. 8, 1969), King, Emory & Henry, and Mars Hill. The Eagles and the Highland Cavs first met in a tournament at Milligan on Nov. 8, 1975. Overall, C-N leads the series 15-0.

UP NEXT
Following Saturday's match at Carson-Newman, UVA Wise returns to the Quillen Court to open a four match home stand when they host local rival Emory & Henry on October 1. They then will host Newberry on Oct. 4 and Concord on Oct. 5.

You can keep up to date with the Highland Cavs on www.UVAWiseCavs.com