WISE – The UVA Wise volleyball team will open their 2024 campaign Thursday afternoon when they host the 2024 Cavalier Classic. This year's Classic also features Bluefield State, Lees-McRae, King, and West Alabama.

All matches in the tournament will be played on the newly christened Quillen Court in the David J. Prior Convocation Center.

Tickets for the Cavalier Classic are $5 per day and are available online at www.UVAWiseCavs.com under the Fan Zone tab. Ticket sales are online-only.

The entire Classic will be streamed at FloVolleyball.tv and live stats for each match are available at www.UVAWiseLive.com. Links to the video streams and live stats are available at the links above.
 
GETTING WISE
- The Highland Cavalier volleyball team will open their 41^st season of play on Thursday. The program was started in 1969 and played until 1977 (with the exception of 1972, when there wasn't a team). The program went on hiatus until resuming play in the 1992 season.
- Based on current available records, the UVA Wise all-time record is 284-507. They are 51-89 in the Prior Center, which has been their home (apart from one match) since September 17, 2011.
- Head Coach Alyssa Hanley is back for a third season. Her teams have shown improvement each year since she took over the program in 2022. Assistant Coach Carly Kempton returns for her second season on the Quillen Court sideline.
- Except for one player who left for medical reasons, the entire squad from 2023 is back this season. They are joined by two freshmen, Mailea Hufnagel and Braelynn Williams. Experience should play a major role in the team's success in 2024 as the roster features a fifth-year player, six seniors, and four juniors.
 
PLAYERS TO WATCH
- Kaylee Scarce did not live up to her name statistically as she was prolific offensively, leading the team in kills (326) and was also second in digs with 330. She was named to the All-SAC Preseason Second Team based on her plentiful output last season.
- The Cavs have a dual threat when it comes to setting, with Lily Gutierrez and Piper Suddeth dishing out 447 and 436 assists, respectively. Suddeth also led the team in service aces with 31, followed closely by Gutierrez with 26.
- Defensively, Cassidy Farley is such a force on the front line that she even blocked herself leaving and is returning for a fifth year as a Cavalier. She missed several matches last season due to a sudden illness and is the last student-athlete at UVA Wise who will have an extra season of eligibility due to the Covid 19 pandemic in 2020. The Abingdon native led the team (and the South Atlantic Conference) in blocks last season. She was named to the All-SAC Preseason Third Team a few weeks ago.
- Kamryn Livingston was the team leader in digs last season with 368.
 
THE WHEELS ON THE BUS GO ROUND AND ROUND
- Lees-McRae is the only team returning from last season's Cavalier Classic. Their match vs. UVA Wise last year was a highlight of the event as the two teams battled it out on the court for almost two and a half hours before the Cavs prevailed 3-2 (25-21, 24-26, 26-24, 21-25, 15-10).
- In addition to Lees-McRae, Bluefield State and King are also familiar foes on the UVA Wise campus. The Cavs have a 6-5 all-time record vs. LMC; a 12-4 series record vs. BSU; and King is an ancient foe for UVA Wise with the series dating back to 1975. The Tornado have the edge in that one courtesy of a pair of long winning streaks. The current win streak for KU dates back to 2007.
- This will be the first time UVA Wise and West Alabama have met in volleyball (and possibly in any sport). The Tigers were a founding member of what is now the Gulf South Conference in 1970. They did play several times in the "neighborhood" around Wise as they used to face off against local SAC rival Lincoln Memorial regularly when that school was a member of the GSC in the 1990s and early 2000s.
- West Alabama will definitely be a strong contender for the award for the team traveling the farthest to play volleyball in Wise as the Tigers will travel approximately 520 miles from Livingston to Wise, driving through four states during the nine hour drive. The Cavs will best that feat next weekend when they will travel 750 miles to play in the Lions Fall Volleyball Tournament at Saint Leo University in Saint Leo, Florida.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Lees-McRae
- The Bobcats went 15-11 last season and 11-5 in Conference Carolinas under first-year head coach Lauren Havill. They ended their season in the conference tournament quarterfinals.
- They return two of their top threats in Destiny Holley and Sydney Stigler, both of whom were named to all-conference squads last season. Stigler led the team with 357 kills and also had 237 digs. Holley led the team and the conference in blocks with 106.0 total blocks (almost double the player in second place).
- Other players to watch are Rebecca Ryan and Lauren Xayavong.
 
Bluefield State
- The Big Blue went 15-17 overall and 12-5 in the CIAA last season, finishing second in the Northern Division.
- Jannice Lynch (304 kills) and Imani Stokes (140 kills, 82.0 total blocks) are two key returners for BSU.
- Bluefield State head coach Savanna Hammond has done one of the most remarkable turnarounds as the school had not won a set in over three years when she took over the program in 2021. Under her guidance, they not only won their first set (not match, set) in years but in 2022 they were the USCAA national champions.
 
King
- The Tornado went 11-16 overall and 6-10 in Conference Carolinas last season.
- They return a large core of talent for new coach Haley Price, who took over the job back in January after a season as an assistant at ETSU.
- Two of their top defensive players are back in Gabi Puertas (336 digs) and Riley Nelson (64.0 total blocks) as well as Gracia Love, who was third in kills last season with 135.
 
West Alabama
- The Tigers went 5-25 overall and 2-14 in the Gulf South Conference last season.
- New head coach John Schmidt will have a lot to work with as he rebuilds the program. Ally Craig (236 kills, 182 digs, 24 aces, 19.0 total blocks) and Jaida Alvin (219 kills, 204 digs, 39 aces, 20.0 total blocks) form a strong nucleus to build around.
- Chyna Dixon (137 kills, 154 assists), Mya Carter (101 kills, 36.0 total blocks), and Johanna Martin (94 kills, 67.0 total blocks) are also players to watch.
 
Looking ahead
- Following the Cavalier Classic, the Cavs will have a few days off to prepare for the Saint Leo Lions Fall Volleyball Tournament on September 13-14. There they will face St. Michaels and Valdosta State on Friday, and St. Edwards and Saint Leo on Saturday.
- The Cavs will stay on the road to open SAC play at Limestone on Sept. 20 and Wingate on Sept. 24.
- The team will not play at home until the end of September, when they host back to back SAC matches as Coker (Sept. 27) and Carson-Newman (Sept. 28) come to town.