ROCK HILL, SC – Sophomore
Mia Poag had the third-most attacks in school history vs. Carson-Newman Wednesday night. Nineteen of them ended up as kills. Her last kill is arguably the biggest one in the program's NCAA era to date as it sealed the 3-2 instant classic upset victory over C-N in the South Atlantic Conference Semifinals. The team will now play in tomorrow's championship match vs. Anderson at 7 p.m. in the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center. On the line is the SAC crown and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The win was not only the program's first-ever over Carson-Newman, breaking a streak of 22 wins by the Eagles. It was also the program's first-ever SAC Semifinals win.
Live video and stats for Thursday's SAC Championship Final can be found at
www.uvawisecavs.com.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Result: UVA Wise 3, Carson-Newman 2
Records UVA Wise (16-13); Carson-Newman (21-11)
Location: Rock Hill, SC | Rock Hill Sports & Event Center
HOW IT HAPPENED
- UVA Wise answered the first C-N point with a
Mia Poag kill from
Olivia Amos and moved ahead 3-1 on a
Riley Brandon kill, but the Eagles came back to lead 6-4. The set stayed within a few points as Poag,
Maggy Sechrist,
Serina Petersen and Brandon kept the Cavs close, though the Eagles pushed back in front at 17-14. A Carson-Newman service error started an eight-point Highland Cavalier run with
Mable James serving, and UVA Wise tied it on Poag's kill, went ahead 18-17 on an attack error, and stretched the burst with an Amos-
Serina Petersen block, a James kill and another Poag kill for 22-17. The Eagles cut the gap to 24-23, but Brandon finished an Amos assist to give the Highland Cavaliers the opening set, 25-23.
- The Cavs moved ahead 4-2 early in the second set on kills by
Mia Poag and
Mable James, but the Eagles answered with five straight points and later led 9-6.
Riley Brandon put down two kills around a Poag service ace as UVA Wise pulled even at 9-9, and after a C-N kill and service error,
Abigail Curtis served an ace to give the Cavs an 11-10 lead. The Highland Cavaliers built the margin to 15-12 and later 19-16, with Sechrist adding kills and Amos serving an ace during that stretch. The Eagles came back from a 21-18 deficit with five straight points, including consecutive Claire Bolton aces, and after the Cavs twice pulled within one, Emerson Ahsmuhs closed the set for the Eagles, 25-23.
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Mia Poag answered the Eagles' opening point with a kill, and UVA Wise built a 6-2 lead behind Poag's ace and a block by
Serina Petersen and Sechrist. The Eagles scored four straight points to tie the set at 11-11, but Petersen put down back-to-back kills as the Cavs moved back in front and later led 17-13. C-N worked the score back to 20-20 and moved ahead 21-20 before the set tightened, with
Riley Brandon kills giving the Cavaliers set points at 24-23 and 25-24. The teams continued trading points until Maddie Hurst's kill put the Eagles up 28-27, and a Cavs attack error closed the Eagles' 29-27 set win.
- A block by
Serina Petersen and
Riley Brandon tied the fourth set at 1-1, and the Highland Cavaliers moved in front 9-3 with help from
Mable James' blocks and Eagle attack errors. The Eagles worked the margin back to 15-12, but the Cavs answered with six straight points, including two kills by Petersen and one from
Mia Poag during
Skye Williams' service turn, to push the lead to 21-12. After Carson-Newman got one point back, Poag put down a kill,
Riley Brandon added a block and the Highland Cavaliers finished the set on Brandon's kill for a 25-13 win.
- The Highland Cavaliers started the fifth set with points on an C-N attack error and a
Riley Brandon kill from
Abigail Curtis, later moving in front 6-3 after another Brandon kill and an Eagle error. The Eagles answered with four straight points, including three Annie Dziczkowski kills in the stretch, to move ahead 7-6, and after
Mable James tied it at 7-7, Dziczkowski put the home team up 8-7. James tied the set again at 8-8, and
Skye Williams followed at the service line with four consecutive aces before blocks involving
Mia Poag and
Serina Petersen helped UVA Wise stretch the run to 14-8. The Eagles got two points back, but Poag's kill from Amos closed the 15-10 set and the match.
GETTING WISE
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Mia Poag led the Cavaliers with 19 kills and 22.5 points, adding 10 digs and two service aces. She had a career-high 68 attacks in the match, tying her with Natasha Viers and Karley Allen for third in program history. Viers had 68 vs. Union in the Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament on Nov. 9, 2007 and Allen had 68 on muliple occasions..Allen has the record with 78 vs. Urbana in 2015 and is also second (along with Viers) with 72.
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Riley Brandon made sure she extended her playing career as she finished with 15 kills while hitting .303 and added three total blocks.
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Olivia Amos recorded 41 assists, 12 digs and one service ace.
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Abigail Curtis collected 27 digs and added 10 assists.
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Serina Petersen and
Mable James added in seven kills each. James also had four digs and three blocks.
- The Highland Cavaliers won the sets 25-23, 23-25, 27-29, 25-13, 15-10 and hit .186 while holding the Eagles to .165. They also had 10.0 total blocks to 8.0 by C-N.
- The match was the tenth this season to go to five sets, the team now has a 6-4 record in those matches. The Eagles were also experienced in five set matches, where they now have a 5-7 record this season.
- The last and only other time the Cavs played in a conference tournament title match? 2004, where they fell to King 3-1 on Nov. 13, 2004.
- The win on Tuesday guaranteed the team will have a winning season, their first since 2007. The 16 wins are also the most since that season.
- Heading into the evening the team ranked 13th in the NCAA NPI Southeast Region ratings. The win over Carson-Newman (who ranked sixth) might help the Cavs move up a bit in the ratings, but all four Conference Carolina teams who are ranked above UVA Wise are still playing and the Peach Belt Conference (who has two teams ranked in the top three) does not start their tournament until Thursday. Anderson is the top team in the region, and a win over them would help, even with the automatic bid, for possible seeding purposes.
UP NEXT
The Highland Cavaliers will face Anderson for the second time in five days tomorrow at 7 p.m. The winner will not only be the SAC Tournament Champion but will also receive the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which would be a first for the program.
