SALISBURY, N.C. — The Catawba College women's volleyball team seeks vengeance from the 2024 season finale in a Friday night South Atlantic Conference showdown with UVA Wise at 6 p.m. inside Goodman Arena.
Solid First Sets
- The Catawba Indians had to face two teams from last year's NCAA Tournament to begin SAC action in Wingate and Lenoir-Rhyne, both at Goodman Arena
- Despite losses in both tilts, Catawba stunned the 20th-ranked Bulldogs with a first-set win last week and took LR to the wire in Set 1 on Tuesday with a 21-20 lead
- All three of Catawba's wins have occurred when the blue and white won the opening stanza; the only loss following an opening-set triumph was to Wingate
- Catawba is outscoring its opponents 162-150 in the first set with an even 49-49 count in conference play
Top of the Lineup
- Sofia Beard and Lillie Kate Rogers are tied in the team lead with 78 kills and have two of the top three digs marks, combining for 106
- As Catawba's lone setter on Tuesday, Haley Moffett grew her team high in assists to 156 (5.78 per set)
- Riley Hill has crossed the century line in digs, totaling 103 to average 4.48 per set; her 921 career digs rank seventh in program history and 77th among active Division II players
- In her senior campaign, Martina Foster has the 40th-best active career mark of 257 total blocks while leading the Catawba Indians with 11 stops
All-Time Series
- Catawba boasts a 5-1 edge in limited competition against UVA Wise
- The Catawba Indians suffered their first loss in the series to close the 2024 season; the 3-0 win for UVA Wise allowed the Cavaliers to qualify for the SAC Tournament as the eighth seed
- The first two meetings – both in 2019 – were Catawba sweeps, but the Cavs have won a set in each of the last four contests
- This is the earliest match in the series, beating the initial meeting by just one day (Sept. 27, 2019); the four others occurred in October and November
Scouting the Cavaliers
- UVA Wise sits at an even 6-6 overall record with a 1-3 start to its SAC slate
- The Cavs are one of the most prolific blocking squads in the country and lead the conference with 81 total blocks including 1.98 per set
- Freshman talent has been key for UVA Wise thus far as Annabelle Dowell's 34 blocks and Mia Poag's 128 kills are team highs
- On top of averaging 8.12 assists per set, senior Piper Suddeth paces the Cavs with 18 service aces
- Abigail Curtis, an All-SAC Third Team pick in 2024, mans the floor at libero by averaging 4.73 digs per frame
Follow Along
- All SAC matches are broadcast live on FloCollege
- Live stats are available at CatawbaAthletics.com
