WISE, Va. - The Coker University volleyball team ended its weekend road trip with a 3-1 win at UVA-Wise in South Atlantic Conference action on Saturday (Oct. 12).
The Cobras took the opening set by a score of 25-22 for a 1-0 lead in the match. The teams played to an early 3-3 tie, before UVA-Wise would jump out to an eventual 11-7 lead. Coker would respond with five in a row to take a 12-11 lead, before the Cavaliers would respond with a string of five in a row to get their lead back at 16-12. UVA-Wise carried its lead to 21-17 and then 22-20, before Coker rattled off five straight points to win the opening set. Three kills from Emily Everton, a service ace and a UVA-Wise error finished off the opening set.
Coker would take the second set 25-19 to go up 2-0 on the Cavaliers. The Cobras jumped out to a 5-2 lead early on in the set, before UVA-Wise would come back and get things all square at 7-7. The two teams would knot up again at 15-all, before Coker would take control of the set and win 10 out of the last 14 points.
The Cavaliers would take the third set 25-21 to hold off the sweep and force a fourth set. UVA-Wise held leads of 7-2, 10-6 and 15-9 in the set, before the Cobras would storm back and eventually tie the set at 18-18. UVA-Wise would finish off the set and force another by ending the set on a 7-3 run.
Coker would close out the match in convincing fashion with a 25-14 win in the fourth set. The two teams battled back and forth early, before Coker would take its 7-5 lead and turn it into a lead of 12-8 to force a UVA-Wise timeout. Coker would continue its strong play out of the timeout, eventually forcing a second UVA-Wise timeout at 21-11. Coker would win four out of the final seven points to seal the set and the match on the road
The Cobras hit .264 on the afternoon with 57 total kills. Everton posted her second 20-kill effort of the season, while Taylor du Bray also posted 12 kills for the Cobras. In the process, du Bray recorded her 900th career kill, becoming the fifth player in program history to do so. Coker also got kills from Chelsey Blume (six), Sierra Harvey (six), Olivia Cerick (four), Rami Mullen (three), Payton Jackson (three), Alexis Kopicki (one), Ashley Carson (one) and Olivia Smith (one). Carson led the Cobras with 25 assists on the afternoon, while Mullen also contributed 17. Lauren Grooms (three), Gabrielle Milo (two), Everton (two), Maddie Gardner (two) and Jackson (one) also registered assists in the contest. Milo led the team with 19 digs in the contest, while Cerick also added 10. Mullen (eight), Carson (eight), Everton (six), Gardner (three), Blume (two), Harvey (two) and Jackson (one) also recorded digs in the match. Blume and du Bray each recorded solo blocks in the match, while Blume also posted a team-high six block assists. The Cobras also got contributions in the blocking department from Everton (three), Harvey (three), du Bray (two), Jackson (two), Cerick (one), and Carson Fuller (one).
The Cobras are back in action next Friday (Oct. 18) when they travel to Carson-Newman for a South Atlantic Conference contest. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m.