NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - The Christopher Newport Volleyball team heads on the road to play at Southern Virginia University in a Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) contest on Wednesday at 7 pm.

The two teams have just one common opponent thus far in William Peace. The Knights dropped a 3-1 match to the Pacers in their season-opening match on August 31 while the Captains rolled in a 3-0 victory on September 17.

The Captains are riding high with a 10-match win streak, highlighted by winning both the Knights Invitational and the Worthington Classic. They also have one of the better resumé wins in the country with a 3-2 defeat of then #3 ranked Juniata College, who is currently ranked 13th. The Captains started the season 3-6 but played one of the toughest schedules in the country in those first nine games, facing six nationally-ranked teams. As of September 17, when the NCAA last updated it, The challenging schedule has paid dividends and left the Captains battle-tested against some of the best the Division III game has to offer.

As a team, CNU is hitting .223 with 11.77 assists per set, 1.67 blocks, 2.89 aces, and 13.97 digs. Offensively, Katie Piper paces the team in kills per set at 2.82 on a .210 hitting percentage. She has also excelled on services and defense, registering 0.47 services aces, 2.69 digs, and 0.26 blocks per set. She can be found all over the CAC top 10 leaderboards - fifth in kills per set, eighth service aces per set, 10th digs per set, and fourth points per set. She racked up a season-high 16 kills against Marymount and has produced 11+ kills in four of the last five matches. She also collected a high of 21 digs against William Peace and four aces in two matches. She has recorded at least two aces in seven of her last eight matches.

Much like her classmate, Katie Crofford has been producing all over the court. Fresh off a CAC Player of the Week honor, she is tallying 2.68 kills, 0.56 aces, 2.38 digs, and 0.30 blocks per set while leading the team in total points at 225.5. Crofford ranks eighth in the CAC in kills per set, 14th hitting percentage, second aces per set, 12th digs per set, second total points, and fifth points per set. She has eight matches of 10+ kills with a season-best of 16 against William Peace. She has totaled 2+ aces in 11 matches with a season-high of four. Additionally, she racked up a high of 15 digs against York.

Riley Garrison comes in third on the team in kills at 2.49 per set with a team-best and CAC second-best .344 hitting percentage. She additionally leads the team in blocks at 0.84 per set. She ranks nine in the league in kills per set, sixth in blocks per set, and 10th in points per set. She slammed 14 kills against #3 Juniata with a season-high of seven blocks against #2 Calvin. She has 3+ blocks in 10 matches and at least eight kills in 14 contests.

Sammy Carroll, just a freshmen, has established herself as the premier setter in the league from a statistical standpoint. At 9.59 assists per set, she is leading the CAC by 0.61 more than the second place student-athlete. Additionally, she leads all CAC setters in kills at 0.52 per set and blocks at 0.30 and is second amongst first-string setters in aces at 0.42. Additionally, she contributes 1.94 digs per set. Her season-high of 47 assists has come in two contests while handing out 40+ assists in five of the last seven matches. Additionally, she has contributed at least 30 assists in 12 matches. She has made her presence known at the net on defense of late, tallying 2+ blocks in four of the last five contests.

As the Captains have established themselves as the top service team in the CAC in terms of aces at 2.89 per set, numerous student-athletes have played a major part in serving. Crofford leads the team at 0.56 to rank second in the conference. Tiaralyn McBride and Rebecca Frey both average 0.48 to tie for 6th. McBride most recently tied her season-high of four aces on Friday vs. Bethany while Frey also has a season-best of four, coming against Messiah and #3 Juniata. Piper is closely behind at 0.47, good for eighth, followed by Hope Webb at 0.45, ninth, and Carroll's 0.42, 11th. Webb recorded a season-high of five vs. Messiah.

Rebecca Frey leads the squad in digs at 3.35 per set while being flanked by Piper (2.69), Crofford (2.38), Carroll (1.94), and Webb (1.89). Frey totaled a season-high of 30 against #3 Juniata and most recently had 16 vs. Marymount. Webb's season-high of 12 came against #2 Juniata and Hood.

While Garrison leads the team in blocks at 0.84, Mackenzie Wright, Abby Oren, and Megan O'Hara are all contributing at least 0.40 per set. Wright ranks 14th in the CAC and has matched her season-best of four in four contests. Three of those four-block performances come against nationally-ranked teams in #20 Mary Hardin-Baylor, #1 Emory, and #4 Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Oren checks in 18th in the CAC with a high of three in four matches, which includes #3 Juniata and #1 Emory. O'Hara ranks 23rd in the league but had two of her best performances over the weekend, tallying three against both Bethany and Catholic.

Southern Virginia was picked to finish fifth out of six teams in the CAC Preseason Poll, but the Knights have had a strong year thus far. They come into the week 11-4 and defeated league-rival Salisbury in three sets, winning the final set by 12 points. They went 9-2 in the month of September with the only losses being a 3-2 match against Meredith and a 3-1 decision vs. Bridgewater (Va.). 

As a team, SVU is hitting .151 with 10 assists per set, 1.60 blocks, 1.87 aces, and 17.97 digs. Offensively, they are led by Kaely Rath's 3.55 kills per set with a team-best .241 hitting percentage. She also is averaging 0.50 blocks per set. Notably, Rath has not appeared in a match since September 14, having missed the last five contests. Despite the five missed matches, she already has 13+ kills in seven contests, including 23 against Meredith and 20 vs. Bob Jones University. She ranks second in the CAC in kills per set and ninth in hitting percentage.

Kylee Christensen is posting 2.71 kills to go with 0.36 service aces, 3.53 digs, and 0.31 blocks. She has tallied double-digit kills in seven matches, including a season-high of 23 against Virginia Wesleyan. Not just an offensive threat, she also has 10+ digs in 12 matches, posting a season-high 26 at Randolph and vs. Bob Jones University. She ranks sixth in the CAC in kills per set and sixth in digs per set.

Courtney Singleton adds 2.06 kills, 0.36 aces, and 2.88 digs. She has been on a roll in place of Rath, posting 10+ kills in four of the five matches since Rath's absence for 3.61 kills per set while also tallying 8+ digs in each. She slammed a season-high 18 kills against Bridgewater and racked up 29 digs against Virginia Wesleyan.

LaRae Crockett has a team-high 7.95 assists per set to go with 2.45 digs but has been out of action for all but the first five matches of the season. She posted 28+ assists in four of five matches with a high of 42 against Bob Jones and a high of 16 digs against William Peace. 

Filling in as the primary setter has been Elle Warnick and the Knights haven't statistically skipped a beat with her taking over as she has contributed 7.81 assists and 2.02 digs per set. In fact, she has far exceeded Crockett's statistical contributions in assists in digs as in the 10 matches since Crockett has been sidelined, she is averaging 9.7 assists, which would lead the CAC if it was her season average, and 2.67 digs per set. Alas, she finds herself third on the assists per set leaderboard.

Mykynli Knight paces the Knights in digs with 4.93 per set. She is also contributing 0.28 aces. She has tallied 20+ digs in seven matches, including a season-high of 29 at William peace. She has had several strong showings on services with 3+ aces in eight matches, posting five on two occasions. She ranks second in the league in digs per set. Christensen and Singleton follow in the digs leaders column with 3.53 and 2.88 per set.

The Knights boast four players at 0.45+ blocks per set, headlined by Taryn Warner's 0.86 followed by Lindsay Wiedrich with 0.72, Rath 0.50, and Ryan Dubinsky at 0.47. Warner's season-high of seven blocks came this past weekend vs. Salisbury and she had posted multiple blocks in all but one contest and 3+ in nine. Wiedrich recorded a season-high of five rejections with two or more blocks in 11 matches. Dubinsky checks in with a season-high of four but has recorded only two total blocks in the last four matches. Warner and Wiedrich rank fifth and 10th in the CAC in blocks per set.