BUENA VISTA, Va. — The Southern Virginia University women's volleyball team defeated York College in the first round of the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) tournament in four sets 25-22, 20-25, 25-16, 25-16. 

"McKaye Cunningham had a great night for us," said Coach Debby Baker. " We served tough, and that was the game plan going into the match tonight. I am proud our performance and look forward to advancing in the conference tournament." 

Cunningham ended the night leading the Knights (16-12) with a .231 hitting average. Kaely Rath had a game-high 12 kills followed closely by Cunningham with 11. Taryn Warner dominated at the net with five blocks followed by Ryan Dubinksy with four. Senior LaRee Crockett dished out 28 assists, and senior Mykynli Knight anchored the defense with 16 digs. 

The first set showed the Knight's doubling up the Spartans (14-17) 12-6 off a kill from Warner and a service ace by Emma Steiger. Southern Virginia finished out the set off a kill from Courtney Singleton to go up 1-0 in the match. 

York confidently responded with a set win of their own. The Knights struggling with errors throughout the set, and the Spartans capitalized off those errors to even the match at one apiece. 

Steiger showcased her serving abilities, recording two aces in the third set. Cunningham and Rath each had three kills to bring their lead up by seven late in the third. Two final kills from Warner and Singleton extended the Knight's lead in the match 2-1. 

Drama arose in the fourth set as Southern Virginia found themselves down 6-1 before the Knights went on a 10-2 scoring run midway through the set. York fought with several errors, further extending Southern Virginia's lead. Singleton ended the match with the final kill off an assist from Crockett. 

Southern Virginia advances to the CAC semifinals and will travel to Newport News to take on Christopher Newport on Thursday, November 7. The game is set to begin at 7 p.m.