Virginia volleyball starts conference play by losing narrowly to North Carolina and NC State

The Virginia volleyball workforce entered into convention play at Memorial Gymnasium this previous weekend with a pair of extremely aggressive matches towards NC State on Friday and North Carolina on Sunday. The Cavaliers (8-5, 0-2 ACC) ended ACC volleyball’s opening weekend with a file of 0-2, after bringing each matches to a fifth set.

Virginia opened the weekend with a nail-biter towards the Wolfpack (7-6, 1-1 ACC) that ended with a devastating 2-3 loss. 

After beginning the match by trailing 1-9 early on and 6-15 in the course of the set, the Cavaliers got here roaring again to win 10 of the following 11 factors, ending the set 26-24. Junior exterior hitter Grace Turner notched seven of 20 complete kills within the first set, hitting 0.333, whereas freshman defensive specialist Kate Johnson fueled the pivotal comeback with a six-point serving run. 

NC State evened out the rating within the following set with a formidable 5 blocks, holding the Cavaliers to 9 kills together with eight assault errors. NC State maintained a gentle result in seize the second set 25-17.

The third set noticed a shift to a brand new rotation for the Cavaliers, with graduate setter Gabby Easton as the first setter. Easton made her Cavalier profession debut with 10 assists and two kills in set 3. After overcoming a four-point deficit to make the rating 23-22, the Cavaliers had been unable to take care of the lead because the Wolfpack shut out Virginia to win the set 25-23. 

After getting into the fourth set down 2-1, the Cavaliers jumped to a five-point lead early and refused to let the Wolfpack path by lower than two factors everything of the set. Turner and Junior libero Madison Morey contributed with aces, whereas Junior pin hitter Mary Shaffer completed out the set with 3 consecutive kills. The Cavaliers received the fourth set 25-18, bringing an brisk offense into their sixth five-set match of the season.

After starting the fifth set with a rating of 5-5, the Wolfpack scored 4 consecutive factors. After one other three-point run by NC State to make the rating 6-12, the Cavaliers had been unable to reply. The Wolfpack closed out the fifth set with a rating of 15-8 to earn their first ACC victory.

Later within the weekend versus the Tar Heels (8-4, 0-1 ACC), the Cavaliers noticed an analogous final result.  

The Cavaliers began robust with a two-set lead, ending the primary set 25-22 and the second 25-20. The early units featured unbelievable offense from the Cavaliers, incomes 13 kills as a workforce per set.

Turner earned 23 kills off of 46 complete makes an attempt for the match, hitting 0.326 general. Graduate center blocker Veresia Yon earned six kills out of eight makes an attempt, whereas sophomore exterior hitter Brooklyn Borum demonstrated all-around ability, notching 10 digs and 9 kills in complete. 

In set three, North Carolina started to show their very own offensive prowess, incomes 16 kills as a workforce within the set. Regardless of a number of clutch performs by Turner and Borum, the Cavaliers had been unable to take care of a gentle serving run, shedding the third 25-15.

The fourth set noticed an analogous sample because the Cavaliers fell behind early with a nine-point deficit. North Carolina continued to use holes within the Virginia protection, racking up one other 12 kills and 4 aces. Virginia, just like the third set, struggled to take care of the serve, with the Tar Heels in the end controlling a 25-14 fourth set to tie the match.

The Cavaliers began the fifth set out robust with kills by Shaffer, Borum and Turner, forging a Virginia lead at 4-2. The 2 groups remained deadlocked for the rest of the set, with neither gaining greater than a two-point lead. After two essential hitting errors by the Cavaliers, although, North Carolina closed out the set 16-14. 

Regardless of the losses, the Cavaliers made progress in direction of solidifying their competitiveness within the ACC, exhibiting glorious grit within the fifth units. Borum and Turner positioned themselves as regular leaders on the court docket, incomes kills and digs throughout key factors for Virginia. 

The Cavaliers will proceed their campaign within the ACC with a house match at Pitt Wednesday and an away match towards Duke Sunday. The primary recreation towards the Pirates will start Wednesday at 8:00 p.m., and the sport will likely be televised on ACC Community.