After seeing early leads dissolve against North Carolina and Florida State last week, the Virginia women's volleyball team opened the new week with a new strategy: the comeback. After dropping the first game to visiting N.C. State Sunday afternoon, the Cavaliers remained focused and used an improved hitting attack to defeat the Wolfpack, 3-1 (27-30, 30-22, 33-31, 30-20).
The victory erased an eight-game losing streak that began after the Cavaliers (6-12, 2-9 ACC) won at N.C. State on Sept. 21.
"It's nice to get that off our back," Virginia coach Melissa Aldrich Shelton said.
After early struggles in conference play, Virginia has spent the last month practicing to improve all aspects of its game. The Cavaliers' spirited efforts against the Wolfpack (5-13, 1-9) gave them an opportunity to practice something else: winning.
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"Winning is a habit, and we hadn't won in a long time," Aldrich Shelton said. "You could even tell in that fourth game, when we were up so far, we began to get really nervous and freak out."
The Cavaliers opened the match well and established an early 5-3 lead. Superb blocking by N.C. State's Sarah Ensminger and Charece Williams swung the momentum and the lead to their team, however, and the Wolfpack won the first game, 30-27.
Although they were down, the Cavaliers took the court confidently after the break. Powered by the long services of outside hitter Andrea Fischer, the Cavaliers opened up a 19-17 lead before outside hitter Jenny Harmon took over. After recording three kills and a blocking assist in the next five points, Harmon posted two service aces that increased the lead to 29-21. Virginia took the game, 30-22, on a kill by outside hitter Paige Davis.
The Cavaliers overcame a Wolfpack game point to pull ahead 2-1 with a 33-31 win in the third game. Boyle was the Cavaliers' star in the game by recording an ace, two digs, and a perfect 1.000 hitting average on seven kills.
Though Virginia's attack was off a little in the final game, a string of Wolfpack hitting errors off of Virginia middle Simona Kuipers' services gave the Cavaliers an insurmountable 17-7 lead. Although N.C. State rallied, outside hitter Celeste Laborde's kill finished off the Wolfpack at 30-20 and gave Virginia the hard-earned win.
The win "is really important," Kuipers said. "Even though we know personally that we've been making strides as a team, it's kind of frustrating for other people. Unless you actually get the 'W,' they don't see the fruits of our labors."
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