With the Virginia volleyball team trailing Clemson two games to one, the Cavaliers needed to find a way to shift the momentum back in their favor. The Cavaliers had just dropped two games to the Tigers and were in danger of dropping another match to an ACC opponent.
"We saw stuff that we could change to win," senior outside hitter Paige Davis said. "We took it internally and changed our mindset and attitude."
Senior All-ACC libero Whitney Ashcraft echoed that sentiment.
"We decided [during that break] that winning was going to be based on our effort," Ashcraft said.
The Cavaliers came back and won the final two games of the match and defeated Clemson in their final home game of the season. Virginia improved their record to 21-7 (5-7 ACC) and avenged an Oct. 3 loss to Clemson.
It was also a perfect conclusion to the final home game of the team's three seniors' career: Davis, libero Whitney Ashcroft and middle Shannon Boyle.
"It was huge. You always want to go out on top," Ashcroft said.
The underclassmen said they were similarly determined to send their seniors out on a winning note.
"We really wanted to win the game for the seniors and prove we can beat anyone," freshman outside hitter Lindsay Osco said.
Virginia started the match by winning game one, 30-26. In that game, the two teams were fairly even with points being traded back and forth. The difference in the game proved to be a four-point run by the Cavaliers that erased a one point deficit and gave the team a 10-7 lead.
The second game belonged to Clemson. The Tigers used a 14-1 run, which included 13 unanswered points, to take control of that game.The third game was controlled by Clemson junior Lori Ashton, who recorded seven kills with a .778 hitting percentage. Ashton dominated the Virginia defense in that game and gave Clemson a lead it would not give up when her hit overpowered Ashcroft and made the score 16-15.
In the fourth game, Virginia was lead by Davis and Osco who had six kills apiece in that game. The game was close until Davis finished a Virginia surge with one of her career-best, and match-high, 27 kills to give Virginia a 30-24 win.
The fifth game also started out being close until Virginia took control following a three-point run that gave them an 8-5 advantage.
"When we picked it up and got to eight with the ball, it was huge for us," Osco said.
Virginia would hold on despite a surge by Clemson capped by another Ashton kill that made the score 9-8. After that point, Virginia coach Melissa Aldrich Shelton called a time out.
"We talked about plays and playing aggressive during that timeout," Shelton said. "When our team plays aggressively we can beat anyone."
After the time out, Virginia went on a six-point run to win the final game 15-8 and win the match, 3-2.
The win came after a 3-0 loss Friday to No. 4 Georgia Tech.
"The win [against Clemson] wasn't important because of what preceded it," Shelton said. "It was important because we were tied with Clemson and Duke in the ACC."
In the loss on Friday, Davis notched her 1,000th career dig to make her only the fourth player in Virginia history to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs. "I'm pumped -- it was a goal," Davis said. "It was rewarding to be able to get it after four years at Virginia."
Virginia will have a four-game road trip through the ACC before the ACC Tournament begins on November 20th in Orlando, Fla.
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