After a convincing 3-0 victory over Clemson on Senior Night Friday, the women's volleyball team showed it could also run with the best just a few hours later against a more-impressive Georgia Tech squad on Saturday afternoon. Virginia stayed with the Yellow Jackets for most of the contest, but eventually fell to the ACC regular season champions 3-0.
The Cavaliers went up early in game one against Clemson, and with the exception of two early ties, they never relinquished control, winning convincingly, 30-20. Game two was a much harder fought game. Again, the Cavaliers took control early, but never built a lead greater than three. It was a game that saw 13 tie scores and four lead changes. Clemson actually held the largest lead of the game at 23-19. The Cavaliers fought back hard, with great outside hitting by freshman Sarah Kirkwood, sophomore Lindsay Osco and senior Alexis Geocaris, and won the game 33-31.
Melissa Caldwell's 13 digs were the highlight of game three. Offensively, junior Kristen Chaney stepped up her play, notching three kills on seven attempts and leading the team to a 30-26 victory, and a 3-0 match win.
"I feel amazing," Geocaris said after winning on Senior Night. "I knew that we were really geared up for this game, but the way the team played tonight was awesome. It gives us so much confidence going into tomorrow and the rest of the tournament."
Coming into Saturday's match, Georgia Tech was undefeated in the ACC and carried a 20-match winning streak, but game one showed that the Cavaliers were neither intimidated nor outmatched by the visiting Yellow Jackets.
A Kirkwood kill and then a kill and a block by Geocaris sprung the Cavaliers to an early 3-0 lead. Georgia Tech then came roaring back, score five unanswered points. The Cavaliers were able to tie the score at 14 on some solid play up front from Chaney, but tough outside hitting from Georgia Tech senior Lauren Sauer and a good attack from middle blocker Jayme Gergen kept Georgia Tech ahead. Virginia was able to take a 21-20 lead on two more kills from Geocaris, and held the lead until late in the game when Georgia Tech went on a 6-2 run, establishing a 28-27 lead, before closing out the Cavaliers to win game one, 31-29.
In game two, Virginia stayed with Georgia Tech early with more great play from Geocaris, but eventually Georgia Tech's setter Lindey Laband and the outside hitters proved too much to handle. The Yellow Jackets went on a tear and took a seven-point lead at 21-14. The Cavaliers battled to within three of Georgia Tech at 24-21, but Georgia Tech shut down Virginia's offense and won game two, 30-22.
Game three went back-and-forth early on, with five lead changes and 10 ties before either team score 15 points. Kirkwood provided the Cavaliers with great outside hitting, making six kills in game three. The Yellow Jackets went up 15-14 and never looked back, lead by the play of Sauer and freshman middle blocker Ulrike Stegemann who dominated the middle of the court in the late stages of the match. The Yellow Jackets finished the game on consecutive kills from Ulrike to win the game 30-22 and the match 3-0, completing their perfect ACC season.
The loss to Georgia Tech may tell more than the 3-0 score would indicate.
"We played well -- great at times actually," Virginia coach Melissa Aldrich Shelton said. The Cavaliers have "been playing well. We need to come back and have a good practice Monday, and a good practice Tuesday, and see if we play Wednesday or Thursday"
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