Playing its final pair of matches at Memorial Gymnasium last weekend, the Virginia volleyball team emerged with another split decision, topping Wake Forest before falling to conference rival Duke. Extending both matches to four sets each, the Cavaliers (12-16, 7-10 ACC) defeated the Demon Deacons 3-1 on Friday but found themselves on the losing end Saturday against the Blue Devils.
Though Wake Forest (9-19, 7-10 ACC) faltered in the end, the visitors nevertheless provided stiff competition that required Virginia to rely on an up-tempo style of play.
"We were definitely fired up during the match," senior libero Brittani Rendina said. "You could tell before the game started in warm-ups, we were going to take care of business."
Boosted by the play of sophomore middle hitter Tess Udall, who tallied a game-high five kills in the set, the Cavaliers took the first frame 25-16 to set the tone of the match. Wake Forest stole the momentum back in the second set, however, evening the score at two games apiece with a 25-21 win. Although the Demon Deacons fought to keep their hold on the match in the subsequent set, strong play by sophomore outside hitter Simone Asque helped the Cavaliers squeak out a 26-24 victory, setting up an easy 25-17 game-clinching fourth set.
"Everybody had a lot of energy," Virginia coach Lee Maes said. "They were able to put together a well-balanced match."
As usual for Virginia, Asque led the offense with 24 kills - her fourth 20-kill match in seven games. Additionally, junior right side hitter Kendahl Voelker provided some key offensive support, knocking down 14 kills in 24 attempts.
Three Cavaliers notched double-digit dig totals to hold down the defense. While Rendina tallied a team-high 27 digs, senior outside hitter Tara Hester added 20 and junior defensive specialist A.J. Cushman managed 14.
The defense also performed impressively in the blocking category, as Asque had a career-high seven blocks, and junior middle hitter Sydney Hill added five. Freshman Jessica O'Shoney also stopped four shots, and Voelker rounded out the stat line with three.
"Our blocking was one of the best efforts we've had all year," Maes said.
After the victory against Wake Forest, Saturday's match was a less joyous one for the Cavaliers, who saw their Senior Night celebration come to an end with a 4-1 loss against Duke.
Although Virginia started the match off strong, defeating the Blue Devils 26-24 in the opening set behind seven kills from Voelker, the Cavaliers ended up on the opposite side of the score in the second. From there, Duke (24-5, 14-3 ACC) cruised to victory, taking the third and fourth sets with scores of 25-15 and 25-22, respectively.
"The difference in the match came down to they served and passed better than we did," Maes said.
Asque still managed to tally her sixth double-double of the season with 16 digs and a team-high 17 kills. Voelker, meanwhile, had 15 kills, while O'Shoney added 10. Despite the losing effort, Rendina, Hester and Cushman each registered 13 digs to anchor the team's defensive effort.
"We worked as hard as we could so we have to be proud of that - no regrets," Rendina said.
Rendina was one of three Cavaliers to be honored during the Senior Night festivities before the match. Hester and outside hitter Lauren Dickson also closed out their home Cavalier careers with the loss against Duke, a team Virginia has not beaten during the seniors' four years with the program.
"The only word that comes to mind is bittersweet," Rendina said.
Maes emphasized the seniors' contributions to the team.
"[The seniors] are characteristics of model student-athletes in terms of how great they are academically and how much effort and improvement and leadership they give to our team in the gym every single day," Maes said. "They're going to be missed."
The team will hit the road Friday to play Georgia Tech at 7 p.m.
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