The Virginia volleyball team hosted the Holiday Inn Jefferson Cup last weekend, losing 3-1 to
Western Kentucky before notching a pair of 3-0 wins against Lehigh and Delaware.
The Cavaliers (3-3, 0-0 ACC) opened the tournament against the Hilltoppers (5-2, Sun Belt 0-0),
who suffered only two losses during last year’s regular season. Beating Western Kentucky would
have given new head coach Dennis Hohenshelt his first marquee win at Virginia.
The Cavaliers won their first game 25-22 in a see-saw battle with nine ties. Virginia then dropped
the next three games 15-25, 14-25 and 16-25. Western Kentucky had a 21 percent better hitting
percentage for the match and totaled 9.0 more blocks.
In recent seasons the Cavaliers have struggled to rise to the level of their opponents.
“When we won the first game, it was because we played at a pretty high level. That’s what it
takes to beat teams like [the Hilltoppers],” Hohenshelt said. “We’re just not ready yet to play at
that real high level for three games.”
The team got a night’s rest before taking the court again Saturday against Lehigh. A rejuvenated
Virginia swept the Mountain Hawks 3-0 for a 25-21, 25-19 and 25-14 win. Virginia put up a hitting
percentage of 29.8 percent compared to Lehigh’s 5.5 percent, and the Cavaliers outblocked their
opponents 10-2. Freshman Natalie Bausback cited one major reason for the turnaround: the
team’s mentality.
“We knew Western Kentucky was going to be a really good team,” Bausback said. “We were
disappointed that we lost because we played so well our first game against Western Kentucky,
but I think our whole team just wanted to win the next two matches.”
The first game against Lehigh was a close four-point affair, but the team took complete control in
the final game en route to an 11-point victory. Sophomore Tori Janowski emerged as a star in the
match, putting up a team-high 11 kills and 14.5 points.
“I try to just go out there and play hard,” Janowski said. “I do the best that I can for my team and
just help them any way I can.”
The Cavaliers followed one great match with another against the Blue Hens, winning 25-15, 25-
23 and 25-18 to finish a perfect 6-0 sweep the day’s games. Virginia dominated in the first game
and held off a late Delaware surge to win the second.
The highlight of the tournament, however, came in the third and final game. Facing an early 8-
2 deficit, Hohenshelt called a timeout to rally the team. His huddle worked, as the Cavaliers
rattled off eight straight points to take a 10-8 lead. Delaware never regained the advantage and
ultimately fell by seven.
“That’s part of what Dennis has instilled in this team, a sense of fight and a sense of ‘it doesn’t
matter what the score is, you’ve got to play 100 percent every time,’” freshman Vivian Burcescu
said. “I think really what we were thinking was not even the score, it was just ‘we’re going to fight
as hard as we can for every single point.’ When we do that as a team, we are incredible.”
Burcescu was a key part of Virginia’s rally, hitting 42.9 percent for the game. She, Bausback
and fellow freshman Kayla Sears combined for 26 kills, 6 service aces, and 33 total points in the
match against Delaware.
With two wins to close the weekend, the team proved its mettle at the Jefferson Cup.
“This team right now, we’re in the mentality of ‘we’re not out of anything,’” Hohenshelt said. “It’s
pretty exciting.”
Although the team plays three games this weekend at the VCU Tournament, Virginia is already
looking even further into the future. Looming on the horizon is its match against Virginia Tech in
two weeks.
“Everything we’re gearing toward right now is for that first match against Virginia Tech,”
Hohenshelt said. “It’s an ACC match. It’s Virginia Tech. It’s the match. That’s the point out there
in the future that we’re trying to get to.”
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