After suffering a tightly contested loss to Maryland Friday, the Virginia volleyball team rebounded the next day to defeat Boston College on Senior Night.
Virginia (9-19, 3-14 ACC) knocked off a formidable Georgia Tech team last weekend, and the newly confident Cavaliers expected Maryland and Boston College to be tough but winnable matches. Virginia lost its last meeting with the two opponents while fighting a nine-match losing streak to start conference play. This weekend’s matches provided both a chance to measure improvement and a shot at redemption.
The Cavaliers and Maryland (16-13, 7-10 ACC) seesawed for 60 points until the Terrapins ultimately prevailed 32-30. The round featured 27 ties and seven set points, and neither team took a lead larger than two until Virginia committed two errors to end it. The Cavaliers seemed completely drained after the emotional set, dropping the second and third rounds, 25-18 and 25-17, en route to Maryland’s 3-0 sweep.
The next evening, Virginia opened with a far more decisive result against Boston College (10-19, 4-13 ACC). The Cavaliers dominated the first round, 25-13, siding out at 84 percent and holding their opponents to a .026 hitting percentage. The team significantly regressed, however, and lost the second and third sets, 25-16 and 25-21. Virginia finally regained its composure with a 25-21 win in the fourth round and captured the fifth set, 15-10, to take the match, 3-2.
“I think it was a really big win for us, especially since we had lost to them previously, so it shows how much we’ve really been improving,” freshman outside hitter Vivian Burcescu said. “We’re one of the most improved teams in the ACC. We’re getting better every single day and we really proved ourselves in that match.”
The win held a special importance to the team’s three seniors, Tobi Farrar, Rachel Gray and Jessica O’Shoney, as they played at Memorial Gymnasium for the last time in their careers. Before the match, the team held ceremony to honor the seniors and their contributions to the Virginia program. That evening O’Shoney matched a career high with 19 kills and also had three block assists to become just the eighth player in Virginia history to record more than 400 career blocks.
“To know that it’s over and that we’ve got three road matches ahead to finish off the season and we won’t have any more games here, it’s really bittersweet to say the least, but I couldn’t have asked for a better way to go out,” O’Shoney said.
Burcescu and fellow freshman hitter Natalie Bausback combined for 28 kills and five blocks. Sophomore middle Morgan Blair added eight blocks of her own and sophomore setter Tori Janowski tallied a double-double with 53 assists and 12 digs.
The team hits the road for its last three matches, paying visits to North Carolina and N.C. State next weekend before closing the season at Virginia Tech. Despite a tough start to the ACC season, the Cavaliers are now 2-2 in conference during the last two weekends and believe they can spoil their conference competitors’ hopes.
“They should feel good about how they’re playing as a team right now,” coach Dennis Hohenshelt said. “That’s how I hope they are. They are not going to be an easy out for anyone. For a team to be three and whatever we are in the league and still have that desire to do that says a lot about the kids’ character.”
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