Riding a winning streak of four matches into the weekend, the Virginia volleyball team hoped to prove its success was here to stay. All that stood in the way was a pair of home matches against the two teams that finished atop the ACC standings last year.
Opening the action Friday, the Cavaliers (15-11, 8-6 ACC) fell 3-1 to reigning ACC champion Florida State. However, they bounced back the next night to beat Miami 3-1 in a match that saw three sets need extra points.
“The girls played two really good matches this weekend,” coach Dennis Hohenshelt said. “Even with the loss I wasn’t disappointed in them [Friday] night, because I thought they played hard and did some of the same things we did [Saturday]. We maybe didn’t execute at critical times against Florida State when we were up big, but I’m excited because the kids are excited and the kids are believing.”
Virginia faced a daunting challenge in the Seminoles (18-7, 11-3 ACC), one of the biggest teams in the country, especially with junior middle blocker Mallory Woolridge out for the second weekend in a row. Florida State has been dominant at the net, leading the conference in both blocks and hitting percentage.
The first frame saw the two teams tied after 40 points at 20-20. From there, though, the Seminoles went on a five-point run to win the set 25-20 and take a 1-0 lead. In the second, they battled back and forth again, with both sides facing set points before the Cavaliers prevailed 29-27 to knot the matchup.
The third set had Virginia fight to an 18-12 edge, but the team could not close out as they dropped 13 of the last 16 points, losing 25-21. The Cavaliers again took a big lead at 9-4 in the fourth set, and Florida State again powered back and took the set 25-21, winning the match in four.
“It was a tough loss, because we were up pretty much all four games that we played them and I feel like we didn’t necessarily close,” freshman Jasmine Burton said. “[Saturday], to know that we were ahead and were able to close shows that we made a big turnaround from last game.”
The Seminoles outhit the Cavaliers .324 to .223 and out-blocked them 14.0 to 8.5 on the night. Junior Tori Janowski led all players with 21 kills.
Virginia came out Saturday night against the Hurricanes (15-9, 8-6 ACC) seeking to fix the breakdowns that led the team to defeat the day before. The Cavaliers started off hot, taking the first four points of the match. They found themselves on set point three different times before a Miami error gave them the first round 28-26. In the second, Virginia held the lead only once at 16-15, but fought back to tie the match at 24-24. The Hurricanes won the frame four points later at 27-25.
With the teams holding a set apiece, both sides looked to take the vital third. They traded runs into extra points, fighting off each other’s set points. The Cavaliers ultimately took the set 30-28 after capitalizing on three straight Hurricane errors.
Virginia jumped out to a 12-6 lead in the fourth set, but Miami scored four points in a row to cut the deficit to 12-10, forcing a Cavalier timeout. In the huddle, coach Hohenshelt tried to energize his players and turn the momentum around.
“He told us that we’re better than this team and we’re better than the way we were playing, and if we did the simple things we’d come out on top and we’ll win the game,” Burton said. “We all kind of calmed down and got ourselves together and came out and just played volleyball like the volleyball we play.”
Burton killed the next point to excite the crowd. Virginia controlled the court the rest of the way, finishing the frame on a 13-to-5 run after the timeout to win the set 25-15 and the match 3-1.
“We’re ecstatic,” freshman Lexi Riccolo said. “We put in a lot of work and a lot of time, and to finally be seeing some awesome results and have such good games like Miami and against Florida State, it’s such a good feeling.”
A number of Virginia players set personal records during the match. Riccolo registered 21 digs, her most in a match since coming to Virginia, while Burton made a career-high 22 kills. Junior Morgan Blair, starting in place of the injured Woolridge, came up one short of her personal best with seven blocks on the night.
The Cavaliers have a chance to make it six wins in seven matches at NC State Friday night. They will follow up the next night in Chapel Hill against North Carolina. The team was swept 3-0 by both opponents earlier this season at Memorial Gym.
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