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Virginia goes 1-1 at VCU Invitational over the weekend

Cavaliers take down VCU in five sets, fall in sweep to No. 4 Ohio State

<p>Virginia's blocking game kept the team alive against VCU.</p>

Virginia's blocking game kept the team alive against VCU.

Virginia volleyball visited VCU this past weekend to compete in the VCU Invitational. The Cavaliers (4-3, 0-0 ACC) faced off against the Rams (4-5, 0-0 Atlantic 10) in another match that went five sets.

The Cavaliers, coming off a five set comeback against Akron last week, did the same in their first game of the tournament against the Rams. After falling down two sets to one, Virginia fought back to win in five.

VCU took the first set 25-15, but Virginia turned it around in the second, winning 25-22. The Rams edged the Cavaliers out 25-23 in the third.

Down to their last set, the Cavaliers hung tough and clinched the fourth set 25-19. In the fifth set tiebreaker, Virginia broke the 8-7 lead by the Rams and went on a 8-3 run to win the set 15-11 and clinch the match. 

Once again, Virginia dominated its opponent in blocks, winning the block battle 14-5 against VCU. 

Graduate student middle blocker Alana Walker led the Cavaliers with three solo blocks and seven block assists herself. 

Meanwhile, freshman outside hitter Brooklyn Borum led the Cavaliers with 14 kills and 24 digs. With their performances, Walker and Borum posted the first double-doubles of the season for the Cavaliers.

For the Rams, freshman outside hitter Kialah Jefferson had a season-high 24 digs of her own, making some critical defensive plays that helped the Rams clinch each of their sets. 

Sophomore middle blocker Jasmine Knight also recorded 12 kills while hitting .346 for the Rams. 

The Cavaliers proved again that their lineup chemistry is impressive with another hard-fought comeback victory.

In the second game of the invitational, Virginia played No. 4 Ohio State. While the Cavaliers put up a good fight, the Buckeyes (8-0, 0-0 B1G) remained undefeated and swept Virginia in three sets.

While Virginia lost the first two sets handily by scores of 16-25 and 17-25, the third set was different. The Cavaliers were down by one with the scoreboard reading 14-15 when the Buckeyes won four points in a row and never looked back.

For the Cavaliers, Borum was once again a key player — co-leading Virginia with 10 kills. Senior outside hitter Grace Turner had 10 kills as well.

For the Buckeyes, junior outside hitter Gabby Gonzales notched a double-double with 14 kills and 12 digs. Meanwhile, junior setter Mac Podraza had 34 assists as she facilitated the offensive success throughout most of the match.

Borum was named to the All-Tournament Team after averaging 3.88 digs per set and 3 kills per set.

Virginia hasn’t defeated a ranked team since 2010 when the Cavaliers took down Florida State in five sets. The Cavaliers next chance to do so will likely be when they face off against Pittsburgh, scheduled for Sept. 29th.

The Cavaliers will host their second and final home tournament this upcoming weekend where they will square off against Bellarmine, Georgetown and Fairleigh Dickinson. Each game will be streamed live on ACCNX.

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