Virginia sat a breath away from victory. It needed just one more point to take the fifth set and clinch the match, to conclude a hard-fought comeback after a rough start Saturday against Appalachian State.
With App State a few points behind, Virginia had two match points — until the first one disappeared on a bad serve for the Cavaliers (4-1, 0-0 ACC), and the second ended with a spike going out of bounds. The Mountaineers (5-0, 0-0 Sun Belt) executed a well-placed kill, and the teams were tied up.
App State then managed to take the lead, and Virginia missed an attempted kill to tie the game — resulting in the Mountaineers taking the victory and closing out the Cavalier Classic.
“Kudos to App State,” Coach Shannon Wells said. “They made us fight and fall for every single point… We’ll go back and watch the video [to] find ways to get better.”
Fight and fall is a very accurate way to describe Saturday’s matchup. The first set was a bit of an outlier, with Virginia losing by more than 10 points. And if the first set had defined how the rest of the match went, it would have been an entirely different match — the Cavaliers would have been swept easily in three sets.
But the rest of the way, the teams were extremely even. For every App State kill, Virginia returned with one of its own. It seemed like each set would be decided by whoever managed to sneak in the last kill or muster the energy for one more block.
Everyone at the Aquatic and Fitness Center, Virginia’s temporary home this season, was on the edge of their seats, and the packed environment made the match feel even more tense. Fans squeezed into the rows of bleachers, trying to fit as many people as possible. There were so many attendees that there was always a line of people standing behind the bleachers throughout the entirety of the game.
By managing to snag the fourth set, the Cavaliers stoked hope for a positive outcome after losing the first and second sets. It also showed that it has what it takes to never back down from a strong opponent.
Virginia took on some interesting offensive attacks during the later sets that greatly improved their scoring. The most successful moves from the team required more analytical thinking — knowing that the team they faced could handle spikes hit with brute force, the Cavaliers lessened their force and focused on strategic ball placement. This led to the Mountaineers attempting to dive after the ball multiple times, unable to read where senior middle blocker Kate Dean would place them next.
The Cavaliers still would take advantage of strong hits at times, though, and sophomore right side hitter Becca Wight led on that front with a season high of 15 kills.
But it wasn’t enough to complete the comeback. Despite the loss, Wells does not seem too worried, especially given the influx of newcomers.
“We have seven new people,” Wells said. “They’re young and they’re figuring out their first experiences… I’m excited to see [how] all of our athletes respond to this.”
There will be an opportunity for that soon. Next up, the Cavaliers will go on the road Tuesday to face Auburn in the Showdown at the Net Tournament. It will be their first matchup against a power conference opponent.
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