Virginia volleyball held fans on the edges of their seats Saturday in a barnburner of a loss against Appalachian State. Tuesday, the Cavaliers (4-2, 0-0 ACC) lost again, but in a much different fashion. Virginia traveled to face Auburn for the first ever Showdown at the Net, a new NCAA women’s volleyball tournament. Both teams entered the competition 4-1, but the Tigers (5-1, 0-0 SEC) walked away with a dominant sweep, 25-17, 25-16, 25-21.
After starting off its season strong with three straight wins, the Cavaliers have struggled in their last two matches. Virginia still seems to be in search of an offensive rhythm on the court, perhaps due to its high volume of young players. Cavalier fans can only hope that they bounce back in time for ACC play, which begins Sept. 27 against No. 5 Stanford. On the bright side for the Cavaliers, junior outside hitter Lauryn Bowie has consistently shown signs as an emerging leader and led the team with nine kills.
The opening set of the match could have been played off as Virginia struggling to get into the flow of the game — particularly after its tough loss Saturday and with Auburn being its toughest opponent so far this season. But as the match progressed, the Cavaliers clearly could not hold up against Auburn for more than a few points. The next two sets consistently saw close scores in the first half until Virginia lost its footing and let the Tigers run away with it.
Perhaps the both good and bad news for Virginia is that much of their loss came at the hands of forced errors — the Cavaliers had 21 errors to Auburn’s 11. In the opening set, Virginia even made seven unforced errors, losing the set by eight points.
The Cavaliers, then, know what they must work on leading up to two straight matches against Michigan at home. While it hurts Virginia that the Tigers’ dominating win was largely the result of Virginia’s faults, it gives the Cavaliers something tangible to work on.
After a difficult opening set where Auburn immediately took off with a quick-moving offense, Virginia showed promise in the second set as it forced six errors to the Tigers’ seven. But once again, Auburn pulled away despite a valiant fight from Virginia.
The Cavaliers’ 16th point seemed a potentially defining turnaround, as multiple players saved attempted kills from the Tigers in a nearly 50-second point. From senior middle blocker Kate Dean and sophomore right side hitter Becca Wight’s block, to Bowie and sophomore setter Zoey Dood’s diving saves, it seemed possible the Cavaliers just needed an energizing point to catapult them back to success. However, the point instead seemed to wake up Auburn’s offense, which ended the set on a 12-3 scoring run.
The third set followed a similar path. Virginia showed promise early on, making smart plays to combat the Tigers’ forceful offensive style. But after more errors and defensive struggles, the Cavaliers were once again unable to stop Auburn from taking off midway through the set. Virginia ran out of gas one final time, falling a final time 21-25.
The Cavaliers are a young team, working through a new team dynamic — this has been the message for the preseason and much of the opening portion of the regular season so far. But time is ticking, meaning Virginia needs to quickly figure out how to minimize errors and respond to quick-hitting and aggressive teams such as Auburn — which are numerous in the ACC.
Before then, the Cavaliers can turn their attention towards Michigan at 6 p.m. Friday — a team Virginia has not played since 2006 and one which already has six wins under its belt. With the season in full swing, the Cavaliers are in need of a strong performance before it is too late.
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