Victory was clearly contagious for Virginia Saturday. For volleyball, the Cavaliers (13-17, 6-14 ACC) closed out their season by avenging a loss to Boston College on the road after previously falling to the Eagles (16-16, 5-15 ACC) last month. This time around, Virginia won three consecutive sets after dropping the first to win 25-27, 25-23, 25-16 and 25-21.
In line with the Cavaliers’ overall season, freshman outside hitter Reagan Ennist led the match with 29 kills, just three shy of her season-high 32 kills that she recorded against Syracuse. In addition, freshman right setter Caroline Lang entered the scene after a quiet start to the season. Lang notched a season-high nine kills as well as a defense-leading seven blocks.
The opening set reflected the overall theme of the day — a close match between two ACC opponents sitting at the bottom of the conference rankings. While the Cavaliers notched the first two points of the set, both teams quickly settled into a tight set featuring 33 total kills.
Ennist quickly got things going offensively with eight kills, while junior defensive specialist Katie Barrier held Virginia’s defense. However, a service error from the Cavaliers followed by one final kill from Boston College gave the Eagles a two-point lead to close the set.
Virginia held a slight edge over Boston College as the second set began, but it was swiftly removed as the Eagles responded with a four-point run of their own. From there, both teams traded points — no more than two consecutive points were scored until the Cavaliers finally picked up some momentum to close the set out. Virginia scored five of the final six points, including the final three points which featured a kill from senior middle blocker Jasmine Robinson and a service ace from sophomore setter Zoey Dood.
The third set opened similarly, but it did not stay that way for long. The Cavaliers completely took over with a 10-point run to take a 20-11 lead, featuring four kills from Ennist and a service ace from Barrier. With this sizable lead, Virginia easily held off the Eagles to cruise to its second set victory and look ahead to the fourth set.
In what became the final set of the match, the Cavaliers then fended off a run from Boston College. The Eagles strung together two four-point runs in part of their 9-1 scoring run, leading Virginia 18-16. But determined to close out the match, the Cavaliers responded with a run of their own. Virginia scored eight of the final 10 points of the match to end its season victorious.
This season has been far from perfect for the Cavaliers, particularly after Coach Shannon Wells carried Virginia through a historic 2024 season. But with Ennist breaking records this season, Lang stepping up and a young team all around, the Cavaliers should not sound alarms just yet after one disappointing season. Ending on a high note against the Eagles should allow them to head into the offseason hopeful. There is work to be done, but Saturday’s win should give Virginia the spark it needs to carry itself through that work.
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