In a back-and-forth battle defined by defensive physicality and backline saves, the Hoyas and the Cavaliers were both held scoreless after 90 minutes of action.
After spending most of the game dominating the flow of play, the Cavaliers were ultimately left chasing an equalizer that never came in the fourth quarter. The loss marked Virginia's first of the season and brought an abrupt end to what had been an impressive opening stretch for the Cavaliers.
Taking the court against their host, the Cavaliers (3-1, 0-0 ACC) annihilated the Rams (1-3, 0-0 A-10) in straight sets, 25-13, 25-17, 25-22.
“You know you’re good enough,” Burns wrote. “Do what you do, baby.”
The Cavaliers have all the makings of a team poised to win the ugly battles with their experienced group of linemen.
Virginia spent the first quarter looking for a breakthrough. At the outset of their first game of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge in neutral site Piscataway, N.J., the Cavaliers (2-0, 0-0, ACC) worked around Rutgers (1-2, 0-0, Big Ten), with occasional interruptions in the midfield as the two top 25 teams tried to evaluate each other.
Thursday’s affair proved to be, especially in the early stages of the game, a bit of a wake up call for Virginia. Tennessee came out of the gates looking like a much better team, with clearly superior energy, a point that the Cavaliers’ head coach Steve Swanson emphasized postgame.
The Cavaliers (2-1, 0-0 ACC) opened the match with a narrow win in the first set before their opponents rallied to blow open the second, tying the match at one set apiece. Virginia fought through a tight third set to retake the lead, then closed it out for a four-set victory over the Tribe (1-3, 0-0 CAA), 25-23, 15-25, 25-19, 25-21.
On a hot and humid first day of September, the song of the same name by Earth, Wind & Fire played over the loudspeaker during pre-match warm-ups. The lyrics of that song go “Dancin’ in September,” and the Cavaliers (1-1, 0-0 ACC) had reason to by the end of the night, winning in four sets against Liberty (2-2, 0-0 Conference USA), 25-17, 26-24, 25-9 and 25-18.
The Cavaliers spent their offseason improving their craft in wood-bat summer baseball leagues.
Despite being off to a rough start, there are still plenty of things that make this Virginia squad both a candidate for redemption and an interesting watch.
The success of this pass-catching unit will likely come down to how Kitchings, Coach Tony Elliott and quarterback Beau Pribula incorporate all of these talents into a coherent offensive scheme.
Little did Virginia know a 53-minute rain delay wouldn't be the most unusual part of the evening.
Ahead of the new season, three Cavalier Daily writers mull over Virginia’s chances to meet that high bar once again.
Energy was high as team warm-ups commenced and fans filed into John Paul Jones arena for what turned out to be a hard day of volleyball. The Cavaliers (0-1, 0-0 ACC) lost to the Eagles (2-1, 0-0 PL) in four sets, 25-21, 25-21, 25-22 and 25-21.
“Full marks to Yale. They played hard, were very organized and it was hard to break them down,” Coach Steve Swanson said. “We’re happy to get the win, but our overall quality today was not what we hoped. It could be a lot better.”
In his return from a devastating ACL tear, the fifth-year running back punched in a pair of touchdowns to help the Cavaliers win their season opener.
With a sellout crowd behind them at Scott Stadium, the Cavaliers thrashed the Wolfpack to the tune of a 34-8 victory in the season opener.
For No. 5 Virginia field hockey, opening another season against Penn State has become an expectation, with the programs playing against one another on opening weekend almost every year since 2009.
In a year where expectations are sky high, keeping it simple will help Virginia football in their season opener and beyond.
