Despite having only three seniors, the Virginia women's volleyball team rose above its youth and inexperience to win two of three matches over the weekend, earning them second place in the Jefferson Cup Tournament.
The Cavaliers (2-1) defeated Kentucky Saturday, 3-1, and split a pair of matches Friday, taking a 3-1 win over William and Mary before losing to Georgetown, 3-0.
Saturday against the Wildcats (1-2), the Cavs won the first two games, 15-13 and 15-8. Kentucky took the tight third game, 17-15, but Virginia then rallied to win the fourth game, 15-7.
Up 13-8 in the first game, the Wildcats seemed to have the game under control, but Cav freshman outside hitter Paige Davis' clutch kills, combined with several big blocks by the combination of senior middle blocker Deanna Zwarich and freshman middle blocker Shannon Boyle, gave the Cavs seven straight points and the game.
The Cavaliers fell behind early in each of the first three games of the match, but through the consistent play of Zwarich and Davis, they were able to charge back into the contest and even win the first two games. Davis posted 22 kills and 16 digs, while Zwarich finished with 18 kills, 10 blocks and eight digs, leaving her two digs shy of a triple double. Zwarich and fellow senior Katie Jones were Virginia's lone representatives on the All-Tournament team.
The Cavs have tied their success to the maturation of their sixth-ranked recruiting class, but Davis, one member of the five-player class, did not need much time getting acclimated with college volleyball. She tallied a total of 18 kills, 29 digs and three blocks in the first two matches, while posting double-doubles in all three matches.
"The college game is a lot faster paced," Davis said. "This was the first time I have seen and participated in a college game and I was very impressed by the way our team played throughout the tournament."
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Georgetown (3-0) won all three of its matches throughout the four-team round-robin to capture the title in dominating fashion. Senior outside hitter Kiran Gill, one of three Hoyas on the All-Tournament team, was named tourney MVP. Outside hitter Yulia Vtyurina and middle blocker Meg Troller also made the team.
"Georgetown played with more heart and determination than we did in the match," senior setter Cathy Arnette said. "We simply didn't want it as bad as them."
Friday against William and Mary, Virginia won in four games while losing the third game of the match. Zwarich led the Cavs to victory in their season opener by smacking a match-high 16 kills, as well as six blocks and six digs. Zwarich also impressed against Georgetown later that day, tallying seven kills and three blocks in the loss.
"We did a good job of improving every time we stepped out on the court," Arnette said. "We started playing more as a team while picking up our defense and blocking throughout the tournament. Hopefully we can keep improving throughout the rest of the season"
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