A loss was clearly not the result the Virginia volleyball team (7-3) was looking for when they traveled to Virginia Tech (7-3) Friday night to open the ACC season. Neither was falling immediately behind in this season's Commonwealth Challenge. With heavy hitter Sarah Kirkwood out of the lineup with an illness, the Cavaliers fell to the in-state rival Hokies 3-0 (30-28,30-28,30-25).
Virginia coach Melissa Shelton had a very simple explanation for the loss.
"We didn't step up, we didn't play well," Shelton said. "We expected more from our veterans and just didn't get it. Virginia Tech played great and wanted it more than we did."
On this night, however, the box score doesn't tell the whole story. All three games were knotted all the way through with 25 tie scores and 11 lead changes. Defense, on paper, seemed to dominate the game with the Cavaliers hitting for an abysmal .076 and the Hokies swinging only .137. However, there were offensive surges from both sides in all three games.
Virginia opened the first game with two quick points before Tech went on a 7-2 run. After that, the Cavaliers never regained momentum; with first-year Virginia Tech coach Chris Riley calling strategically placed timeouts to kill any Virginia rally.
Game Two featured 14 lead changes as the Cavaliers refused to go down quietly. The game was knotted up 28-28 until a service error gave the Hokies the ball back with a 29-28 lead. The game point rally went on until an attack error on the Virginia side eventually gave Tech the win.
In the third game, Virginia opened up a 13-9 run before Tech senior Katie Esbrook almost single-handedly led the Hokies to a 30-25 win. Esbrook was relentless in the third game, hitting .875.
In addition to Esbrook, highly touted freshman Taylor Parrish also helped out throughout the match with 11 kills.
Parrish "does a nice job for them," Shelton said. "She'll be a player to watch for the next few years."
This match, however, was not without its silver lining. With Sarah Kirkwood out of the mix, Shelton was able to play with the lineup and give playing time to some lesser-known names. Freshmen Lauren Dickson and Tara Hester were given ample playing time and did not disappoint. Dickson's lack of experience was not evident as she led the Cavaliers with 13 kills and hit .323.
"I thought Lauren's shots were more tactical" in comparison to Parrish, Shelton said. "The pressure was on Lauren a lot more so I thought Lauren had a great night."
Hester was given her first playing time on the front row and came through with three kills for a .273 hitting percentage.
"I was also really proud of Tara Hester for stepping up and really seeing her first playing time across the front row and being aggressive," Shelton said.
In addition to the freshmen, setter Marlow Bruneau and outside hitter Stephanie Everett both saw significant playing time.
"I think some people really stepped it up tonight and proved that we have a lot of people on our team we can look to in the future," junior Melissa Caldwell said."
The Cavaliers, with 21 ACC matches to go, have plenty of time to learn the lessons of this loss and move on.
"Clearly it's not the way we wanted to start out ACCs but I think its one of those losses that we'll get stronger from and learn from," Caldwell said.
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