The Virginia volleyball team wrapped up its home stand Friday night with a tough loss to Miami in front of a packed crowd at Memorial Gymnasium. The Cavaliers lost to the Hurricanes in five games with scores of 35-33, 28-30, 28-30, 30-27 and 8-15.
It was a match that Virginia (7-5, 2-1 ACC) expected to win and may look back on unfavorably come the end of the season.
Miami (8-4, 2-1 ACC) entered the match after a big win at Virginia Tech Thursday night and continued its stellar play against the Cavaliers.
"We have to give a ton of credit to Miami," senior outside hitter Sarah Kirkwood said. "They played out-of-their-minds. They really stepped up; however, there is no excuse for us not taking this win at home tonight."
Virginia did not look like the same team that defeated Florida State the night before.
"Our passing was really off tonight," Virginia coach Melissa Aldrich Shelton said. "Miami served really tough, but we just couldn't seem to get in a rhythm with our passing. We had a lot of inconsistencies. I think we just kind of expected Miami to come in and roll over and they didn't."
Rolling over was the last thing Miami had on its mind. The first game went back and forth with Virginia eventually taking the game 35-33, but it was clear that the Hurricanes had come to play.
The second game saw Virginia get off to a slow start; Miami led almost the entire way en route to a 30-28 victory.
Game three remained competitive throughout the contest. With the score tied at 28, Miami won the next two points to claim a two-games-to-one lead.
Tied 27-27 in the fourth game, Virginia looked to Kirkwood to deliver. She did just that with a kill to give the Cavaliers a 28-27 lead. Virginia went on to take the next two points, forcing a fifth game.
After Virginia took a 7-4 lead in the fifth game, however, the Hurricanes responded with seven straight points to take command of the match.
"We knew they were going to be tough to beat," Shelton said of Miami. "We just need to make better decisions all around. You know, we did not play our best match tonight."
Kirkwood led the Cavaliers with a match-high 26 kills and 12 digs. Sophomore outside hitter Lauren Dickson was solid all night, tallying 24 kills and nine digs. Freshman setter Kelly Irvin had a season-high 41 assists to go along with junior Marlow Bruneau's 22 helpers.
The Hurricanes were led by sophomore Genny Mayhew who had 25 kills and preseason All-ACC middle Ciara Michel who contributed 20 kills. Freshman setter Katie Gallagher had a match-high 62 assists.
"Everyone could have played a little bit better," Kirkwood said of her team's performance. "We just have to focus on everyone being able to bring their 'A' game every night and not relying on another team to bring their 'B' game in order for us to win."
Virginia has to regroup quickly with one of its toughest road trips coming up this weekend against Georgia Tech and Clemson.
"We have three hard practices before we head down to Clemson and Georgia Tech," Shelton said. "Hopefully, we can pick somebody off in their own gym like Miami did to us."
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