The Virginia volleyball team fell this weekend at NC State and No. 24 North Carolina, stalling its momentum before its season-ending match against archrival Virginia Tech Friday.
Entering the weekend, the Cavaliers (9-21, 3-16 ACC) hoped to record their fourth and fifth conference wins. After dropping its first nine ACC bouts, the team took three wins in a seven-match stretch, with two of the losses coming against national powerhouses Florida State and Miami.
Although early season victories stemmed largely from strong individual performances, the team has recently displayed strong efforts from every position on the court.
The road trip stymied the squad’s recent success. At NC State (22-8, 12-7 ACC) Friday evening the Cavaliers kept the first set close early, but an 8-1 run helped the Wolfpack capture the round 25-19. NC State dominated the second and third sets 25-16 and 25-17 despite hitting 21 kills to Virginia’s 22 during the rounds. The Wolfpack held the Cavaliers to a .097 hitting percentage for the match, wasting freshman outside hitter Vivian Burcescu’s .500 hitting percentage and eight kills.
Virginia traveled up Tobacco Road to face the Tar Heels (24-5, 15-4 ACC) Saturday afternoon. North Carolina controlled the match from the start, never trailing in the first or third sets, and claimed the 3-0 sweep.
Virginia will have the chance to avenge its early season 3-0 home loss against the Hokies in its final match of the season Friday. The match begins at 7 p.m. in Blacksburg.
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