The Virginia volleyball team scored a back-and-forth, five-set win against Iowa State Saturday night at Memorial Gymnasium in the final match of the Fairfield Inn & Suites Cavalier Classic. The Cavaliers had their ups and downs against the Cyclones — they claimed the first two sets before ceding the third and fourth — but found their form in the decisive fifth stanza.
“What we’re trying to figure out as a group — you know, everyone — is how do we maintain that high level when we’re really good?” coach Dennis Hohenshelt said. “That’s our biggest test, because we can play at a pretty high level when we’re good.”
Just hours before, Hohenshelt’s squad dispatched Appalachian State in another five-set duel. And Friday night, Virginia (4-1) exacted revenge with a four-set victory against Virginia Commonwealth, a team that defeated the Cavaliers last September in Richmond.
The victory against Iowa State (4-2) seemed especially sweet. The Cyclones entered the season in the AVCA Coaches Poll’s top 25 and boasted an AVCA Third-Team All-American in senior Caitlin Nolan, the 2014 Big 12 Libero of the Year. Iowa State has also made nine consecutive NCAA tournaments under veteran coach Christy Johnson-Lynch.
“I thought they played hard all three matches, and that’s a big win for this program,” Hohenshelt said. “And so I’m pretty excited for the kids.”
Victory seemed within reach after Virginia claimed the first two sets 25-22 and 25-16, respectively, and even more so with the Cavaliers ahead midway through the third.
But the Cyclones recovered with a 10-0 run that put them up 23-15 and held on when Virginia junior defensive specialist Karlie Suber, who trailed only fellow junior defensive specialist Lexi Riccolo with 14 digs, committed a service error.
Iowa State again rallied after the Cavaliers seized four of five points to start the fourth, winning seven of the next nine points to force a Virginia timeout. Hohenshelt’s team made a late run to close to 19-23, but the Cyclones promptly closed the door.
Just as the visitors leveled the match, the Cavaliers regained the momentum. Outside hitters junior Haley Kole and senior Kayla Sears smacked consecutive kills for a 6-2 Virginia lead, and an attack error from Iowa State junior outside hitter Ciara Capezio gave the Cavaliers an 8-5 edge at the changeover.
Sears then delivered a pair of thunderous serves, neither of which the Cyclones returned, to put Virginia up 10-5. Iowa State took the next two points, but senior setter Lauren Fuller’s second kill of the evening — in which she did not set up Kole, Sears or senior middle hitter Natalie Bausback, she ended the point herself — sparked a 3-0 Cavalier run. Kole and Bausback finished the match with a pair of kills.
“We started to serve tough,” Hohenshelt said. “We touched some balls, blocked some balls, [and] converted, and when we’re doing that it’s a nice style of volleyball and it’s how I would like to play right now.”
Mustering five hard sets against the Cyclones after a 40-point fifth set against Appalachian State might have seemed like a tall order — and it likely was. But the Cavaliers took a laid-back approach to the hours between matches and came out sharp in the nightcap.
“All 22 of us were sitting down in the locker room having pregame, watching football,” Hohenshelt said. “You know, it was a pretty relaxed day, believe it or not. You know, you think there’s all this stuff, and it’s just like, get out of the gym, relax and sort of click on again, start over.”
Bausback — who posted her second double-double of the season with 15 kills and 12 digs — said after the match that Sears’ serve is a dangerous weapon. The 6-foot-2, Moorpark, Calif. native tallied three of Virginia’s five aces against the Cyclones and racked up four against Appalachian State.
Meanwhile, Bausback put up 45 kills, 29 digs and 18 blocks in the weekend wins, garnering Cavalier Classic MVP honors. Riccolo was also named to the All-Tournament team.
The Cavaliers go south this coming weekend for the University of Alabama Tournament, the third of four tourneys on Virginia’s nonconference schedule. Hohenshelt’s team plays St. Louis Friday at 3 p.m. before matching up with Troy and Alabama Saturday at 12 and 8 p.m., respectively.
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