After an exciting split results weekend at home, Virginia went on the road to play against Syracuse in a mid-week matchup Wednesday evening. After a harrowing five sets, the Cavaliers (16-4, 6-3 ACC) managed to edge out the Orange (12-9, 0-9 ACC) by just two points in the deciding set — securing yet another conference victory with a score of 3-2.
Play started quickly, with Syracuse taking the first point of the night and Virginia firing back with a kill by freshman setter Zoey Dood. The score stayed close in the first few minutes — each team was warming up and trying to read the energy and strategy of their opponent. A point that put the Orange in the lead 3-2 seemed to invigorate the Cavaliers, and they went on a four-point run to pull ahead.
This lead only lasted for a little while though, as Syracuse responded with an offensive run of its own — scoring five points uncontested to take the lead 8-6. Startled by the speed with which the Orange fired back, the Cavaliers took a timeout to talk strategy and figure out what they needed to do to win not just this set but the game.
Coming back from the timeout, a kill by junior middle blocker Kate Dean and a block by sophomore outside hitter Lauryn Bowie tied up the score 8-8, making sure that Syracuse did not find an opportunity to pull ahead.
From then on, the score remained close. The Orange held on to a slight lead, but Virginia was never far behind. At 18-17, the Cavaliers were offered an opportunity to pull ahead when it mattered most, but Syracuse was on a roll and scored eight points and only let Virginia earn one more before it was over. The Orange won the first set by six points, 25-19 — letting the Cavaliers know this was not going to be an easy Virginia sweep.
The second set started similarly to the first set — both sides were evenly matched and held a level of determination that never let the lead get too far ahead.
The Cavaliers sneakily took the lead, earning a few points to pull ahead 7-4. With only a three-point gap, the Orange were never too far behind and knew all it took was a couple of strong plays to tie up the score. However, they struggled to have a back-to-back run that would put them in the lead like the first set.
Virginia held on and managed to widen the gap to five points at 13-8 — forcing a Syracuse timeout. While the Orange thought that would be enough to tie up the score, the Cavaliers saw it as an opportunity to spring ahead even more — scoring five points uncontested to be in the lead by nine points at 18-9.
Syracuse was unable to score more than two points in a row, always getting interrupted by yet another Virginia point. They managed to score three points in a row to force a total of four set points, but by then, the lead was too large to change the tide. The Cavaliers took the second set 25-19, the same score that the Orange won the first set.
Virginia kicked off the third set with four straight points, invigorated by its strong second-set victory. Taking Syracuse by surprise, the Cavaliers found it easier to hit the ground running in this set and be the lead scorer for most of it.
The Orange almost managed to tie up the score at 7-6, but Virginia was not letting go of the lead it had worked hard to earn. The Cavaliers generally stayed ahead by two or three points at a minimum — just enough to have to stay on their toes, but not enough to have themselves fighting every second to break a tie.
After a media timeout, it seemed like Syracuse might have a chance for an offensive break, closing the score from 15-11 to 15-13, but the Orange were unable to get those coveted two points. The rest of the third set followed this pattern — Virginia would pull ahead a little just for Syracuse to close the gap to two points, but the Cavaliers would repeat and widen the lead once again.
This back-and-forth continued for a while until a kill by senior setter Ashley Le closed out the third set 25-22 and gave Virginia its second overall point of the night, making the score 2-1.
Looking at the fourth set, both teams knew that this could potentially be the last one of the night. Finding a second wave of energy, Syracuse was not fazed by the Cavaliers taking the first two points of the fourth set and scored four points straight — putting the Orange in a quick lead.
Virginia initially struggled to keep up, but a kill by senior outside hitter Brooklyn Borum and back-to-back Syracuse attack errors tied up the score 7-7. The Cavaliers almost managed to take the lead but couldn’t match the energy coming from the Orange.
In a riveting back-and-forth, Virginia could not shift the tide to pull ahead or tie up the score — Syracuse forced a fifth and deciding set by taking the fourth set 25-21 and making the overall score 2-2.
As the fifth set started, fans and everyone watching realized this would be the most intense set of all. Three points in favor of the Orange immediately put the Cavaliers at a disadvantage like the set before, but this time they were able to fire back with a seven-point run — not letting Syracuse catch its breath for a single moment.
The Orange scored three points in a row to make the score 7-6, but Virginia was not going to let them tie up the points. The Cavaliers held on to their tight lead, knowing that all they needed was to make it to 15 points and be ahead of Syracuse by two points in order to secure the victory.
Every point was fought for, and each team tried to keep the attack errors to a minimum. In the end, a well-timed Virginia timeout and service error by the Orange gave the Cavaliers their final point of the night, winning the last set 15-13.
To say that the two teams mirrored each other throughout the matchup is an understatement. Both sides fought hard for the victory and pushed each other to new limits in this conference matchup. Games like this allow for Virginia to prepare for upcoming post-regular season matches — where it will face opponents that it has not had to challenge for a year.
The Cavaliers will remain on the road for their next match, where they will face Boston College Sunday at 1 p.m. The Eagles will face Virginia Tech before then Friday at 1 p.m. — looking at their performances against the Hokies and the Cavaliers can be a good predictor for when Virginia travels to Blacksburg for the Commonwealth Clash coming up Nov. 6.
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