After having split results on the road, Virginia volleyball returned to Memorial Gymnasium in Charlottesville Friday to face one of its biggest conference rivals — Duke. The Cavaliers (15-3, 5-2 ACC) were not fazed by their most recent loss on the road against No. 20 Georgia Tech and swept the Blue Devils (7-11, 3-4 ACC) in three straight sets — winning 3-0.
The energy in Memorial Gymnasium was electric, with a large crowd showing up to support Virginia volleyball. While the free Ben & Jerry’s ice cream might have helped to fill almost every seat in the gymnasium, this was also the first home game since the Cavaliers defeated Miami in John Paul Jones Arena — fans wanted to see if the team was just as electric on its usual home court.
Virginia wasted no time going on the offense, striking hard back to back to get the first point of the game. Duke responded with a kill of its own, showing right away that the first set was going to be intense from both sides.
As the score rose, the rallies got longer. The Cavaliers never backed down, striking whenever they got the chance and hitting as hard as they could, trying to catch the Blue Devils off guard. A kill by senior outside hitter Elayna Duprey put the serve in Virginia’s favor and began to give it a lead, pulling slightly ahead 10-7.
A kill by Duke and a kill error from the Cavaliers closed the gap, and the teams were once again back to fighting to break the ties plaguing the first set. The plays on the court Friday were calculated, with each team on the watch for out-of-bounds serves, opportunities for sneaky attacks on the second hit and weak points on the other side of the net.
With the score at 15-15 and the first set more than halfway through, Virginia knew the next moves it made had to be strong in order to take the first set and make the overall score 1-0. Three Cavalier kills from Duprey and junior middle blocker Kate Dean pulled the score ahead by three points, breaking the tie and leading 18-15. A block by Dean and sophomore outside hitter Lauryn Bowie shut the Blue Devils out of the current run.
Duke took a time out to recuperate, but it was not helpful as Virginia was on a roll by this point and earned a couple more points to make the score 20-15. The Blue Devils managed to close the gap a little but not without the Cavaliers getting a few more points on the board. With the score at 23-20, Virginia just needed to hold off Duke and score two more points.
A service error by the Blue Devils and a beautiful kill by senior outside hitter Brooklyn Borum secured the first set for the Cavaliers, 25-20.
Duke retaliated quickly to this initial loss and took the first point in the second set. The kills were strong, with one even going into the upper level of the gymnasium. Virginia responded well, though and tied up the score 3-3 — not letting the Blue Devils catch an easy lead.
A pair of errors from the Cavaliers let Duke pull back ahead 6-4, but just as quickly the score was tied back up at 7-7. With a handful of points from each team, the score rose to 10-10 when Virginia decided to take a timeout and strategize how to get a solid lead.
Virginia started to pull back ahead 15-12, thanks to a pair of blocks by Dean, Bowie and Borum and a kill by Bowie. The Blue Devils closed the gap a little, but the Cavaliers never let the gap get smaller than two points.
With the score at 19-15, Duke took a timeout in the hopes of breaking its opponent’s rhythm and tying the score once again. However, a kill error of its own allowed Virginia to break 20 and widen the gap to five points.
At this point in the set, there was nothing that could slow down the Cavaliers — but the Blue Devils took their second timeout at 22-15 anyways. A calculated kill by freshman setter Zoey Dood got Virginia one point closer to match point, but Duke began to close the gap. However, it was not enough to stop the Cavaliers from taking the second set 25-18, with senior middle blocker Abby Tadder winning the final point.
The third set started with a Virginia point from Dean. Having built momentum in the first and second set, it was easier for the Cavaliers to take a lead early on. The Blue Devils stayed close, but they struggled to tie the score.
Virginia widened the gap to four points, but Duke fought to close the score. At 12-7, the Blue Devils felt they had no choice but to take a timeout and recuperate, as they were struggling to match the energy that the Cavaliers were bringing to the net.
The timeout only seemed to invigorate Virginia even more though, and it strengthened its lead to nine points. Duke used its second and final timeout to try and figure out a way to bring the score closer — but with the Cavaliers ahead 17-8, it would prove to be a very difficult feat.
A play under review gave Virginia time to engage with the crowd some, getting everybody excited for the second half of what would hopefully be the last set of the matchup. With the point going in the Cavaliers’ favor and securing a 10-point gap, the pent up energy was able to be channeled back onto the court.
Virginia staggered slightly, giving up a couple of points to the Blue Devils — but a kill by Borum got the Cavaliers back on track, with the score at 21-12. They pulled ahead, and after two unsuccessful set points, Duprey got the final kill of the night and secured the win for Virginia 25-18.
Coach Shannon Wells was proud of how the team played tonight and felt like the energy came from wanting to bring a win home today after the news of men’s basketball Coach Tony Bennett’s retirement.
“I think this is a hard day for [Virginia with] Tony Bennett retiring today,” Wells said. “We really just drew inspiration from that …You got to play with passion. And to beat Duke is something special for us. And to have the home streak that we have right now is something special for us …This win was for us, but there was a big piece of him on our court.”
Wells was also impressed with Dean’s performance on the court today and her recent adaptability behind the scenes at practices.
“[Dean] was a leader for [Eastern Illinois] previously, and so now she's coming into this, and is still getting comfortable with the style and system of play, and I'm really proud of her,” Wells said. “I think she got more kills away from the setter than close to the center … to be able to put that into play only after three days of practice is really impressive.”
The Cavaliers will return to Memorial Gymnasium Sunday for another conference matchup — this time playing against North Carolina at 1 p.m.
Read More
Four titles, four records: a historic day for Virginia, Walsh to open 2024-25 season
By Casey Reims | 2 hours agoBefore beating Florida 181-119, the Cavalier women watched a national title banner drop from the AFC rafters for the fourth consecutive year.
No. 4 field hockey earns exhilarating overtime win over No. 12 Syracuse
By Eleanor Lynch | 3 hours agoVirginia came out on top, earning victory in an all-time classic.
“When it’s your time, it’s your time”: Tony Bennett confirms his retirement
By Xander Tilock | 14 hours agoBennett also confirmed that the interim head coach will be Ron Sanchez, who previously served as his associate head coach.
