Virginia volleyball switched up its home base Sunday afternoon, heading to John Paul Jones Arena instead of Memorial Gymnasium to attract a large crowd for a competitive conference matchup against Miami — a team that recently upset No. 1 Texas on the road, defeated No. 25 Arkansas at home and also shut out Virginia Tech on the road.
The Cavaliers (13-2, 3-1 ACC) were not intimidated by the recent success the Hurricanes (10-5, 1-3 ACC) have had. Thanks to an electric crowd and strong attacks by Virginia, the Cavaliers won in a straight sweep 3-0.
The game immediately came alive when the introductory volleyball video appeared, warming the crowd up and getting them excited for one of the most packed games of the season. With the music blaring and a crowd of 2,892 chanting “Hoos,” Virginia was ready to hit the ground running.
Junior middle blocker Kate Dean scored the first point of the game with an easy kill, striking right where Miami was weak. The Hurricanes responded with a kill of their own, tying up 1-1. The teams went back and forth, trading kills until Miami began to pull ahead 7-4. A couple of kills from senior outside hitter Elayna Duprey initially closed the gap, but some strong offense from the Hurricanes kept them in the lead 10-7.
A few points did not scare Virginia, though. A service ace by Duprey, paired with a kill from senior outside hitter Brooklyn Borum and a block by sophomore outside hitter Lauren Bowie tied the score 10-10. The score continued to stay close, with neither team taking a big lead over the other. Each took a point from impressive rallies and kept the score tied up to 17-17.
The Cavaliers were doing everything they could to keep the ball alive and earn their points — almost sliding into the net and dumping the ball onto the other side. After Virginia pulled ahead 19-17, thanks to two attack errors by Miami sophomore outside hitter Grace Lopez, the Hurricanes took a timeout in the hopes of recuperating against a strong Cavalier offense.
However, Miami just could not keep up, and Virginia held onto the lead 22-20. A long rally left the Cavaliers scrambling though, and almost lost their lead — but a play review request by Virginia gave it the point they fought so hard to earn. Tensions rose as the Cavaliers earned their first set point, and the crowd stood to give Virginia their support. A strong kill by freshman striker Zoey Dood secured the first set for the Cavaliers 25-21.
The Hurricanes took the first two points of the second set, but Virginia responded with three points of its own. Similar to the first set, both teams kept upping the score with neither taking a strong lead. With the score at 8-8, Miami began to pull ahead with some well-timed kills and took the lead 11-8 — forcing a Cavalier timeout.
A trio of kills by Duprey, Bowie and Dean closed the gap 12-11, but the Hurricanes managed to score some points of their own and stay ahead. The gap never got larger than three points, and before anyone could blink Virginia had managed to not only tie the score once again, but also take the lead 18-17.
A service error by senior middle blocker Abby Tadder tied the score 18-18, giving Miami the chance for a killer serve. However, the Cavaliers were not fazed and managed to turn the point around, taking the lead once again.
A kill by Dean left all of the Hurricanes diving yet unable to return, pulling the score up 20-18 and forcing a Miami timeout. Now on a roll, Virginia kept its lead — however, the race to set point was much closer than before.
A kill by Tadder secured point 24, and the Hurricanes used their last timeout of the set to try and take the second set since they were only two points behind, the score 24-22. Miami was its own reason why it did not earn the second set though, as a critical attack error by them gave the Cavaliers their hard-earned second set 25-22.
Energized by a two-set lead, Virginia took the first point thanks to a kill by Dean. The teams kept a close eye on each other, not letting their opponents far out of their reach. In no time, the Cavaliers began to take the lead 5-3 with the Hurricanes always staying close behind. The rallies got longer with each point that passed, and the crowd got louder every time Virginia scored a point.
The Cavaliers led in the third set with ease, making Miami take a timeout with the score at 11-6. Nothing could break the rhythm that Virginia had going, though. A combination of kills, service aces and blocks grew the gap to eight points — the score 17-9. The Hurricanes tried to fight their way back and tie the score up, but the lead was too large to do so easily.
With the score at 20-13, Tadder took to the service line. A three-point run could not be stopped even by a Miami timeout, and put the score up to 23-13. A strong kill by the Hurricanes gave them point 14, but the Cavaliers fired right back and earned their third set point of the game.
A pair of Miami kills showed that the game was not over yet though, and sent Virginia to a third set point. The common idiom “third time’s the charm” rang true today at JPJ, as a kill by Duprey secured the third and game-winning set for the Cavaliers 25-16.
Coach Shannon Wells is proud of how well her team played today and thankful for the fans that came to cheer them on.
“We always felt like this was going to be a big season for us, just with the experience that we have … so I'm really just proud of this team … To be able to showcase what this program is, where this program is in the future, was really exciting … I'm very humbled. I'm excited, and I'm ready to enjoy this for a couple days, and then we'll get back to work this week.”
Wells also wanted to highlight the hard work that senior libero Milan Gomillion has put into this season — flying around the court to keep the ball in play.
“I think in college volleyball, you get a lot of recognition as attackers. You get a lot of recognition as a setter, and you get very little recognition as a libero. And there's no doubt that I thought Milan set the tone for us on Friday night. She set the tone for us on Sunday [too], and … I just thought she rose to the occasion … I think she inspired the rest of our team.”
Virginia’s next pair of weekend games are on the road, facing Clemson Friday at 7 p.m. and Georgia Tech Sunday at 1 p.m. The key for the Cavaliers to continue their fantastic season will be carrying forward the electric energy they had in JPJ today, no matter where they are.
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