Virginia volleyball traveled to Blacksburg Friday and emerged victorious over Virginia Tech in the second and final Commonwealth Clash of their 2024 season. The Cavaliers (19-6, 9-5 ACC) conquered the Hokies (7-17, 1-13 ACC) in a strong performance, sweeping them in three straight sets.
Friday’s matchup marked the return of senior libero Milan Gomillion, who has been part of the Cavaliers’ backbone this season but was dealing with an injury in recent weeks. Gomillion was out for three straight games against No. 1 Pitt, No. 10 Southern Methodist and Wednesday’s home game against Virginia Tech.
The senior’s return to action was certainly felt — she led the game with 16 kills to contribute to Virginia’s sweep over the Hokies. Last game against Virginia Tech, the Cavaliers barely held off the Hokies in a tight five-set battle at Memorial Gymnasium.
With Gomillion back, Virginia returned to its full-strength starting lineup also featuring senior outside hitter Brooklyn Borum, senior middle Blocker Abby Tadder, senior setter Ashley Le, junior middle blocker Kate Dean, senior outside hitter Elayna Duprey and sophomore outside hitter Lauryn Bowie.
The Cavaliers opened the first set strong as two kills from Dean, and three from Bowie gave them an early 5-1 lead. But Virginia Tech responded with five points in a row, sending the rest of the set into a tight battle.
Consecutive kills from Bowie and Duprey gave Virginia back its lead as it entered the media timeout up 15-12 over the Hokies. Another round of back-to-back kills, this time from Tadder and freshman right setter Becca Wight, put Virginia up 18-14 and forced a Virginia Tech timeout.
This timeout could not stop the Cavaliers, however, as their momentum brought them to a 22-14 lead after Wight recorded two more kills within Virginia’s 6-0 scoring run. As the set progressed, the Hokies tightened the Cavaliers’ lead to 22-18, forcing them to take a timeout.
Virginia Tech continued to threaten the lead, gathering two kills on a 3-0 scoring run to make the score 23-21 before Virginia took another timeout. The Cavaliers were able to hold on, however, and won the first set 25-21.
Virginia started off the second set strongly again, a 5-0 lead forcing an early Hokies timeout. This lead held, as the Cavaliers even extended it to seven points at 12-5 following a kill from Wight.
At moments, it seemed Virginia Tech might be replicating the path of the first set, where they slowly but surely tightened the Cavaliers’ lead. But Virginia charged on, holding at least a two-point edge over the Hokies throughout the rest of the set. The Cavaliers won the second set 25-19 off of a service ace from Borum.
While unable to initially pull off as large of a lead over the Hokies as the previous two sets, Virginia still opened the third set slightly ahead. The Cavaliers continued to extend this lead as the set went on, as a 4-0 scoring run featuring kills from Dean, Bowie and Borum gave Virginia an 11-6 lead going into Virginia Tech’s first timeout.
The Cavaliers returned from the timeout just as threatening as before, and a kill from Duprey and service ace from Borum quickly forced another Hokie timeout as Virginia led 16-7.
Even two timeouts could not hold off a strong Virginia offense led by Bowie, who recorded three kills afterwards. Duprey, Dood and Wight also picked up points to help bring the Cavaliers to a dominant, game-ending 25-13 victory.
This strong performance against the Hokies was crucial to building Virginia’s confidence going into its final weeks of ACC play, which will pose plenty of challenges. Next up, the Cavaliers will head to California to play two new ACC foes — No. 6 Stanford and California.
The Cardinal are ranked fifth in the ACC and recently swept No. 10 Southern Methodist, who Virginia lost to in straight sets. With Gomillion back and the team’s starting lineup at full strength, though, the Cavaliers can certainly compete with Stanford.
Thursday’s game against the Cardinal begins at 10 p.m. EST and can be streamed on ACCNX.
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