After a recent tough loss to No. 1 Pittsburgh Friday night, Virginia returned to Memorial Gymnasium Sunday afternoon to face another ranked opponent — No. 12 SMU. The Cavaliers (17-6, 7-5 ACC) struggled to find their footing against the Mustangs (17-6, 9-3 ACC) and fell in three straight sets, 3-0.
Virginia’s main obstacle Sunday was figuring out how to come back from falling behind early in the match — especially when playing a ranked opponent that had built momentum throughout the day. Pair that with strong kills that kept falling out of bounds — as well as trouble receiving serves and attacks — and the Cavaliers simply could not keep up with SMU.
The starting lineup was slightly different Sunday, with junior libero Kate Johnson starting instead of senior libero Milan Gomillion due to a recent injury. Senior outside hitter Brooklyn Borum also had a new addition to her uniform — a wrapped left leg to accommodate for an injury.
Junior middle blocker Kate Dean scored the first point of the match with ease, showing the confidence that Virginia had going into this match. A fault by the Cavaliers gave SMU its first point immediately after — and the game was off.
After trading a couple of kills, the Mustangs started to get into a rhythm, beginning to pull ahead and widen the gap. At 8-4, a service error by SMU put Virginia on the service line, giving it a chance to go on the offense.
It was easy to tell that the Cavaliers were planning to leave it all on the court, as each player dove after the ball to keep it in play for as long as possible. However, the Mustangs’ clean kills that left Virginia scrambling forced a Cavalier timeout at 11-5.
The timeout seemed to give Virginia the wakeup it needed, and a kill by Dean re-started play. However, SMU continued to widen the gap, and the Cavaliers struggled to get their kills in bounds. The Mustangs held an eight-point lead and were often able to match a Virginia point with one of their own.
However, the Cavaliers knew the first set was not over yet and called another timeout to plan how the second half of this opening set would go. When play started back up, a kill by Duprey showed promise. SMU was not going to let its lead be chipped away enough to change the first set results, though.
Although Virginia had some solid kills and blocks in the second half of the opening set, SMU’s early lead, accompanied with a four-touch play by the Cavaliers during set point, gave it the first set win 25-16.
Moving quickly, the Mustangs took the first three points of the second set, and Virginia called a timeout in the hopes of stopping another early set lead. When the score was at 4-0, the Cavaliers managed to get its first point of the set thanks to a kill by Dean.
A play called under review helped Virginia begin to close the three-point gap at 5-2, but a handful of SMU kills widened the lead to 8-2. Senior middle blocker Abby Tadder and freshman setter Zoey Dood stepped up to attack, though, and fired back with two kills. A long rally energized the Cavaliers, who went kill after kill to secure the point and make the score 9-5.
The Mustangs were not fazed, however, and went on a four-point run to force a Virginia timeout at 13-5. After yet another SMU point, a kill by Dean managed to break the run. But it just was not enough to stop the momentum the Mustangs had built from the beginning.
SMU’s lead in the second set was even bigger than its lead in the first, with an 11-point gap at 18-7 that grew to be 13 points at 22-9. The Cavaliers managed to force a second set point, but the Mustangs did not seem to mind and took the second set 25-9.
Frustrated by the tough second-set loss and knowing the importance of trying to win this set to keep the match going, Virginia hit the ground running in the third set — with the score much closer than before. The lead was still in favor of SMU, though, and the Cavaliers knew there was not room for error.
The large crowd that came to cheer on Virginia tried to help keep morale high throughout the set, cheering on both the team and individuals and reminding them to keep trying to get points up on the board.
The gap began to widen once again, however, and the Mustangs took to the service line at 10-5. Knowing this could mean an attempt at an offensive run, the Cavaliers took a timeout to try and slow their opponent down.
Unfortunately, SMU kept matching every kill and more, executing strong blocks and service aces to strengthen its lead 16-7. Virginia used its second and final timeout of the set to try and recuperate once again, figuring out what needed to be done to claw back up and tie the score.
The score kept rising, but the gap only fluctuated by a point or two — staying between eight and 10 points. At 24-14, the Mustangs took to the service line for match point. Unfortunately, the long rally ended up being the last rally of the game, with SMU taking the third and final set 25-14.
Coach Shannon Wells was frustrated by the loss but also saw it as a learning opportunity for the team, seeing this as a chance to improve the rest of the regular season.
“Yeah, you know, we were so excited about this weekend,” Coach Wells said. “It was kind of an opportunity for us to see as we're building … what the top of the ACC and the top of the nation look like compared to what we're doing … I think we learned a lot, and we're thankful that we have eight more matches this year to continue to give back.”
Next up for Virginia is the long-awaited Commonwealth Clash against Virginia Tech Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Memorial Gymnasium. Fans should make sure to come support their favorite Cavaliers against their long-time rival — the Hokies.
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