In the first of back-to-back Commonwealth Clash matches, Virginia volleyball defeated Virginia Tech at Memorial Gymnasium Wednesday night. The Cavaliers (18-6, 8-5 ACC) dropped two of the first three sets but recovered to take down the Hokies (7-16, 1-12 ACC) 3-2 in an intense five-set match.
Wednesday marked the third straight game Virginia has had to play without senior libero Milan Gomillion. The senior’s absence was felt during the Cavaliers’ two most recent 3-0 losses against No. 1 Pittsburgh and No. 10 Southern Methodist, but today, things fell into place for Virginia as it worked through lineup changes and readjusted without Gomillion.
“What I’m really proud of is that people have had to step into different roles,” Coach Shannon Wells said. “We went to a different lineup today — as we have all three matches — so I’m honestly just really proud of our team for stepping up … We needed this win.”
This game also marked an important matchup for senior outside hitter Elayna Duprey, who transferred to Virginia from Virginia Tech this year. Duprey’s first game against her former team was nothing but a success — she finished the game with 13 kills. Wells cited this as an added challenge to the game, but credited Duprey for her outstanding performance.
“She was super aggressive in the things that she was doing,” Wells said. “I was really proud of the way she responded.”
The first set opened intensely, with both teams battling and forcing multiple lead changes. A loud Hokie sideline seemed to shake the Cavaliers in the beginning of the set — Virginia did not take its first lead until the middle of the set at 12-11. For the rest of the set, the Cavaliers continued to struggle holding off the Hokies. Virginia Tech took a late lead at 24-23 and eventually won the first set 26-24.
During the second set, the Cavaliers appeared refocused and capitalized on errors from the Hokies’ side. Two kills from Duprey set Virginia up to take a sizeable 10-5 lead, forcing Virginia Tech to take a timeout. The Hokies, as displayed by the first set, were no stranger to coming back from behind. They slowly made attempts to cut away at the lead, eventually forcing Virginia to take a timeout up 16-12.
Despite threatening the Cavaliers’ lead, Virginia still had a cushion thanks to the lead they gained from the beginning of the set. Despite occasional points from Virginia Tech, the Cavaliers continued to amass points including kills from Dean, senior setter Ashley Le and freshman right setter Becca Wight. With the crowd on its feet for the second set point at 24-16, Virginia won the second set off a service error from the Hokies.
In the third set, Virginia Tech took off on a 4-0 scoring run early on and led 10-5, forcing the Cavaliers to take their first timeout. This did not appear to help Virginia as it promptly took another timeout after the Hokies extended their lead to 14-7.
Despite a smattering of kills from Duprey following the second timeout, the Cavaliers were unable to shut down the Hokies. An overturned call that worked in Virginia Tech’s favor gave the visitors a 22-17 lead and eventually pushed them to a 25-19 win that put them one set from victory.
Hoping to push the game to five sets, the Cavaliers were ahead 10-6 before forcing the Hokies to take a timeout. Virginia Tech cut into this lead, but a 4-0 scoring run thanks to a kill from sophomore outside hitter Lauryn Bowie pushed Virginia further ahead at 17-12.
Capitalizing off of this lead, kills from Duprey combined with various Virginia Tech errors during the remainder of the set brought the Cavaliers to a 25-17 victory amidst energized fans on their feet.
Moving into the final set, amid a handful of challenge calls and timeouts, Virginia hoped to cruise to a fifth-set victory, and they succeeded. Seven straight points from the Cavaliers gave them an 8-3 lead before both teams switched sides. The Hokies were unable to respond, and Virginia breezed to victory, winning 15-8.
This marks the Cavaliers’ third straight win against Virginia Tech, now putting their all-time record against their in-state rival at an even 40-40. Coming off of tough losses against the Mustangs and Panthers last week, this win figures to be crucial in reestablishing Virginia’s confidence.
Next up, Virginia will head to Blacksburg Friday and look to go undefeated against the Hokies in this year’s Commonwealth Clash matchups. The game will begin at 7 p.m. and can be streamed on ACCNX.
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