UVA Volleyball Beats Notre Dame 3-0, Earns First ACC Sweep Since 2019

The Virginia volleyball swept an ACC opponent for the first time since November 27th, 2019

Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics

The Virginia volleyball team was firing on all cylinders in a Sunday afternoon matchup against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, leading to the first ACC sweep since the Cavaliers defeated Virginia Tech on November 27th, 2019. UVA registered 16 blocks and held Notre Dame to an 0.048 hitting percentage, taking the match in straight sets 27-25, 25-19, 25-19.

Virginia showed a fighting spirit in the first set, staging multiple comebacks and surviving four set points to win the set. In addition, the seven team blocks set the tone for the rest of the match. The Cavaliers trailed 20-16, but used three kills from middle hitters Abby Tadder and Veresia Yon as well as a Kate Johnson ace to tie the score at 21. Notre Dame responded by pushing the score to 24-21, but the Cavaliers weren’t done yet. Ashley Le came up clutch with two aces to tie the match at 24, and then Gabby Easton tied the score again at 25 with a kill. From there, Grace Turner took things away with a service ace and then Notre Dame made an attack error. All of the back and forth resulted in a major momentum shift towards the Cavaliers.

The second set was a back-and-forth affair through the first half, but then Virginia switched to a new gear to pull ahead. Trailing 16-14, the Cavaliers put together an 11-3 run to close out the second set. The Fighting Irish made five errors during the run, while the Cavaliers played a clean match that consisted of improving hitting percentages as the match progressed.

Set three featured seven ties and six lead changes, but Virginia was once again able to come out on top. Mary Shaffer had three kills on six swings to pace her team, and Madison Morey and Grace Turner each had four digs to go along with five team blocks. With the score tied at 19, Gabby Easton wrapped things up with a 7-0 serving run, earning the sweep. This was also UVA's first victory over Notre Dame since 2016, snapping a five-match losing streak to the Fighting Irish. 

Abby Tadder was a spark plug from the middle hitter position with eight kills and eight blocks, and her counterpart, Veresia Yon, was right there with her with six kills and seven blocks. Grace Turner had eight kills, four blocks, nine digs, and an ace in her typical do-it-all afternoon, and Madison Morey added ten digs.

On Friday night, the Cavaliers were swept by the No. 2 Louisville Cardinals by a score of 18-25, 15-25, 22-25. There were great moments throughout the match that showed the Cavaliers are ready for a high level of play, and the team ended up with four fewer hitting errors than the Cardinals in total. The third set featured 12 ties and seven lead changes, but the Cavaliers were unable to extend the match. Grace Turner finished with ten kills and Abby Tadder had eight kills and five blocks. Ashley Le had seven digs in the third set alone, and ten in the match overall.

After a solid showing against Louisville and an exciting victory against Notre Dame - which gave the Cavaliers multiple ACC wins in a season for the first time since 2019 -  UVA (10-11, 2-8 ACC) will head to Blacksburg on Friday night for the Commonwealth Clash against Virginia Tech. Virginia will then face Wake Forest in Winston-Salem on Sunday afternoon. 

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