Virginia Volleyball Defeats VCU in Five Sets

UVA rallied from multiple one-set deficits to defeat the Rams on Friday.

Photo courtesy of Virginia Athletics Communications

With six games of the UVA volleyball schedule completed, there is one thing we know for sure about the Cavaliers: they can go the distance.

Virginia played its second five-set match of the season on Friday against VCU and prevailed against the Rams on their home court. UVA defeated Akron in a five-set match last Friday.

Just as they did in the match against Akron last week, the Hoos overcame multiple one-set deficits and rallied to defeat VCU 15-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-19, 15-11.

VCU dominated the first set, going on a 12-2 run to take a commanding 11-point lead. The Rams posted an impressive .344 hitting percentage and won the opening set 25-15.

The second set was a vastly different story. Virginia won the first four points of the set and led for nearly the entire set. VCU kept things close and briefly took a 20-19 lead, before the Cavaliers went on a 6-2 run to clinch the set and even the match at 1-1. Grace Turner had five kills in the set and led all players with 19 kills in the match.

In the third set, VCU notched an even more impressive .377 hitting percentage with 16 kills. The set was closely-contested, with neither team holding a lead of more than five points. After a Grace Turner kill evened the set at 23, VCU scored two straight points to take a 2-1 set advantage.

Alana Walker and Brooklyn Borum combined to light up the Rams in the fourth set and lead the Hoos to a 25-19 fourth set win to force a fifth set. Borum had 14 kills and 10 digs in the match, while Alana Walker recorded 10 kills and 10 blocks.

Turner had three kills and an ace in the fifth set as the Hoos went on a 7-3 run to clinch the deciding set, 15-13.

Maddie Boylston and Ashley Le ran the offense effectively, with 21 and 15 assists, respectively.

With the win, Virginia improves to 4-2 on the season and faces No. 4 Ohio State on Saturday at 2pm in the final match of the VCU Invitational.