UVA Volleyball Wins Two of Three Matches to Start 2021 Season

Virginia went 2-1 at the Maryland Invite with wins against Hofstra and Central Connecticut State

Photo courtesy of Virginia Athletics

The UVA volleyball team began its 2021 season with victories in two out of three games this weekend at the Maryland Invite in College Park. After dropping the season opener against Maryland on Friday, the Cavaliers defeated Hofstra and Central Connecticut State on Saturday for the first wins in the tenure of Shannon Wells as UVA volleyball’s head coach.

UVA lost its first game of the 2021 season against Maryland in four sets on Friday night (21-25, 25-23, 19-25, 22-25). The Cavaliers were tied with the Terrapins at 20 in the first set before Maryland took five of the final six points to take the opening set. The Hoos responded with a 25-23 win in a very closely-contested second set in which neither team had a lead of more than four points. Freshman Ashley Le made her UVA debut and led the team with 19 assists. Virginia fell behind early in the third set, but fought back to tie the game at 19 before the Terps scored six straight points to win the set. Maryland prevailed in a close 25-22 fourth set to close out the match. Grace Turner had 13 kills and four blocks to lead the Hoos, who also had 11 aces as a team.

On Saturday morning, Shannon Wells got her first career win as Virginia head coach as the Cavaliers defeated Hofstra in straight sets (25-16, 25-14, 25-22). UVA recorded an impressive .348 hitting percentage and had five aces in the opening set. Grace Turner had 11 kills, five of which came in the first set. With the second set tied at 11, the Hoos got in a groove and went on an 11-0 run to take control of the set. Alana Walker, a grad transfer from Northwestern, had four of her seven blocks in the second frame. Virginia trailed for much of the third set and was down 20-17 before a 6-0 run powered by sophomore Mary Shaffer turned the set around and the Cavaliers closed out the match.

In the final match of the tournament on Saturday afternoon, Virginia beat Central Connecticut State in four sets (25-23, 25-21, 25-27, 25-20). Three consecutive aces by Grace Turner helped Virginia overcome a four-point deficit and take the opening set. UVA got off to a better start in the second set, taking an 18-12 lead before CCSU rallied to cut it to just one point at 22-21. The Hoos took the last three points of the set to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match. The third set went back-and-forth and was tied at 24 and 25 before the Blue Devils got two straight kills to take the third frame. A 7-0 run in the fourth set, led by Grace Turner’s seven kills, helped the Cavaliers clinch the set and the match. Alana Walker had another strong performance with 11 kills and seven blocks and registered a .526 hitting percentage. Senior Kristen Leland had a career-high 23 digs in the win.

Up next, Virginia returns to Memorial Gymnasium for a home tournament next weekend. UVA will play Akron on Friday at 7pm and Winthrop at 2pm on Saturday.