Virginia Volleyball Beats Syracuse for First ACC Win, Goes 1-1 at Home

The Cavaliers defeated Syracuse 3-1 on Friday night and fell to Boston College 3-1 on Sunday to move to 1-3 in the ACC

The 2022 Cavalier team managed four conference wins last season, and now Shannon Wells’s team has its first of the 2023 campaign.

Friday 9/29 - Virginia 3, Syracuse 1

The Cavaliers debuted a new lineup against Syracuse, and it looked solid as Virginia earned its first ACC win, 3-1. This win marked the first time Virginia had defeated Syracuse since 2003. Instead of Ashley Le setting in all rotations with a 5-1 setup, Regan Trueblood joined her at setter, sending Virginia into a 6-2 lineup. With the setter permanently in the back row, this opens up more hitting options, so Abby Tadder moved from middle blocker over to right side hitter, and Lily Gervase got her first start of the season.

In the first set, the score remained even through the beginning, and then Virginia began to build a lead. Two consecutive kills by Ciera Hecht and one from Chloe Wilson and later kills from Lauryn Bowie and Abby Tadder helped Virginia take a 17-12 lead with two 3-0 runs. Syracuse attempted to stage a comeback, but the Cavaliers had three straight first ball kills to take a 20-16 lead and make sure Syracuse didn’t come close. Chloe Wilson had several kills late in the set, and then a block by Lily Gervase and Abby Tadder teamed up on a block to secure the 25-18 win.

Chloe Wilson had five kills on seven swings in set two, leading the way as Virginia hit .406 with 16 kills and just three errors. Abby Tadder and Veresia Yon had three blocks together in four points, and having them play in the front row together is dangerous for any opponent. The Hoos added a 5-0 run right after, extending the lead to 18-10. The efficient set concluded with two kills, and Virginia earned the 25-16 set two victory.

The Cavaliers struggled a bit in the third set, with a 0% hitting percentage after just seven kills and a match-high seven errors. The set was close for most of it, with Syracuse leading 13-11. Then, Syracuse went on a 9-1 run, including four straight aces from Zharia Harris-Waddy to take a 22-12 lead. From there, the Orange cruised to the set three win, and kept the match alive.

Virginia was able to successfully respond in the fourth set, hitting a match-high .441 with 17 kills and only two errors. Chloe Wilson and Abby Tadder led the way with five and four kills, respectively. The two teams traded points early on, but the offensive party began shortly after. Chloe Wilson had two consecutive kills, and then Ciera Hecht, Lauryn Bowie, Abby Tadder, and Veresia Yon got in on the action as the Cavaliers continued to push the score up. The emphatic finish to the match was a Veresia Yon first ball kill, and it capped off the great match for Virginia and a 25-16 win.

Chloe Wilson led Virginia with 14 kills on .423 hitting percentage. Ciera Hecht and Abby Tadder both nearly had double doubles, with Hecht registering 13 kills and nine digs and Tadder racking up 11 kills and nine blocks. Regan Trueblood and Ashley Le had 27 and 20 assists apiece, and Heyli Velasquez led the defense with 11 kills.

Sunday 10/1 - Boston College 3, Virginia 1

In the second home ACC contest, the Cavaliers took one set from the Boston College Eagles, but were unable to rally for more. Virginia had nine attack errors and hit -0.031 in set one, allowing Boston College to have the edge early. A 5-0 run helped Boston College take a 10-4 lead, and later two attack errors by the Hoos and an Eagles block made a 3-0 run and extended the lead to 18-10. GG Carvacho had two kills late in the set for UVA, but the lead was too big to overcome.

Virginia won a closely contested set two, 25-23. Brooklyn Borum and Lauryn Bowie each had a pair of kills early on. Four errors by Boston College contributed to a 5-0 Cavaliers run, making the score 15-11. UVA had several service errors that helped Boston College crawl back, and then the Eagles orchestrated a 5-0 run made up of four kills and a block to take a 22-20 lead. Virginia was able to stop the run and then a kill by Abby Tadder tied the score at 23. Heyli Velasquez came up clutch for Virginia, serving two aces to lead her team to victory.

Boston College hit .344 and .333 in sets three and four with only five attack errors in comparison to Virginia hitting .182 and .105 with 14 errors. The score was tied at 12 in the third set and Virginia hung around for awhile, but Boston College’s efficient offense was too much to stop and the Eagles went on to win 25-19. Similarly, the fourth set was close for the first half, but Boston College scored three straight points to take a 16-13 lead and never looked back, capping it off with a 4-0 run to win the match.

Abby Tadder had ten kills for Virginia, but also had an uncharacteristic ten errors; however, we should expect some time to adjust if she is going to continue to play right side after being a middle blocker up until this weekend. GG Carvacho had four kills on eight swings with no errors after barely playing in the match on Friday night, so it will be interesting to see what lineup changes Shannon Wells makes for next weekend. Milan Gomillion did what she could to slow down the Boston College offense with 17 digs.

The Cavaliers host Clemson on Friday night and Georgia Tech on Sunday afternoon as ACC play continues.

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