Virginia Volleyball Falls to NC State in Home Finale

The Cavaliers couldn’t close out a set in the team’s final home match, and fell 3-0 to the Wolfpack

Virginia fell to 3-14 in the ACC after a loss to NC State at home, and the story of the day was the story of the season: Virginia can hang around with any team in the ACC, but is unable to close as the set nears 25 points.

Set one started off slow with a few attack errors before the pace picked up. Chloe Wilson had two early kills as the score remained close. NC State got out to a 12-8 lead and held that lead for a stretch, with Virginia trying to pull closer and the Wolfpack preventing it. NC State led 22-17 before Virginia successfully put together a few points, going on a 4-0 run with two kills from Lauryn Bowie to pull within one point. The Wolfpack got the next point, and then had a kill and forced an attack error to win 25-23, so the Cavalier comeback came up short.

NC State hit .448 in set two, so Virginia only had five digs in the entire set and lost 25-17. Abby Tadder had six kills in the set to pace the Hoos, but the efficiency on the other side of the net was too much to compete with. Trailing 10-7 early on, NC State put together a 5-0 run to take the lead, and then extended a lead with an 8-2 run made up of two aces and several Cavalier errors. Virginia stopped the run with a kill at 20-15, but the Wolfpack was able to continue to push ahead and win the set.

In the third set, no team led by more than a point until NC State led 15-13, and then the lead didn’t extend past two points until NC State took a 20-17 lead. From there, NC State went on a 5-2 run to earn a 25-19 victory and sweep the Cavaliers. Veresia Yon had four kills in set three as the leader for Virginia, and the beginning of the set was very clean volleyball for the Cavaliers. Then, the Wolfpack’s final eight points were made up by three Virginia errors and two NC State blocks.

Virginia had a chance in all three sets, and especially sets one and three. However, late in the sets, NC State managed to forge ahead based on a combination of clutch plays and Cavalier mistakes.

Abby Tadder had 11 kills and hit .471 and Lauryn Bowie had eight kills and hit .538. One missing stat for Virginia was only two blocks in the entire match, which is uncharacteristic for the team that is third in blocks in the ACC.

Virginia closes out the season in Blacksburg against Virginia Tech. After a dramatic 3-2 win against the Hokies at home, ending the season on an away win would be a great final touch to what has been not as successful of a season as Shannon Wells and her staff had hoped for. 

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