Virginia Volleyball Gears Up for Year Three Under Shannon Wells

Breaking down the UVA volleyball roster for the upcoming season, including notable returners and key newcomers

Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics

Last season, the Virginia volleyball team showed signs of improvement, but there is still plenty of room for growth for the Cavaliers entering year three under head coach Shannon Wells. In April 2020, Well was hired and tasked with turning around a struggling program and in her first season in 2021, the Hoos went 8-20 and 1-17 in the ACC. Last fall, the team improved to 12-17 and 4-14 in the ACC. More importantly, Virginia was much more competitive than before, as there were many more winnable sets and matches in the season. Now, it is time to take another step towards a winning season.

The Cavaliers are losing a few key pieces from last season, most notably outside hitter Grace Turner, who was an All-ACC Second Team honoree, the first All-ACC selection for UVA since 2016. She finished first in kills with 397 (the next best was 244) and second on the team with 210 digs. Her presence on the court will be greatly missed, as Virginia will need other players to step up to fill her shoes as well as those of the other leaders that are graduating.

As the 2023-2024 season rapidly approaches, starting with an exhibition match against James Madison on August 19th, it is time to take a look at the new roster. There are nine returning players and seven newcomers listed on the roster that will begin the new season.

Returners

Virginia will look to graduate student Veresia Yon and seniors GG Carvacho, Madison Morey, and Chloe Wilson as leaders this season. Veresia Yon was second on the team in blocks last season with 77, and recorded the best single-match hitting percentage for a Virginia player since 2016 when she hit .786 against Boston College. Former Ole Miss transfer GG Carvacho battled multiple injuries that limited her production last season, but showed great promise and will be a key role player. Madison Morey was the starting libero for most of the season, but also played as a defensive specialist, and she led the team with 296 digs. Chloe Wilson primarily played right side last season, and the former transfer from Wake Forest has lots of upside potential now that she has a season with her new team under her belt.

The junior class is a strong one, made up of Brooklyn Borum, Ashley Le, Abby Tadder, and Heyli Velasquez. Borum saw less playing time after making the All-Freshman team two seasons ago, but she will be ready to step up to fill the hole in the offense after Grace Turner’s departure. Ashley Le split time at the setter position and also played as a defensive specialist, and was second in assists at 359 and fourth in digs with 158. Abby Tadder was a huge presence in the middle as she finished with a team-high 114 blocks and was second with 244 kills. Heyli Velasquez made several starts at libero and appeared in the other matches as a defensive specialist, and finished sixth on the team with 139 digs. Rounding out the returners is sophomore Kate Johnson, who primarily played as a serve specialist. She tied for fourth in total aces with 15, including four against rival Virginia Tech.

Those nine players know what potential this team holds. After some thrilling victories and heartbreaking narrow losses, the team is hungry to improve. Joining them will be three transfers and four freshmen.

Newcomers

Shannon Wells signed three players in the transfer portal that are set to join the team in the fall: Milan Gomillion, Ciera Hecht, and Regan Trueblood. Gomillion was the starting libero at Maryland for two seasons, where she led the Big Ten in digs per set in 2021 and played every single set in 2022. Hecht is a graduate transfer from Texas A&M who can play all rotations, as she finished with 156 digs and 60 kills last season. Finally, Trueblood is a graduate transfer after playing four seasons of Division II volleyball, and she is ranked fifth on the all-time assists list at the University of Illinois Springfield with 1,186.

The four freshmen joining the team are Lauryn Bowie, Nala Cornegy, Lily Gervase, and Meredith Reeg. Bowie is an outside and right side hitter that was on the 2023 AVCA Watch List. Cornegy was ranked as the No. 19 prospect in the state of Virginia as a middle blocker. Gervase is another middle blocker who made the 2022 AVCA Watch List and the 2023 PrepVolleyball.com Watch List. Finally, Reeg is a defensive specialist and libero that played club volleyball with Gervase and also made the AVCA All American Watch List, as well as leading her high school team to a state championship.

It is up to Shannon Wells and her coaching staff to bring this group together and prepare them for the season that is coming up in just one month. The ACC is a tough conference to be in, but Virginia is poised to be a challenging matchup for any team. 

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