Cavaliers Now

Virginia Volleyball Splits Two Dramatic Matches Against Charlotte

The Cavaliers went 1-1 against the 49ers in their first home matches of the season

Kathleen Boyce

Virginia Athletics

After spending the first two weekends of the season competing in road tournaments at Florida and Xavier, the Virginia volleyball team finally played its first home matches of the season, hosting Charlotte for a pair of matches on Friday and Saturday at Memorial Gymnasium. Both matches were five-set thrillers, with UVA winning the first and Charlotte taking the second. 

Friday (9/9): Virginia 3, Charlotte 2

In the first match of the 2-day series, Virginia and Charlotte went the distance, as the Cavaliers took the win 25-22, 25-21, 21-25, 23-25, 16-14.

Virginia’s hitters were extremely efficient in set one, registering 15 kills and only one hitting error. In the second set, the Cavaliers continued the impressive hitting statistics led by Grace Turner, who had eight kills in the second set alone.

In the third set, the Cavaliers scored three straight points to pull the score to 21-19, but a Charlotte timeout helped propel the 49ers to the set victory. Set four featured 15 ties and five lead changes, but Virginia's five service errors in the set helped Charlotte take the victory and force a fifth set.

The key moment in the fifth set came with Gabby Easton at the service line, as the Cavaliers went on a 5-0 run to bring the score from 6-6 to 11-6. Grace Turner and Mattison Matthews each had two kills, and Chloe Wilson added one during the run. Charlotte fended off two match points to tie the set at 14, but then Mary Shaffer and Grace Turner delivered back-to-back clutch kills to seal the victory.

Grace Turner excelled with a career-high 23 kills to go with 15 digs and a .422 hitting percentage as the clear MVP of the match. Mary Shaffer was also a major contributor with 17 kills and four blocks with a .464 hitting percentage. Abby Tadder finished with 11 kills, six blocks, and five aces, while Madison Morey picked up 20 digs as she anchored the back row defense. Setters Ashley Le and Gabby Easton picked up 30 and 25 assists, respectively.

Saturday (9/10): Charlotte 3, Virginia 2

These two teams battled until the end for the second day in a row, but Charlotte came out on top this time, so the Cavaliers fell 15-25, 20-25, 25-17, 25-22, 13-15.

Charlotte came out swinging from the beginning, while Virginia was slower to warm up. The Cavaliers hit -.100 in set one thanks to 11 errors and only eight kills. Meanwhile, the 49ers hit .381 to open up the match and cruised to a first set victory by a ten point margin. While the Cavaliers made fewer mistakes in the second set, Charlotte continued to hit well, earning the second set as well.

In the third set, the Cavaliers began an impressive comeback. By holding the 49ers to a .125 hitting percentage and hitting .407 themselves, UVA took set three, and then fought through a close fourth set to force the deciding fifth set.

The fifth set was a thriller just like the night before, with the best play of the afternoon coming when libero Madison Morey lunged and hit the ball with one hand from the back of the court over the net, where it dropped for UVA’s ninth point of the set. 

As Memorial Gymnasium erupted in cheers, it seemed like that play could provide the momentum needed for the Hoos to finish strong, but Charlotte had other plans. The 49ers finished on a 7-3 run to clinch the match and snap UVA's four-match winning streak. 

Grace Turner continued her impressive weekend with 22 kills, and Ole Miss transfer GG Carvacho was a new star at the top of the leaderboard with 12 kills and just two errors on 21 swings, good for a .476 hitting percentage. The Charlotte block was a major factor in the match, which was led by Amani McArthur, who finished with 13 kills and nine blocks with a .579 hitting percentage.

Next weekend, Virginia will wrap up non-conference play with a home tournament at Mem Gym. UVA will host East Carolina (12:30pm) and Mercer (7:30pm) on Friday and Maryland on Saturday at 3pm. 

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Kathleen Boyce
KATHLEEN BOYCE

Kathleen Boyce is a contributing author for Cavaliers Now, covering primarily UVA volleyball, women's basketball, and softball. Kathleen is currently a fourth-year student at the University of Virginia.

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