Story Links
RALEIGH, N.C. The Virginia volleyball team saw its win streak snapped at three-straight contests, dropping a four-set match (18-25, 25-23, 22-25, 22-25) to NC State in Reynolds Coliseum Saturday evening. The win improves the Wolfpack to 9-12 overall, 3-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, while the Cavaliers fall to 11-8 on the season, 3-4 in the conference.
Fifth-year Beth Shelton (Cincinnati, Ohio) led Virginia’s attack with 12 kills and collected 13 digs for her second-consecutive double-double. Third-year Brittani Rendina (Lisle, Ill.) led the defense with a match-high 21 digs.
Third-year Lauren Dickson (Austin, Texas) collected 14 digs, while second-year A.J. Cushman (Richmond, Va.) had 13. Second-year Kelly Irvin (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) and fourth-year Marlow Bruneau (Lakeville, Minn.) dished out 21 and 15 assists, respectively.
Fourth-year Shannon Davis (Austin, Texas) collected five blocks.
For NC State, Margaret Salata knocked down 13 kills, while Isis Gardner had 12. Lindsay Benac collected 20 digs and Aiwane Iboaya had a match-high seven blocks.
State’s Iboaya led the Wolfpack to a 25-18 victory in the opening set, landing five kills to carry the team to a .343 attack percentage, while her three blocks anchored a defense that held the Cavaliers at a .125 clip.
The Cavaliers came out stronger in the second frame, though, as the two squads exchanged leads multiple times early on. Virginia eventually took control of the set, gaining its largest lead of the contest at 18-12, but a late rally from State forced the Cavaliers to call a timeout at 24-23. Davis landed a kill out of the intermission to earn the win for Virginia.
The Pack used a 5-2 run midway through the third set to break open an even 15-15 game to take a 21-17 advantage. The deficit was too much for the Cavaliers to overcome, though, and State held on for a 25-22 victory.
Virginia struggled late in the fourth frame as the Wolfpack used a three-point run to jump ahead 21-18. The Cavaliers responded with a kill, but State pulled ahead four at 24-20 and secured the match, at 25-22, with a kill.
The Cavaliers will return to action playing host to four-straight matches the next two weekends. Duke will visit Memorial Gymnasium on Fri., Oct. 17 at 7 p.m., followed by Wake Forest on Sun., Oct. 19 at noon. Miami and Florida State will travel to Charlottesville the following weekend.