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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia volleyball team accomplished a rare feat Friday evening and despite being down two sets to Miami, rallied to defeat the top team in the league, 3-2 (19-25, 25-27, 25-13, 25-22, 15-13), in Memorial Gymnasium. The win bumps the Cavaliers to 13-9 on the season and an even 5-5 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, while the Hurricanes fall to 19-3 overall, 7-3 in the league.
“It was a great win tonight,” head coach Lee Maes said. “I think it gives our team a lot of confidence to know that we are as competitive as anyone in the conference. When we put our mind to it, we have the ability to sustain a level of focus, discipline and effort to make good things happen. We were very patient in maintaining our game plan tonight and we really took advantage of the opportunities that Miami gave us.”
Fourth-year Shannon Davis (Austin, Texas), who surpassed the 1,000 kill mark last weekend and entered Virginia’s all-time top 10 career kills record list, was joined by third-year Lauren Dickson (Austin, Texas) and first-year Simone Asque (Chicago, Ill.), who each landed 13 kills in the win.
The defense was led by second-year A.J. Cushman (Richmond, Va.) who tallied a career-high 21 digs and third-year Brittani Rendina (Lisle, Ill.) who collected 17 digs to mark her 12th-straight match in double-digits. Fifth-year Beth Shelton (Cincinnati, Ohio) dug 11 attacks.
Fourth-year Marlow Bruneau (Lakeville, Minn.) and Davis blocked seven attacks, while Dickson blocked a career-high six and second-year Sydney Hill (Kalamazoo, Mich.) contributed six.
Second-year Kelly Irvin (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) distributed 20 assists, while Bruneau had 18.
For Miami, Lane Carico led all players with 20 kills and 27 digs. Katie Gallagher dished out a match-high 51 assists.
Miami went up early in the first set, leading Virginia 21-15 and forcing the Cavaliers to call a timeout. Despite Virginia coming out of the intermission strong, with kills by Asque and Davis, the Hurricanes held onto their lead and captured a 25-19 win.
Competition was fierce in the second set, with eight tie scores and six lead changes. With the score tied at 24-24, the Hurricanes landed a service ace before committing an attack error, bring the score to 25 all. Ellis knocked down a kill and Mayhew secured the win at 27-25 with another kill for Miami.
With the score tied at seven in the third set, Virginia went on an 11-4 run forcing Miami to take a timeout with Virginia leading 18-11. Virginia continued to expand its lead under Irvin’s serve, only allowing Miami to score one more point, and winning the set 25-13.
Virginia took an early lead in the fourth set, but the Hurricanes went on a late run to bring the score to 21-21. A kill by Davis gave Virginia the lead and three successive points under Cushman’s serve brought the score to 24-22. The Cavaliers ended the set with a kill by Dickson to bring the final score to 25-22 and take the match into a fifth game.
The fifth frame remained close throughout, with seven tied scores and four lead changes. Tied at 13-13, Miami called a timeout. The Cavaliers came out of the break with a kill by Dickson, giving them their first match point, before an attack error by Miami allowed the Cavaliers to close the match with a 15-13 victory.
Virginia will return to action tomorrow, facing Florida State at 7 p.m. in Mem Gym.