Story Links
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia volleyball team battled back despite being down two sets to force a fifth frame, but it wasn’t enough as North Carolina escape Memorial Gymnasium with a 3-2 (25-23, 25-20, 25-27, 22-25, 15-7) victory Friday evening. The win improves the Tar Heels to a four-way tie for first-place in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 16-9, 10-4 ACC mark, while the Cavaliers fall to 13-13 on the season and 5-9 in the league.
Four Cavaliers reached double-figure kills and four collected double-digit digs, led by first-year Simone Asque (Chicago, Ill.) and fifth-year Beth Shelton (Cincinnati, Ohio), who each recorded double-doubles. Asque knocked down a team-high 16 kills and collected 15 digs, while Shelton tallied 15 kills and a season-high 21 digs.
Fourth-year Shannon Davis (Austin, Tex.) and second-year Kendahl Voelker (Fort Myers, Fla.) each had 10 kills.
Third-year Brittani Rendina (Lisle, Ill.) led the team with 29 digs and second-year A.J. Cushman (Richmond, Va.) collected 18.
At the net, second-year Sydney Hill (Kalamazoo, Mich.) blocked a match-high six attacks, while Davis contributed five blocks, two solo.
Second-year Kelly Irvin (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) and fourth-year Marlow Bruneau (Lakeville, Minn.) dished out 24 and 23 assists, respectively.
North Carolina was led by Courtney Johnston’s match-high 18 kills and Brianna Eskola’s match-high 30 digs. Erica Behm led all players with 39 assists.
The Tar Heels took an early lead at the start of the first set, leading the Cavaliers 18-10. Virginia rallied back cutting its deficit to two on a kill by Asque, to bring the score to 24-22. A kill by Hill left the Cavaliers down by one before UNC’s Prussing responded with a kill of her own, giving UNC a 25-23 victory.
With the score tied at 17 all in the second stanza, the Tar Heels went on a 6-1 run to take the lead. The Cavaliers produced two successive kills behind Bruneau and Voelker, cutting the Tar Heel’s lead to three and bringing the score to 20-23. UNC finished strong with kills by Hanson-Tuntland and Johnston, giving them a 20-25 win.
The third set remained close throughout much of the play with the score tied up seven times. At 24-24 a block by Voelker and Davis gave the Cavaliers the advantage. A kill by UNC’s Hanson-Tuntland evened the score again at 25. Virginia responded with a kill by Voelker, again taking the lead, and finished with an ace by Cushman to take a 27-25 victory.
With the score tied at 22 in the fourth set, kills by Asque and Shelton gave Virginia a 24-22 lead. A block by Voelker and Davis finished the set with a 25-22 Cavalier victory and force the match to advance to a fifth set.
North Carolina came out strong in the fifth set, leading the Cavaliers by 10 with a score of 12-2. Virginia attempted a late rally and brought the score within eight but the Tar Heels captured a 15-7 victory to win the match and force a split in this season’s series meetings.
Virginia will return to action on Saturday, hosting NC State at 7 p.m. in Memorial Gymnasium.