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CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Virginia volleyball team dropped a hard-fought four set match at Miami on Sunday afternoon by set scores of 25-22, 18-25, 20-25 and 24-26. The win improves Miami to 12-2 on the season and 2-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, while the Cavaliers fall to 6-7 on the season and 0-3 in the league.

Virginia was led by three players who recorded double-doubles on the day. Junior Simone Asque topped the offense with a match-high 27 kills and earned 12 digs for her 15th career double-double, while freshman McKenzie Adams earned her first double-double with 10 kills and 14 digs. Sophomore Beth Wildermuth also tallied a double-double, dishing out a personal-best 48 assists to go with 12 digs and a career-high four blocks.

Senior AJ Cushman anchored the defense and led five players in double figure digs, collecting 20. Freshman Emily Rottman rounded out the Cavaliers in double figure digs, earning 15.

At the net, sophomore Jess O’shoney led the way with six blocks, while freshman Mallory Woolridge tacked on five.

For Miami, Lane Carico knocked down 15 kills to go with 20 digs, while Alex Johnson had 10 kills and a match-high 23 digs. Katie Gallagher dished out 51 assists and Ariell Cooke had a match-high seven blocks.

Despite falling behind 2-7 in the opening set, Virginia rallied to even the score at 10, before controlling the next portion of the frame with a 6-1 run to take a 17-12 lead. Miami rallied though, cutting its deficit to two, at 23-21, before the Cavaliers called a timeout and regrouped to end the set with a 25-22 victory.

Miami came out strong again in the second stanza, opening with a 9-3 advantage. But the Cavaliers were able to respond with six-straight points of their own to knot the score at nine. The Hurricanes halted the streak with three points of its own, before Miami was able to take its largest lead of the game – a six-point margin, at 20-14. From there, the squads traded serves, resulting in a 25-18 Miami win.

The Cavaliers earned the early advantage in the third frame, but they were unable to hold onto it. Up 8-3, Virginia allowed Miami to come within two, at 8-6, but responded with back-to-back points to maintain its advantage. The Hurricanes didn’t back down though, and worked to even the score at 13, but that would be all they would get as Virginia increased its lead back to three. With another tied score at 16 and then 17, it would then be that Miami took its first lead of the contest. Falling behind 21-17, the Cavaliers would be unable to recover and dropped the third set, 25-20.

The fourth set remained tight throughout. Featuring eight lead changes and 16 tie scores, including one at 24-24, it would ultimately be Miami that found the consecutive points to earn the 26-24 victory.

Virginia will return home for back-to-back contests in Memorial Gymnasium next weekend. The Cavaliers will face Georgia Tech on Friday at 7 p.m., before hosting Clemson on Sunday at 1 p.m.

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