Cavaliers Top William & Mary In Straight Sets
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Box Score Sept. 19, 2015
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – For the second-straight match the Virginia volleyball team won in straight-sets, as the Cavaliers defeated William & Mary, 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-22) on Saturday in the American Classic at Bender Arena.
Virginia (7-3) had its offense working once again with a .322 attack percentage, while allowing just .158 for William & Mary (5-7). Both teams finished with 37 kills, but the Cavaliers won the battle at the net with six blocks to three.
Sophomore Alex Thorson (Spring, Texas) led UVa with eight kills, while junior Haley Kole (Tallahssee, Fla.), senior Natalie Bausback (Carlsbad, Calif.) and freshman Anna Walsh (Grapevine, Texas) each added seven. Freshman Harley Sebastian (Atlanta, Ga.) tallied a career-best five kills on the day.
Senior Lauren Fuller (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) dished out 32 assists in the match to guide the offense to its best attack percentage of the season.
For the 10th time this season, junior Lexi Riccolo (Wheaton, Ill.) recorded double-digit digs with a team-high 10. Kole and junior Karlie Suber (Mechanicsville, Va.) added six.
The Cavaliers had the early lead in the first set and stretched its advantage even more with a 5-0 run to go up 14-9 and force a William & Mary timeout. The Tribe closed the gap to two points, but Virginia didn’t allow them to get any closer as it took the first set 25-19.
UVa kept its momentum going into the second set as it scored eight of the first nine points to lead 8-1. The Cavaliers continued to apply the pressure, leading by as many as eight points in the set, and took the win 25-20 to lead 2-0 in the match.
The third set was a battle between the two schools as it saw seven ties. Virginia had a 12-9 lead after a kill from Walsh, but a 5-1 run put William & Mary in front 14-13. Both teams traded points until UVa had two-straight kills from Thorson and Kole to go ahead 19-17. The Cavaliers remained in the lead to take the set 25-22 and complete the sweep.
Virginia will close out the American Classic tonight against tournament-host American at 7 p.m.