Volleyball Drops Three-Set Match to Duke
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Box Score Oct. 31, 2015
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia volleyball team fell to Duke in straight-sets, 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-14) on Saturday night in Memorial Gymnasium.
“We struggled to get into any rhythm tonight,” head coach Dennis Hohenshelt said. “We didn’t follow the game plan very well and didn’t respond to their pressure very well. We just weren’t very good tonight.”
Virginia (15-8, 7-5 ACC) struggled to get its offense going with a .198 hitting percentage on the night, while Duke tallied a .366 attack percentage. The Blue Devils also topped the Cavaliers with eight aces to two and seven blocks to six on the night.
Junior Jasmine Burton (West Hills, Calif.) notched a season-high 10 kills on .444 hitting percentage to lead UVA. Senior Kayla Sears (Moorpark, Calif.) added eight kills and fellow senior Lauren Fuller (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) dished out 26 assists for the Cavalier offense.
“Jasmine is doing some nice things for us right and that is good to see because we are going to need that,” Hohenshelt remarked.
Junior Haley Kole (Tallahassee, Fla.), senior Natalie Bausback (Carlsbad, Calif.) and freshman Anna Walsh (Grapevine, Texas) each finished with three blocks and junior Lexi Riccolo (Wheaton, Ill.) led the backline with seven digs.
The teams traded points early in the first set, but a 7-2 run gave Duke the 17-10 lead as Virginia called timeout. Burton landed a kill, then back-to-back blocks for the Cavaliers cut the lead to 21-15 to force a Duke timeout. UVA tallied another 3-0 run, but it wouldn’t be enough to overcome the deficit as the Blue Devils held on for the 25-18 win.
It was a similar sequence in the second set as the teams matched each other early, but Blue Devils used another run to go up 13-8 and eventually stretched their lead out to nine. Virginia fought back with a 6-2 run to trail, 23-18, but two-straight kills for Duke sealed the win, 25-18.
UVA grabbed a 2-0 lead in the third after an ace by Fuller, and later extended its lead to 7-4 when Kole landed an ace. The Cavaliers kept the advantage, but Duke regained control with a 7-0 run to take an 18-12 lead and went on to secure the match with a 25-14 win.
“We are in the same situation as last Saturday, we need to get in the gym and train,” Hohenshelt stated. “What we have to figure out is how to get all six people to be good for us at the same time. We have a tough road trip next week, so we have to be better.”
The Cavaliers are back on the road next weekend as they travel to Miami on Friday (Nov. 6) and No. 15 Florida State on Sunday (Nov. 8).