Virginia Tops Clemson, 3-1, Friday Night
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Box Score Nov. 13, 2015
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia volleyball team used a balanced attack with four players recording double-figure kills to defeat Clemson, 3-1 (25-17, 24-26, 25-18, 25-16) on Friday night in Memorial Gymnasium.
“It was interesting because not playing Kayla (Sears) was a game-time decision,” head coach Dennis Hohenshelt. “So to not have practiced with our lineup today it was good to see them start to get back into a flow right now. We have to limit our errors that we are making, but it was a step in the right direction.”
Virginia (15-10, 8-7 ACC) hit .240 on the night and finished with 12 blocks to top Clemson (6-22, 1-15). The Cavaliers also led the match with 73 digs to 69, while the Tigers had the advantage in service aces, 6-3.
Junior Haley Kole (Tallahassee, Fla.) notched her third-straight match with double-digit kills, leading UVA with a season-high 18. Freshman Anna Walsh (Grapevine, Texas) finished with 13, junior Jasmine Burton (West Hills, Calif.) added 12 and senior Natalie Bausback (Carlsbad, Calif.) tallied 11.
Senior Lauren Fuller (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) guided the UVA offense with 45 assists, while junior Lexi Riccolo paced the backline with a season-high 25 digs. Kole and Bausback each finished with double-doubles with 13 and 11 digs, respectively.
The blocking effort was led by Bausback with seven, while Walsh added four and sophomore Alex Thorson (Spring, Texas) and Kole each had three.
The teams were battling back and forth to begin the first set, until a 5-1 run put Virginia in front 19-14 and forced Clemson to call a timeout. The Cavaliers then scored five-straight points to extend their lead to 23-15 and went on to win the set 25-17.
It was close once again to begin the second set, which saw 14 ties, but Clemson took the advantage with a 3-0 run to lead 17-14. The Cavaliers countered with a 3-0 run of their own and tied the set at 17-17. Clemson was back up 22-18 when UVA scored five-straight points to go ahead 23-22. However, Clemson closed out the set with four of the last five points to win 26-24.
With the third set tied at 12-12, Virginia took control with a 4-0 run to lead 16-12. The Cavaliers extended their lead with a 5-0 run later in the set to go up 21-15 and force a Clemson timeout. UVA held on to win the set 25-18 and lead the match 2-1.
The Cavaliers came out strong in the fourth set with the first six points behind Fuller’s serve. UVA never trailed in the final set and used solid defense to force a -.111 hitting percentage by Clemson. Virginia took the match with a 25-16 win.
“This group is starting to come back around,” Hohenshelt stated. “We got knocked down in our last few matches so we have to build the team back up and this was a good first step. We need to be better tomorrow. Georgia Tech is playing really well. Even though they lost to Clemson on Wednesday, they are a real solid team. The kids believe in what we are doing so that is key.”
UVA will be back in Memorial Gymnasium as it continues its home stand against Georgia Tech on Saturday night at 7 p.m.