Virginia Falls to No. 22 North Carolina, 3-0, on Senior Night
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Box Score Nov. 21, 2015
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia volleyball team fell to No. 22 North Carolina, 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-13) Saturday on Senior Night in front of a capacity crowd in Memorial Gymnasium.
“We played well for two sets, but their serve got the better of us in the last set,” head coach Dennis Hohenshelt said. “They turned up the serving pressure and we didn’t respond very well to it. Those things happen and you try to work out of it, but it never really came back to us.”
Virginia (18-11, 10-8 ACC) was out-hit by North Carolina (19-8, 16-2 ACC), .203 to .149. The Cavaliers led the Tar Heels with 41 kills to 36, but UNC had the edge in service aces (7-1), digs (64-61) and blocks (9-4).
Freshman Anna Walsh (Grapevine, Texas) led UVA with 12 kills on a .400 hitting percentage and added three blocks. Junior Haley Kole (Tallahassee, Fla.) finished with nine kills and added 13 digs. Seniors Natalie Bausback (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Kayla Sears (Moorpark, Calif.) each tallied seven kills.
Senior Lauren Fuller (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) dished out 37 assists to pace the offense and junior Lexi Riccolo (Wheaton, Ill.) tallied 24 digs to lead the back row for the Cavaliers.
Trailing 14-10 in the first set, Virginia mounted a comeback out of a timeout to eventually take a 17-15 lead over North Carolina. The Tar Heels tied it back up at 17-17, when the teams began to trade points. With the set tied 22-22, North Carolina tallied two points to lead 24-22 and held on for a 25-23 win.
The Cavaliers went up early in the second set, leading North Carolina 9-5 to force a timeout. However, the Tar Heels tied it up as the teams saw four more ties until a 3-0 run gave North Carolina a 15-12 lead. Virginia countered with a 7-2 run to take a 20-17 advantage, but North Carolina was able to tie it up once again and notched a 4-1 run to close the set 25-22.
Out of the break, Virginia struggled to get going as North Carolina opened an 8-3 advantage. The Tar Heels continued to extend their lead and secured the match with a 25-13 win in the third set.
“This wasn’t a make-or-break loss for us, but the Pitt match and Virginia Tech match are just as important for us,” Hohenshelt stated. “We need two wins now to get to 20 wins and 12-8 in conference. If we play like we did for the first 22 points in the first two sets, we will be pretty good next weekend.”
Virginia will close out the regular season on the road next weekend at Pittsburgh on Friday (Nov. 27) and Virginia Tech on Saturday (Nov. 28).