Virginia Falls 3-0 to Georgia Tech
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Box Score Oct. 7, 2016
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia volleyball team fell 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-22) to Georgia Tech on Friday night in Memorial Gymnasium.
“We have to be better its as simple as that,” head coach Dennis Hohenshelt said. “We can’t be around the 20-point mark and give up strings of two or three points. We know as a team that is an issue for us. We will keep working on it and the kids understand that is the problem and if we can fix that we still have an opportunity to win a lot of games.”
Virginia (3-14, 0-5 ACC) had a solid night at the net with 13.0 blocks to just eight for Georgia Tech (13-5, 4-2 ACC). The Yellow Jackets out-hit the Cavaliers, .168-.093, and led in service aces (4-2) and digs (50-36).
Seniors Haley Kole (Tallahassee, Fla.) and Jasmine Burton (West Hills, Calif.) led UVA with seven kills apiece. Redshirt junior Alex Thorson (Spring, Texas) added five kills. Teegan Van Gunst led Georgia Tech with 17 kills.
Defensively, freshman Chino Anukwuem (East Hanover, N.J.) paced the Cavaliers with six blocks, while redshirt freshman Kat Young (Chantilly, Va.) added four. Senior Lexi Riccolo (Wheaton, Ill.) had a team-high 11 digs.
Virginia was out to a 4-2 lead in the opening set after back-to-back kills by Burton and freshman Kelsey Miller (Crestwood, Ky.). The Cavaliers continued to control the set going up 10-6 and forcing a timeout by Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets then used a 7-0 run to take the lead and continued to extend the margin with a 6-0 run to go ahead 19-11. A 6-1 run by the Cavaliers cut the lead down to three, 20-17, and UVA eventually pulled within two, but Georgia Tech held on to take the first set 25-21.
The teams battled to open the second set with three ties. UVA took an 8-6 advantage after a kill by Burton followed by a block from Anukwuem. Georgia Tech came back to tie the set at 9-9, and later used a 3-0 run to retake the lead. Virginia cut it to two, 14-12, but a 4-1 run put UVA down 18-13. The Cavaliers countered with a 3-0 run to make it 18-16 and force at Georgia Tech timeout, but UVA was unable to come back as the Yellow Jackets won 25-19.
The Cavaliers came out quickly in the third set, jumping out to a 4-1 lead. Georgia Tech climbed back in to tie the set at 6-6. The teams traded points until a 4-1 run put GT up 11-8. Virginia cut it to two several times, but the Yellow Jackets stretched their lead to 18-12. UVA didn’t give up, as it mounted a 7-1 run to tie the set at 19-19. It was tied two more times until Georgia Tech took the edge and held on for a 25-22 win to secure the match.
Virginia will be back in Memorial Gymnasium tomorrow to host Clemson at 7 p.m.