Virginia Defeats Clemson in Straight Sets
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Box Score Oct. 8, 2016
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Seniors Jasmine Burton (West Hills, Calif.) and Haley Kole (Tallahassee, Fla.) led the Virginia volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-16) sweep over Clemson on Saturday night in Memorial Gymnasium.
“It just feels really good to get a win,” head coach Dennis Hohenshelt said. “I thought the girls were very solid tonight. They did a lot of what we asked them to do. Clemson has been fighting the same struggle we have been in. I felt like we were very aggressive from the start and for the most part I was pretty happy with what we did tonight.”
Virginia (4-14, 1-5 ACC) had its best offensive performance of the season with a .325 team hitting percentage and held Clemson (5-13, 0-6 ACC) to a .119 attack percentage to halt a 12-match losing skid. The Cavaliers also led the Tigers in service aces (9-4), digs (52-31) and blocks (5-2) on the night.
Burton recorded 12 kills and added four service aces and three blocks to lead the Cavaliers. Kole finished with 10 kills, her ninth double-digit match of the season. Freshman Chino Anukwuem (East Hanover, N.J.) added eight kills.
Freshman Jennifer Wineholt (San Diego, Calif.) dished out 31 assists and had 10 digs for her third career double-double, while adding three aces. Senior Lexi Riccolo (Wheaton, Ill.) paced the back line with 21 digs, her fifth match with 20-or-more this season, and added two aces.
Virginia started the match strong with a 6-1 run to open the first set that included back-to-back aces by Riccolo. Clemson cut it to two but the Cavaliers responded with a 5-0 run to go ahead 12-4 with four of those points coming off aces from Burton’s serve. UVA remained in control of the set, going on to take the win 25-15 and lead the match 1-0.
After an early 4-1 lead for Virginia, Clemson tied the set at 4-4. The teams traded points before the Tigers took their first lead, going ahead 8-6. Down 10-7, Virginia went on a 7-1 run to regain the lead 14-11. The Cavaliers were leading 17-15 when Clemson scored four-straight to go up 19-17, but UVA hit right back with a 5-0 run to lead 22-19. Virginia held on to take the second set 25-21 and lead 2-0 at the break.
The momentum stayed in UVA’s favor in the third set as the Cavaliers opened up with the first five points. Virginia continued to extend its lead, taking an 18-9 advantage to force a Clemson timeout. The Cavaliers kept applying pressure and secured the sweep with a 25-16 win. Burton had six of her 12 kills in the final set.
“We will get back in the gym tomorrow and will need to be ready for Wake Forest,” Hohenshelt added. “Our plan is to go win two more next weekend. You have to start somewhere so we will take this as our starting point.”
Virginia will be back on the road in ACC play next weekend when it travels to Wake Forest on Friday, Oct. 14 and Duke on Saturday, Oct. 15.