Virginia Falls 3-0 to Miami
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Box Score Oct. 22, 2016
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia volleyball team fell 3-0 (25-19, 26-24, 25-18) to Miami on Saturday night in Memorial Gymnasium.
“For how well we played and how hard we fought last night, it wasn’t there for us tonight,” head coach Dennis Hohenshelt said. “We were not very good tonight. We were hoping that Miami would go away instead of making plays to beat them. We have to be the aggressors instead of being casual in these games.”
Virginia (4-18, 1-9, ACC) was out-hit .394-.163 by Miami (9-16, 3-8 ACC). The Hurricanes also led in kills (48-36), digs (37-26) and blocks (8-4). Both teams finished with three service aces.
Seniors Jasmine Burton (West Hills, Calif.) and Haley Kole (Tallahassee, Fla.) led UVA for the second-straight night with nine kills each. Burton was solid all-around, hitting .412 for the match and adding a team-high three blocks. Kole led the Cavaliers with seven digs for the match. Olga Strantzali led Miami with 14 kills.
Redshirt freshman Kat Young (Chantilly, Va.) added seven kills with two blocks, sophomore Harley Sebastian (Atlanta, Ga.) finished with six kills and freshman Kiley Banker (West Lafayette, Ind.) had five kills with two blocks and two aces.
After Virginia fell behind 6-2 early in the first set, the Cavaliers scored five of the next six points to tie the match at seven a piece. Miami responded with a 3-0 run before Virginia used a 4-1 stretch to tie the match at 11. The set stayed close until Miami used a 5-2 run to take a 21-16 lead. Virginia attempted to mount a comeback, scoring two of the next three points with kills by Young and Sebastian, before Miami scored three of the final four points to win the set 25-19.
Virginia scored the first point of the second set on a kill by Kole and the set stayed close early with four tie scores. The teams traded points with neither team leading by more than one point until Virginia went up 9-6. Virginia’s momentum continued as the Cavaliers used a 4-1 run to go up 11-7. Virginia was in control 20-16 when Miami crept back in to tie the set at 22. The teams saw two more ties before the Hurricanes were able to score two-straight to win 26-24.
In the third set, UVA called timeout down 9-4. The Cavaliers fought back with an 8-3 run to tie the set at 12, and eventually took a 15-14 advantage but Miami hit back with a 5-0 run to lead 19-15. Virginia was unable to cut into the lead as the Hurricanes secured the match with a 25-18 win.
“There are still 10 games left so there is a lot of the season left,” Hohenshelt said. “We have a choice to roll over or play harder and practice harder. We have to be in attack mode right now.”
Virginia is on the road next weekend as it travels to take on Georgia Tech on Friday, Oct. 28 and Clemson on Saturday, Oct. 29.