Virginia Falls 3-0 to Towson
Sept. 2, 2017
BOONE, N.C. – The Virginia volleyball team (2-3) lost 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-29) to Towson (5-0) on Saturday morning at the Holmes Convocation Center in Boone, N.C.
In the first of two matches of the Appalachian State Invitational on Saturday, the Cavaliers finished with 32 kills on .085 hitting percentage. Towson recorded 35 kills with a .242 attack percentage. Both teams finished with seven blocks. UVA led the match in digs (40-34), but the Tigers had seven aces to one for the Cavaliers.
Freshman Sarah Billiard (Matthews, N.C.) had a solid match with eight kills on .353 hitting and four blocks. Sophomore Jelena Novakovic (Belgrade, Serbia) had six kills and sophomore Chino Anukwuem (East Hanover, N.J.) and junior Harley Sebastian (Atlanta, Ga.) each had five kills.
Anukwuem matched Billiard with a team-high four blocks and redshirt sophomore Kat Young (Chantilly, Va.) added three blocks. Sophomore Kelsey Miller (Crestwood, Ky.) paced the back line with 12 digs.
Virginia opened the match with a 4-0 run that included two blocks by Billiard and Anukwuem, followed by back-to-back kills by Anukwuem. The Cavaliers were leading 7-3 until an 8-1 run put the Tigers in front 11-8. UVA fought back to cut it to one several times, then a 3-0 run with a block by Anukwuem and Billiard followed by a kill by Billiard gave the Cavaliers a 14-13 lead. The teams started trading points until Towson took a 22-17 lead on a 6-0 run. Towson went on to win the first set 25-20.
Both teams traded points in the second set until a 3-0 run that included two kills by Sebastian gave UVA a 6-4 lead. Towson responded with a run of its own to go ahead 12-7. UVA scored on kills by Billiard and Young to cut it to 13-9. The Cavaliers cut it to four once again with a kill by Anukwuem and a block from Novakovic and Young. Towson stretched its lead to 22-13 on another run. Novakovic, Sebastian and Billiard each landed kills to cut it to 22-16, but Towson held on for the 25-16 win.
Towson took the early lead in the third set. The Cavaliers were down 10-4 when they scored three of the next four points to cut it to 11-7. A 6-2 run stretched the Tigers’ lead to 17-9. The teams traded points then UVA scored four of five points to cut Towson’s lead to 23-18. The Cavaliers were unable to cut into the deficit as Towson took the set 25-29 to secure the match.
Virginia returns tonight to close out the tournament against host Appalachian State at 7 p.m.