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Virginia Falls in Three at Duke

DURHAM, N.C. – Virginia volleyball (1-6, 0-6 ACC) floored more kills than Duke (6-2, 6-2 ACC) but dropped a 25-21, 25-19, 25-22, decision to the Blue Devils on Friday night (Oct. 30) in Cameron Indoor.

The Cavaliers were paced by 11 kills from Grace Turner (Cincinnati, Ohio) but committed 22 errors as a team. Libero Alex Spencer (North Canton, Ohio) racked up 20 digs to mark her third match of 20-or-more digs in the past four games.

Duke was led offensively by Gracie Johnson and Ade Owokoniran with 10 kills each. Johnson did not commit an error to hit .476. The Blue Devils also produced seven aces in the match, six coming from Mackenzie Cole.

SET 1: Duke 25-21

Duke opened the match with an 11-2 run as the Blue Devils kept Virginia without a kill for the first 13 points of the match. Owokoniran led a Duke with five kills in the opening frame.

A 4-0 Virginia run helped the Cavaliers trim the deficit to 17-10. The Hoos would eventually trim the deficit all the way down to a single point at 22-21 on back-to-back Turner kills, but Duke staved off the comeback to earn the first set victory.

SET 2: Duke 25-19

Turner scored three early points for the Cavaliers to help reach 8-8 early in the set. Duke used a 3-0 run to create space headed into the middle of the set. The Blue Devils would keep the three-point advantage to 20-17 before three-straight Virginia attack errors made it 23-17. Gracie Johnson recorded her fifth kill of the night to end the set.

SET 3: Duke 25-22

A 3-0 Virginia run gave the Hoos a 12-10 lead thanks to two kills from Christine Jarman (Boynton Beach, Fla.). Duke answered with a 4-0 run capped by Cole’s sixth ace of the match to retake the lead at 14-12.

The Cavaliers battled back to draw even at 19-all on a Sarah Billiard (Matthews, N.C.) kill. Duke scored back-to-back points to earn a 23-21 advantage before Milla Ciprian (St. John’s, Fla.) floored a kill for the Hoos. The Blue Devils used Johnson’s 10th kill and a Virginia error to close the match.

QUICK HITS

  • Virginia held a 40-38 advantage in kills
  • Spencer is now averaging an ACC-best 5.48 digs per set after her 20-dig night
  • Ciprian floored eight kills while fellow middle blocker Mattison Matthews (Charleston, S.C.) added seven
  • Jarman finished her night with six kills and 12 digs. The 12 digs mark the senior’s high at UVA

UP NEXT

Virginia faces UNC on Saturday (Oct. 31) at 5 p.m. on ACCNX before closing the fall schedule against the Tar Heels on Sunday (Nov. 1).

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