Cavaliers Earn First ACC Win in Five-Set Thriller Over FSU

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – For the first time since 2010, the Virginia volleyball team (9-9, 1-6 ACC) earned its first victory over Florida State (12-6, 4-3 ACC) after defeating the Seminoles in five sets (21-25, 30-28, 11-25, 25-22, 15-12) at Memorial Gymnasium Friday night. The win snapped a UVA 13-match losing skid in the series and marked the program’s first conference victory in over a year.

Abby Tadder (18 kills, .517 hitting %) and Grace Turner (15 kills, 3 aces) led the Cavaliers’ effort. Tadder’s 18 kills are a career best.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Virginia led by as many as nine, including 17-8, to open the first. After two called FSU timeouts, the Seminoles quickly chipped away at the UVA lead and closed out the set on 17-4 run to win the opening frame, 25-21. Tadder tallied five kills in set No. 1 and hit .444. Despite out-hitting FSU .231 to .154 and posting 4.0 total team blocks, the Cavaliers could not sustain their lead the rest of the way.
• Both teams were close through set No. 2, which featured 17 tied scores and seven lead changes. The Seminoles were the first reach set point, 24-23, but Turner evened the score on her sixth kill of the game. Turner went on to score three more times before the Hoos went on to claim the set, 30-28, and even the match, 1-1. Turner had eight kills on 16 swings in set No. 2, while Tadder put down all six balls set her direction. UVA posted 23 kills on 44 swings with just four attack errors to hit .432 in the second. Easton posted a dozen of her team-leading 35 total assists in set No. 2.
• After grinding out a win in the second, the Cavaliers could not find their rhythm in the third. Virginia registered just three kills and hit -.208 in set No. 3. The Cavaliers trailed for the entirety of the third after FSU jumped out to a 4-0 run and compounded two more runs of at least four unanswered points later in the set. FSU closed out the third with ease, 25-11, and took a 2-1 lead heading into the fourth.
• Virginia led for the majority of set No. 4, but a 3-1 Seminoles’ run shrank the UVA lead to 20-18 after the Hoos had led by as many as eight (18-10). Then, the Cavaliers scored four unanswered to gain set point, 24-18, but FSU responded with a 4-0 run of its own to cut the UVA lead to 24-22. Turner’s 14^th kill of the match would seal the set win for the Cavaliers, 25-22, and tie the match, 2-2. Tadder tallied five kills on 10 swings and had two aces in the fourth.
• The Cavaliers secured their first lead (5-4) to open the fifth, which proved to be the only lead change of the decisive frame. Despite a five-point UVA advantage (13-8) the Seminoles made another late-set run to shrink the Cavaliers’ lead to just two points twice. Virginia had match point, 14-12, when the Seminoles’ outside hitter attacked a set that sailed long and landed out of bounds, solidifying the fifth-set victory for the Cavaliers, 15-12.

WITH THE WIN…

• The Cavaliers snapped a 13-match skid against Florida State and improved to 15-42 in the all-time series, which began in 1987. Virginia’s last win over the Seminoles was on Oct. 31, 2010 – also in five sets at Mem Gym.
• Virginia snapped a 22-match skid among ACC regular-season contests, which dated back to Sept. 29, 2021.
• Shannon Wells collected her first ACC win as UVA head coach inside Mem Gym. 

NOTES

• Abby Tadder posted a match-high 18 kills, also her career best.
• With her eighth kill of the match, Grace Turner reached 800 career kills. Turner finished Friday’s match with 15 total kills.
• Defensive specialist Kate Johnson notched a season-high eight digs.

UP NEXT
The Cavaliers return to Mem Gym on Sunday (Oct. 16) at 1 p.m. to host Miami (10-, 3-4 ACC). Sunday’s contest is set to stream on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX) through the ESPN app, which is available through participating TV providers that carry ACC Network.