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Cavaliers Sweep Norfolk State to Open Jefferson Cup Play

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia volleyball team (7-2) cruised to victory in its 25-16, 25-17, 25-15 sweep over Norfolk State (1-5) Friday evening (Sept. 15) in Memorial Gymnasium.

With 50 kills, 97 swings and just 10 errors, the Cavaliers hit .412,  which is good for No. 4 in a three-set match since the implementation of the rally-scoring system (2001). It also marked the second time this season UVA hit over .400, having hit .410 in its sweep at Howard one week ago.

The Cavaliers were led by Ciera Hecht, who tied for a match-high 12 kills and hit .500. Setter Ashley Le finished with a match-high 33 assists and eight digs. Milan Gomillion turned in 11 digs.

Set 1: Virginia 25, Norfolk State 16
With Le behind the service line, Virginia used an 8-0 run to build up a 14-5 lead midway through the first. The run was highlighted by 16th career block solo, also her first of the season. After the Spartans broke up the Virginia run, the two teams were even the rest of the way. Tadder, Lauryn Bowie and Veresia Yon finished game No. 1 with three kills each. The Cavaliers sided out on 11 of NSU’s 16 serves in the opening frame.

Set 2: Virginia 25, Norfolk State 17
The Cavaliers extended their lead after hitting .364 in the second and five kills each from Hecht and Chloe Wilson. UVA jumped out to an early lead, but a 6-1 NSU run tied the set, 15-15, before the Cavaliers embarked on a 6-0 run of their own. Virginia also closed out the set by winning four of the last five points, all of which were kills, including a pair from Wilson.

Set 3: Virginia 25, Norfolk State 15
Virginia capitalized on a 13-1 run to keep the set and match out of reach for the Spartans. Virginia hit .429 in the final frame as Tadder and Hecht posted five kills each. Hecht also totaled seven of her nine digs in the final game.

MATCH NOTES

  • With the win, the Cavaliers improved to 2-0 in the all-time series against Norfolk State.
  • Virginia hit .412, good for No. 4 in program history among three-set matches since the implementation of the rally-scoring format.
  • It also marked the second time this season UVA hit over .400, having done so in the Cavaliers’ sweep at Howard last week.
  • First year middle blocker Lily Gervase registered her first career kill after checking into the match in sets 1 and 2.
  • Ashley Le and Milan Gomillion were honored in front of the home crowd prior to the start of Friday’s match. Le recently eclipsed the 1,000-career-assists milestone, while Gomillion surpassed 1,000 career digs.

FROM HEAD COACH SHANNON WELLS
“I’m just really proud of the team. We talked a lot before the match about being low error, being really efficient with tough serving and making it tough on Norfolk to find ways to kill balls. Norfolk did a really good job at coming back at us and being creative in ways to find kills and made us make an adaption in our defense which I was really proud that we were able to do.  But overall, we had some really great individual performances and are continuing to build momentum going into the ACC season.”

UP NEXT
The Cavaliers round out non-conference action on Saturday (Sept. 16), when UVA hosts Wofford (8-2) in Mem Gym. First serve is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.

The Terriers came back to defeat George Washington (2-7) in five sets in Friday’s Jefferson Cup Invitational opener. The Spartans and Revolutionaries will square off at noon tomorrow in Mem Gym.

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