Virginia Wins Fifth-Set Showdown Over MTSU in Non-Conference Finale

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – After a slow start, Virginia (10-1) dominated the last two games on the way to its five-set (19-25, 25-20, 23-25, 25-12, 15-6) victory over Middle Tennessee State (3-8) at Memorial Gymnasium Wednesday night (Sept. 18).

With the win, the Cavaliers have won 10 of their first 11 matches for the first time since 2003, and are riding a seven-match win streak.

The victory over the Blue Raiders was also UVA’s second in as many nights after last night’s four-set victory.

Virginia was led by Kate Dean (12 kills, .450 Hit%), Brooklyn Borum (12 kills, 8 digs) and Ashley Le, who recorded a career-high 51 assists along with 12 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Set 1: MTSU 25, Virginia 19
MTSU quickly erased the Cavaliers’ 9-8 lead early in the first after scoring six straight points to control the game the rest of the way. UVA trimmed the Blue Raiders’ lead back to as little as three, but they scored on the last three plays, two of which were Cavalier hitting errors. Dean led the Hoos with five kills on eight swings. MTSU registered three service aces and committed four less attack errors (4) than UVA (8).

Set 2: Virginia 25, MTSU 20
Virginia trailed by as many as six [14-8] before it came roaring back to tie the frame, 16-16. Later, MTSU led 19-18 when another unanswered run by the Cavaliers gave them a 23-19 lead. UVA’s defense held the MTSU to just nine kills while suffering eight attack errors. The Cavaliers ultimately scored six of the final seven points to claim the set. Milan Gomillion (22 digs, 2 aces), Kate Johnson (8 digs, 1 ace) and Kadynce Boothe (7 kills, 7 digs) added one ace each.

Set 3: MTSU 25, Virginia 23
Virginia led 6-4 when the Blue Raiders claimed seven of the next eight points. MTSU went on to lead by as many as seven [15-8], but the Cavaliers did not go away quietly. The Blue Raiders had set point [24-18] when UVA fired off five straight points to make things interesting, but an MTSU kill ended the set. Elayna Duprey tallied five of her 10 total kills in the third.

Set 4: Virginia 25, MTSU 12
The two teams were knotted 9-9, but the Hoos embarked on a blistering 16-3 run the rest of the way. Le dished out 14 assists and UVA’s hitters did not commit a single error to hit .441 in the fourth. The Cavaliers won the final six points and MTSU strung together back-to-back points only three times.

Set 5: Virginia 15, MTSU 6
Virginia carried its momentum from the fourth into the fifth, leaping out to an 8-2 lead, and by the time the two teams swapped benches, MTSU had burned both of its timeouts. The Hoos outpaced MTSU 7-2 on the final nine plays of the match. Borum put down three kills on four swings and the Blue Raiders hit -.150 after only notching two kills and committing five attack errors. Duprey tallied her 10th kill and Le dished out her fifth assist on the final play, putting the exclamation point on UVA’s seventh consecutive win.

WITH THE WIN…

• Virginia is off to its best start (10-1) since 2003, when it won 13 straight matches to begin the season.
• It’s also only the fourth time in school history UVA has started 10-1 or better … other years include, 1996, 1998 and 2003.
• Virginia improved to 3-0 in the all-time series with MTSU, which began in 2000.
• The Cavaliers notched their seventh consecutive win, the program’s first win streak of at least seven matches since 2006 … It’s also the first seven-match win non-conference win streak since 2004.
• The Hoos are 3-0 in five-set matches this season.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Ashley Le dished out a career-high 51 assists … Her previous career best was 50 assists at Columbia last season.
• With seven blocks, Abby Tadder cracked UVA’s top-10 career blocks list … Tadder now has 352 career blocks, including 327 block assists, which are also good for No. 10 in UVA history.
• Virginia outscored the Blue Raiders 31-9 in the final 40 points.

ON THE HORIZON
The Cavaliers will look to take advantage of eight days away from competition before opening ACC play on the road at Wake Forest (6-3) on Friday, Sept. 27 before traveling to NC State (4-2) on Sunday, Sept. 29. Both matches are scheduled to stream on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX).