Virginia Volleyball Goes 2-1 at DMV Invitational
Virginia volleyball continued its solid start to the season with a 2-1 record at the DMV Invitational this weekend, improving the team's record to 6-2 overall.
Friday 9/8 - Virginia 3, Howard 0
The Cavaliers hit .410 en route to a sweep over Howard, starting off the DMV Invitational with a bang. In the first set, the Cavaliers hit an insane .667 with 18 kills and no errors. Lauryn Bowie had five kills and Abby Tadder had four, and Chloe Wilson, Ciera Hecht, Veresia Yon, and Ashley Le all contributed with kills. The Hoos scored two or three points at a time to build a lead, and the team led 15-7 quickly. The only statistic that was subpar in this set was service errors: Virginia had six service errors, which helped Howard stay close and stop the Cavaliers from going on a long run. The outcome wasn’t really in doubt in set one, and Virginia took the 25-15 win.
Howard kept things closer in set two, and the sloppy serving for Virginia continued, this time with seven service errors. The team also had four aces in set two, but the competitive serves had some downfalls as well. The biggest run of the set was with Veresia Yon at the service line and playing in the back row. She had two aces and the Cavaliers had a few kills, while also forcing three attack errors to put together an 8-0 run and take a 14-6 lead. At one point, three straight servers had errors for Virginia, which helped Howard stay in the set. After a few kills, the Bison trailed just 20-18. The Cavaliers responded to Howard’s run with a 4-1 run, and then held on to win 25-21 once Abby Tadder ended things with a kill. Tadder had five kills on six swings in another efficient set.
Despite hitting .185 with 13 kills and eight errors in set three, Virginia managed to earn the 25-21 win. The Hoos went up 11-4 early courtesy of a 4-0 run, but Howard responded with a 6-0 run a few points later and brought the score to 13-12. Howard managed to cut the deficit to one point several times, but Virginia never relinquished the lead. The Hoos closed out the match with a kill from Abby Tadder, an ace from Milan Gomillion, and a block by Chloe Wilson and Veresia Yon.
Abby Tadder led all attackers with 14 kills while hitting .706 and adding four blocks. She is having an incredible season so far, and this is another performance to add to her resume. Lauryn Bowie had nine kills as another great attacking option.
Saturday 9/9 - Coastal Carolina 3, Virginia 0
In game two of the tournament, Coastal Carolina handed Virginia its second loss of the season, and the first sweep. The Cavaliers made 12 attack errors in set one; however, the team had 24 digs, so the excellent defense kept the set close. The Hoos jumped out to a 7-2 lead, but then Coastal Carolina went on a 9-1 run to take a 12-10 lead. In that run, Virginia made five consecutive errors, a frustrating stretch. There were many long rallies that ended with errors, making it tough for Virginia to stage a comeback. The score got as close as 21-19 in the final few points, but the Chanticleers finished the set with two kills and solidified the victory. Milan Gomillion had nine digs and Ciera Hecht had eight as the leading defenders, and defense is the only reason this set wasn’t a blowout.
Milan Gomillion had 12 digs in set two, once again using her defense to extend points and give the Virginia attackers a chance to earn kills. The two teams were evenly matched early in set two, with the score tied at 11. Then, Coastal Carolina put together a 9-0 run to blow it open, courtesy of four kills, two aces, and three Cavalier errors. From there, Virginia had a few kills, including three first ball kills, but the deficit was too much to overcome, and Coastal Carolina won 25-17.
The final set was evenly matched at first once again, with Virginia sticking around and keeping the score at 12-11. Coastal Carolina had a small run to lead by four points, but then Abby Tadder and Ciera Hecht each had a kill and combined for a block to make a 3-0 run and tie things at 17. In response, Coastal Carolina had five first ball kills, executing serve receive to perfection and not even giving the Virginia offense a chance on those points. Virginia had three first ball kills of its own, and trailed 23-22 with a chance to extend the match. However, the Chanticleers got a kill and then Virginia had a setting error, ending the match.
Abby Tadder had ten kills for Virginia, but the biggest highlight was Milan Gomillion’s 27 digs.
Sunday 9/10 - Virginia 3, UMBC 1
Virginia wrapped up the DMV Invitational with a win in a closely contested match against UMBC. In set one, it was clear this would be an entertaining match, as each point was a battle. Virginia went up 11-7, but UMBC quickly scored three points to pull within one. The Retrievers had nine attack errors in set one, which helped Virginia maintain a lead for most of the set. However, UMBC was never out if it, as the team tied the score at 19 and once again at 21. In the final stretch, the two teams alternated first ball kills. Ciera Hecht had one for set point, but UMBC responded, and the Retrievers bounced back once again after a Lauryn Bowie kill. The third time was the charm for Virginia, as the third set point ended with a block by Lauryn Bowie and Abby Tadder, securing a 27-25 win.
In the second set, UMBC led most of the set as Virginia hit .057 with eight errors. UMBC also didn’t have the cleanest set, and three straight errors helped Virginia tie the score at 15. However, the Retrievers put together a 5-1 run and then a 4-0 run later on, not letting Virginia take the lead. UMBC ultimately won 25-21, tying the match at 1-1.
The third set was Virginia’s cleanest set, as the team had 11 kills and only two errors, hitting .265. UMBC had an early lead, but a block by Veresia Yon and Ciera Hecht and then two consecutive aces from Milan Gomillion helped Virginia take a 12-10 lead. The Cavaliers had a 4-0 run with a kill and an ace by Ciera Hecht, and later a 3-0 run with three kills, and that made the score 20-16. To close out the set, the front row of Chloe Wilson, Abby Tadder, and Ciera Hecht teamed up for three straight blocks, pushing their team to a 25-19 victory.
Set four was a thriller, as it took extra points for Virginia to win 28-26. UMBC jumped out to a 6-2 lead, but Virginia went on a 7-1 run to lead 9-7. Every point was tightly contested in the middle of the set, with UMBC holding a slight lead throughout. The Retrievers led 23-17, and were just two points away from forcing a deciding fifth set, but the Cavaliers had other ideas. Chloe Wilson and Abby Tadder each had two kills and worked together on a block in the middle of a 6-0 run to tie the score at 23. When UMBC had set point, Abby Tadder stepped up yet again. The Cavaliers failed to convert on match point at 25, but stayed steady and stopped UMBC’s second set point. In the end, an attack error gave Virginia match point two, and then Meredith Reeg served an ace to end the match with a 28-26 victory.
Lauryn Bowie had 17 kills to lead all attackers, and Abby Tadder had 13 kills and an astonishing 12 blocks. Chloe Wilson added nine blocks to the impressive blocking party, and Milan Gomillion had 18 digs and three aces.
The Cavaliers walked away with a 2-1 record in the DMV Invitational and a 6-2 record overall. Virginia will host the Jefferson Cup Invitational next weekend and welcome Norfolk State, George Washington, and Wofford to Mem Gym.
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