UVA’s Rally Falls Short, Hoos Lose to Clemson in Five Sets

Virginia volleyball nearly pulled off the epic comeback against Clemson, but the Cavaliers’ rally effort came up just short as the Tigers defeated UVA in five sets (22-25, 19-25, 25-22, 28-26, 12-15) on Sunday afternoon at Memorial Gymnasium.

Sunday’s match was highly competitive and very entertaining from start to finish, with each set being tightly contested.

Clemson built its biggest lead of the first set with a 22-17 advantage, but Virginia responded with five consecutive points to tie the game at 22. Unfortunately for the Hoos, the Tigers won the next three points to take the first set 25-22.

The early part of the second set was close, with the two teams splitting the first eight points. Then, Clemson used a 7-2 run to gain some separation and went on to win the set 25-19.

After falling behind 4-2 to start the third set, Virginia went on a 5-0 run and never relinquished the lead, winning the set 25-22. Mary Shaffer, who led the Hoos with 14 kills and five blocks, punctuated the set with a kill.

The fourth set was the closest of them all. After Virginia used a 4-0 run to tie the set at 14, neither team built an advantage of more than three points for the rest of the set. The Cavaliers defended three separate Clemson match points and won the fourth set on three straight blocks, two of which came from Brooklyn Borum, who also had 8 kills and 13 digs.

In the final set, Virginia won three of the first four points, but Clemson quickly recovered to take the lead. The Tigers used a 3-0 run to take a 10-7 lead, but UVA took three of the next four points to make it 11-10. Then, Clemson again won three points in a row to make it 14-10. UVA defended two of Clemson’s match points but the Tigers eventually clinched the match with a 15-12 victory in the fifth set.

Alana Walker recorded seven kills and 11 blocks, while Abby Tadder had nine kills and four blocks. Kristen Leland added 24 digs and Ashley Le had 25 assists.

Serving accuracy has been a consistent issue for the Cavaliers this season. UVA had four aces in the match, but the Hoos also committed 13 service errors.

With the loss, Virginia’s losing streak is extended to four games and the Cavaliers drop to 8-8 overall and 1-5 in the ACC.

Up next, UVA begins a stretch of four-consecutive road matches. Virginia travels to Florida next weekend to play at Florida State on Friday and at Miami on Sunday.

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