Virginia Volleyball Comes Back to Beat Virginia Tech Before Record JPJ Crowd
With a historic crowd of 3,162 cheering in the Virginia volleyball team’s first ever match at John Paul Jones Arena, things got off to a tough start. Virginia Tech was determined to spoil the afternoon, and it looked like the Hokies would do so after taking a 2-0 lead. However, the Cavaliers never gave up and managed to win two sets to send the match into the deciding fifth set, where they ultimately sealed the victory.
In the first set, Virginia Tech maintained an early lead in some long rallies. The Cavaliers struggled with efficiency, making nine attack errors and hitting .057. Veresia Yon had three kills and a block to set the tone for her team, but Virginia Tech went on a 3-0 run to extend its lead to five points. Two straight kills from Abby Tadder brought Virginia within three at 22-19, but then two attack errors and a Hokie kill ended the first set at 25-20.
The Hokies looked like the better team once again in set two, forcing Virginia to make hitting errors on long points. A 4-0 run featuring two Abby Tadder kills and two team blocks tied the score at 12, and then the two teams traded points for a bit. Virginia Tech pulled away with a 5-0 run late in the set to take a 21-16 lead, and the Cavaliers were unable to crawl back, losing 25-20 once again.
In between sets two and three, Veresia Yon credits Abby Tadder with giving the team a pep talk. When asked about what changed between sets two and three, Yon answered,
“I think after the second set we just kind of flipped a switch. Abigail kind of stepped out of her comfort zone, gave everyone a pep talk that was you know we needed to get the motor running because you were kind of going in the wrong direction. So I think Abigail’s little speech was definitely something that we needed at the moment hearing it from a teammate.”
The other major change between sets two and three was Abby Tadder moved from the right side position back to middle blocker. Tadder has traditionally played middle blocker in her college career, but Shannon Wells has moved her to the right side to exploit lineup matchups this season. However, associate head coach Kris Grunwald pointed out that the middle of the court was wide open and suggested moving Tadder back, a move that proved to be crucial.
With their backs against the wall, the Virginia players knew it was time to start the comeback. Virginia hit .333 with 13 kills and just one error in set three, led by Abby Tadder with a very impressive six kills from the middle. The Hoos used two blocks, three kills, and an ace to compile a 7-0 run to take an 11-6 lead, the most dominant run of the match at that point. A few points later, another ace and two more Abby Tadder kills were part of a 4-0 run, extending the lead to 15-7. Virginia continued to score in groups of three or four points throughout the set, refusing to let Virginia Tech attempt anything that resembled a comeback. In the end, the Hoos won 25-15, and there was a glimmer of hope that the Cavaliers could make a comeback.
The fourth set was extremely sloppy volleyball, with the teams combining for 20 attack errors. Virginia amassed an early lead thanks to a 11-1 run. Veresia Yon had three blocks and a kill in that run, and she had four kills in the fourth set overall. Virginia Tech got a few points back, but the Cavaliers still led 13-8 after the brief run. The rivals went back and forth for a few points, but then the Cavaliers powered for five straight points to win 25-15.
That meant it was time for the fifth set, where the Cavaliers would see if they could complete the improbable comeback behind a vocal crowd. Virginia led 3-1 to start thanks to a kill from Abby Tadder and a block, but Virginia Tech put together a 4-0 run with three straight kills by Hailey Pearce to lead 6-4. The Hoos quickly responded with several kills and a block from Veresia Yon and Lauryn Bowie to retake the lead at 9-7. After a Hokie block, Veresia Yon had a first ball kill and then Heyli Velasquez served an ace, followed by a Brooklyn Borum kill to make it 12-8. The crowd was willing its team to victory and after there was a Virginia Tech service error, Veresia Yon served an ace to get to match point. An attack error and an ace helped Virginia Tech earn two points back, but then none other than Abby Tadder sealed the victory with a first ball kill. The team rushed the court in celebration, and there was elation in the stands of JPJ.
After a rough start to the match, the incredible comeback gave Virginia its second conference win and a half point in the Commonwealth Clash (which UVA now leads 4.5-0), not to mention the momentum of winning in front of the biggest crowd in team history.
Abby Tadder had 18 kills and six blocks while hitting .441, and Veresia Yon had 12 kills and nine blocks and hit .550. The two middles were elected to speak at the postgame conference, and when asked about them, Coach Shannon Wells said the following:
“I've always been a middle hitter coach. You know, some people recruit middle blockers, I recruit middle hitters. And so I think that if you can find the ability for them to terminate balls, most of the time, it's the hardest thing to defend their kill percentage. And so you know, honestly, this started back in January for us. We knew that we had two of the best middles in the conference coming back, and how are we going to get them more balls?”
Ashley Le and Regan Trueblood both had double doubles from the setter position and made major impacts, with Le having 24 assists and 12 digs and Trueblood getting 20 assists and 12 digs. Milan Gomillion and Brooklyn Borum were also great defensive contributors, with 18 and 15 kills apiece.
Up next, the Hoos will travel to Florida next weekend for a pair of ACC matches, visiting Miami on Friday night and Tallahassee on Sunday to face Miami and Florida State, looking to build off of the win.
Subscribe to the Cavaliers Now Newsletter to receive UVA sports news in your inbox first thing on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
See more Virginia sports news and content: Virginia Cavaliers on Sports Illustrated
To stay up to date on all Virginia Cavaliers sports news, follow CavaliersNow on social media:
Facebook: @CavaliersNow
Twitter: @CavaliersNowFN