Virginia’s comeback falls short at Duke in fourth set

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

After dominating set No. 3, Virginia came up short in the decisive fourth, which featured eight lead changes and required extra points, as Duke went on to claim their first ACC victory of the season (25-14, 25-14, 16-25, 28-26) from Cameron Indoor Stadium Sunday evening in Durham.

Virginia (8-7, 0-4 ACC) was led by middle blocker Veresia Yon, who finished with a season-high seven kills, hit .312 and tied for a match-high six blocks, including one solo. Grace Turner terminated a team-high nine kills on 36 swings and registered 11 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• Duke (10-5, 1-3) posted an 8-0 run toward middle of the first to grasp a 17-8 lead. The Blue Devils hit .368 through their first 15 points as Virginia was only able to cut its deficit to as little as eight the rest of the way. Duke won four of the final five points to claim set No. 1, 25-14. 
• The Blue Devils carried their momentum into the second, leaping out to a 15-4 lead thanks to a flurry of Duke scoring runs. From there, UVA was able to break even with the Blue Devils for the remainder of the frame, which Duke won, once again, 25-14.  
• Coming out of the intermission, the Cavaliers gained their first lead of the day after winning two of the first three points to open the third. With the score tied, 12-12, UVA claimed four unanswered points to secure its then-largest lead of the match. The Cavaliers closed out game No. 3 by scoring seven of the last eight points of the set to win it, 25-16. Virginia received a nice boost offensively in the fourth from right side hitter Chloe Wilson, who finished the set with a team-best four kills.
• The fourth was close throughout as neither team ever led by more than three points from end to end. Game No. 4 also showcased 13 tied scores and eight lead changes. Virginia trailed 22-19 before scoring three straight to tie the frame, 22-22. Three plays later, the Cavaliers grasped their first of two set points, 24-23, on a kill by Wilson. Back-to-back Blue Devil kills flipped the score and gave Duke match point, 25-24, before UVA signaled for time. Two straight Duke errors flipped to score, once again, to hand UVA set point, but the Blue Devils claimed the set and match after scoring three straight, including on back-to-back UVA attack errors to end the contest. Duke won the fourth, 28-26, after tallying five of its eight total blocks in the final set. Turner posted six of her nine kills in the final frame.

NOTES

• With the win, Duke tallied its 10th straight victory over the Cavaliers and improved to 58-14 in the all-time series, which began in 1982.
• With her first service ace of the match in set No. 3, Grace Turner registered her 28th ace on the season. Her 28 aces this season are a team best and the most by Turner in a single season during her playing career at UVA.
• Virginia hit .458 (12-1-24) and sided-out on 62 percent of Duke serves in set No. 3.
• Veresia Yon’s seven kills are a season high as are her 16 swings against the Blue Devils.

LAST TIME OUT

After hitting .423 and winning set No. 1, the Virginia volleyball team fell to No. 10 Pittsburgh (25-23, 19-25, 16-25, 15-25) in Memorial Gymnasium Wednesday night. Virginia totaled 17.0 blocks, which tied for fifth-most in program history in a four-set match. Last season, the Cavaliers also registered 17.0 total blocks in UVA’s 3-1 victory at North Carolina on Sept. 26, 2021. Grace Turner led all UVA players with 16 kills and six blocks, while Abby Tadder posted a career-high nine blocks, including one solo.

UP NEXT 

Virginia travels to No. 11 Georgia Tech on Friday before heading to Clemson on Sunday. First serve from O’Keefe Gymnasium on Friday is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.