Cavaliers fall on the road against No. 10 Yellow Jackets

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Facing its third top-10 opponent in as many matches, the Virginia volleyball team fell on the road, 27-25, 25-11, 25-21, to No. 10 Georgia Tech at O’Keefe Gymnasium Friday night.

The Cavaliers (8-8, 0-5 ACC) were within striking distance at the tail end of sets 1 and 3, but ultimately 25 attack errors plagued the UVA offense throughout.

Virginia was led by outside hitter Brooklyn Borum, who posted nine kills on 22 swings and six digs. Grace Turner tallied a team-high 10 kills, but had 13 attack errors on 37 swings.

HOW IT HAPPENED 

The Cavaliers put together one of their best sets of the season in set No. 1, but ultimately fell in extras, 27-25. Virginia held Georgia Tech’s Julia Bergmann, a 2021 AVCA First Team All-American, to a .000 hitting percentage in the first after she had four kill and four errors on 16 swings. The UVA defense totaled 18 digs in the opening frame, including five from setter Gabby Easton. Easton also dished out 12 assists in the first. UVA had set point twice, including 25-24, but the Yellow Jackets scored the last three points of the frame on a kill by Bergmann followed back-to-back Virginia errors.

Georgia Tech (11-3, 4-1) extended its lead to 2-0 after winning the second, 25-11. The Yellow Jackets hit .591, while UVA hit .045. The Cavaliers finished with seven kills and six attack errors in the second. Virginia scored the first two points of the set before a flurry of Georgia Tech scoring runs put the set out of reach.

Coming out of the break, the Cavaliers led for the majority of set No. 3 until Georgia Tech took its first lead of the game, 21-20. Ultimately, the Yellow Jackets closed out the set, 25-21, and match by scoring seven of the final eight points, including on five UVA errors.

NOTES 

• With the win, the Yellow Jackets improved to 41-22 in the all-time series and extended their win streak over UVA to six consecutive matches.
• Friday’s contest marked the third matchup against a ranked opponent – including second against a top-10 foe – for the Cavaliers this season.
• For the seventh consecutive match, Grace Turner led the Cavaliers outright in kills with 10 against the Yellow Jackets. Turner has now led Virginia in kills in 11 matches this season.
• Setter Gabby Easton posted a season-high four service aces and had three consecutive aces in set No. 3.
• Defensive specialist Heyli Velasquez finished with a career-high eight digs.

UP NEXT

The Cavaliers round out their three-match road swing at Clemson on Sunday. First serve from Jervey Gym is set for 1 p.m. on ACCNX.