Volleyball: Hoos battle, but fall to Tar Heels in five sets

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The Virginia volleyball team had its seven-match home win streak snapped by the North Carolina Tar Heels in five sets (16-25, 25-16, 22-25, 25-22, 11-15) on Sunday afternoon at Memorial Gymnasium.

Brooklyn Borum and Abby Tadder paced the Virginia offense on Sunday with 12 kills each in the contest. In addition, Kate Johnson added a career-high five aces to the Cavalier attack.

North Carolina’s Safi Hampton had a match-high 15 kills while UNC’s Jackie Taylor led all players with five total blocks.  

HOW IT HAPPENED 

Set 1: North Carolina 25, Virginia 16
The Tar Heels (14-2, 6-1 ACC) led the entire way after jumping out to a 6-1 lead. A Kate Dean kill cut the North Carolina lead to 22-15 before a 3-1 run by the visiting Tar Heels ended the set.

Set 2:  Virginia 25, Virginia 16
Virginia (15-4, 5-3) meticulously built a lead that ballooned to 13-3 and was capped off by three straight Johnson service aces. Tadder and Elayna Duprey traded kills down the stretch to help secure the set for UVA.

Set 3: North Carolina 25, Virginia 22
In a more tightly contested third set, the two squads played to a 7-7 tie that set up a 3-0 run for the Cavaliers. UVA led by six at 19-13 before North Carolina claimed the set with a 12-3 run.

Set 4: Virginia 25, North Carolina 22
North Carolina’s momentum continued into the fourth set as the Tar Heels led by 10 at 20-10. A UNC service error followed by a Tadder kill at 21-13 jumpstarted the Cavalier comeback. During the comeback, UVA had two separate 7-0 runs to claim the frame and force a decisive fifth set.

Set 5: Virginia 25, North Carolina 22
Following big runs to settle the previous two sets, the squads settled in for a tug-of-war battle in the tiebreaking set. The final set featured six different ties, with the last one coming at 11-11 before North Carolina claimed the final four points of the match to seal the victory.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• With an overall record of 15-4, Virginia is off to its best start since 2003.
• UVA is off to a 5-3 in start in ACC play, its best start since 2006.
• The Cavaliers had their seven-match home win streak snapped, their longest since 1998.
• Virginia had its three-match home ACC sweep streak snapped, its longest since 1999.
• The Tar Heels improved to 56-16 in the all-time series with UVA, which began in 1980.
• UVA drops to 4-1 in five-set matches this season.
• Kate Johnson’s five service aces are the most by a Cavalier in a match since 2023 and tied for the fifth most all-time in UVA single-match history.

UP NEXT  

The Cavaliers will hit the road for matches at Syracuse on Wednesday and Boston College on Sunday. Wednesday’s showdown with Syracuse will be aired on the ACC Network, while the Boston College match can be streamed on ACCNX.