Volleyball: UVA rallies for 3-1 victory at California

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

To close out the California road swing, the Virginia Volleyball team prevailed over the Cal Golden Bears in four sets (18-25, 25-20, 26-24, 25-17) on Friday night at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley.

The win gives Virginia (20-7, 10-6 ACC) 20 wins on the season, which is the most in a campaign since the 2006 squad won 23 matches. It also gives the Cavaliers double-digit ACC wins in a season for the first time since 2015.

Defensively for Virginia, Milan Gomillion collected a career-high 37 digs for the Cavaliers. Gomillion’s 37 digs are the second-most in a single match by a Cavalier in program history, only behind Emily Rottman’s 40 against Clemson in 2012.

In addition to Gomillion’s performance, the Virginia duo of Brooklyn Borum and Elayna Duprey each tallied a double-double on the evening. Borum had a season-best 16 kills and 14 digs while Duprey had 12 kills and 15 digs of her own. Abby Tadder added 10 more kills and five blocks in the winning effort.

Cal’s Maggie Li had a match-high 24 kills for the Golden Bears (12-16, 4-12) and Virginia’s Lauryn Bowie paced all players with seven blocks.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Set 1: Cal 25, Virginia 18
Cal started the evening with a 3-0 run and led by as many as five at 10-5. After the Cavaliers cut the Golden Bear advantage to 12-9, Cal pulled away with a 4-0 run. Virginia battled back to get within two points at 20-18 before Cal ended the set by scoring the final five points.

Set 2:  Virginia 25, Cal 20
In what proved to be a set of runs, Cal jumped out to a 6-1 lead before Virginia answered with a 7-0 run of its own. Following the initial runs, the two teams played to a 15-15 tie. Following the tie, the Cavaliers tallied five of the next six points. A late Golden Bear comeback was snuffed out when Kate Dean and Lauryn Bowie teamed up for a set-point block.

Set 3: Virginia 26, Cal 24
The back-and-forth continued in the third set as neither team could pull away. The two squads played to another 15-15 tie after trading points throughout the early going of the set. Cal broke the tie with a 5-0 run and seemed primed to take the third set before Virginia stormed back to tie it at 24-all. The Cavaliers tallied the final four points to take the set at 26-24.

Set 4: Virginia 25, Cal 17
The fourth set saw a match-high 10 ties and four lead changes. After playing to a 12-12 tie, Virginia took control of the set with a 9-2 run highlighted by a Heyli Velasquez ace at 21-14. One final comeback Cal comeback was thwarted when Borum sealed the victory with her 16th kill of the night.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Virginia’s 95 digs are the most in a match since 2016 and the third most all-time in a match.
• UVA’s 95 digs are the second most digs in a four-set match in program history.

WITH THE WIN…

• The 20 wins on the season are the most for Virginia since 2006 when UVA had 23.
• The 10 ACC wins are the most in a season since winning 10 league matches in 2015.
• Virginia is now tied in the all-time series with Cal at 1-1.

UP NEXT
The Cavaliers return to Memorial Gymnasium on Friday (Nov.22) to host No. 3 Louisville before welcoming Notre Dame on Sunday (Nov. 24).