Volleyball: Wake Forest holds off Cavaliers, 3-1

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The Virginia volleyball team fell to conference foe Wake Forest on Friday night at Memorial Gymnasium. Veresia Yon led the charge for the Hoos, notching eight kills and a match-high five blocks. Virginia’s setters Ashley Le (18 assists, 10 digs) and Regan Trueblood (22 assists, 14 digs) each tallied a double-double.

Set 1: Virginia 25, Wake Forest 22
The opening stanza was a neck and neck battle, with neither side taking more than a three-point lead. The Hoos trailed 19-18 before registering four unanswered kills to take a late 22-19 advantage. The two sides went on to trade point-for-point down the stretch before Chloe Wilson threw down the decisive kill to claim a 1-0 lead. UVA libero Milan Gomillion registered nine digs in the opening frame. 

Set 2: Wake Forest 25, Virginia 22
Set No. 2 was yet again a tight contest, as Virginia (8-13, 1-10 ACC) led midway through the frame, 14-12, before Wake Forest sparked a 6-1 run and did not allow the Hoos to regain the lead. UVA held up the Demon Deacons at set point 24-20, claiming two points before forcing a timeout, but ultimately dropped set No. 2. Yon notched three kills and three blocks in the set.

Set 3: Wake Forest 25, Virginia 23
Momentum continued to swing Wake Forest’s way as the visitors opened up with an 8-1 run to open the third frame. The Hoos chipped away at the Demon Deacon lead, eventually claiming a 16-15 edge. The two sides knotted things up at 21 apiece, with Wake going on to four of the final six points, taking a 2-1 match lead. Abby Tadder notched five kills on .375 hitting percentage in the third.

Set 4: Wake Forest 25, Virginia 21
The Cavaliers and Demon Deacons (16-6, 7-4) traded short bursts of scoring throughout the entirety of the final period, with neither team being able to pull away. The Hoos came within one point [21-20] before Wake went on to score four of the last five points. Virginia was outhit .286-.146 in set No. 4.

FROM HEAD COACH SHANNON WELLS

“I’m really proud of our team today. I think there were a lot of distractions coming into this weekend with everything that’s going on Sunday. This is the best we’ve ever played Wake Forest since I’ve been here, and I thought we had a lot of really good moments. We constantly put ourselves in positions to win the match, we were only a couple points away each set and that’s something we can get a lot better at. The things that we can control I thought we did a really good job and we’ll build on that. ”

MATCH NOTES

• Gomillion led all Cavaliers in digs with 15.
• Le recorded her seventh double-double of the season (18 assists, 10 digs).
• Trueblood led all players with 22 assists and notched her second double-double of the season (22 assists, 14 digs).
• Yon led all players in blocks with 5.0.
• With the win, Wake Forest takes the all-time series lead 29-28 and have won the last six matches against the Hoos.

UP NEXT

The Cavaliers return to action Sunday as they host Virginia Tech in the Smithfield Commonwealth Clash for the program’s inaugural match in John Paul Jones Arena. First serve is set for 2 p.m.