A volleyball season can test your stamina over its three-month run. That’s especially true when you’re halfway through the schedule, daylight hours are dwindling, and the conference are a jumble. So some nights just require you to grind and get the job done.
That’s what the Virginia volleyball team did Friday night. UVa dropped the first set to Notre Dame, who has just one ACC win so far this year, but rallied to take the next three sets and win 3-1. The Hoos (14-6, 6-3 ACC) fell in the opener 25-19, but evened things up with a 25-23 win in set two. After intermission, Virginia cruised outside of a few shaky points to prevail 25-11 and 25-16.
“I think one thing with me becoming a better coach is not over-reacting to them getting down early and that I trust these guys a little bit more,” Cavalier coach Dennis Hohenshelt said. “There’s some leadership and some people that have been through that situation. I don’t worry about that too much with these guys. Most people are like call timeout and I’m like, let’s figure this out and grind a little bit. … I feel very comfortable with them right now and what they’re doing. We can play very good volleyball. We need to be better earlier and put longer stretches together.”
Hohenshelt’s trust was rewarded late in the second set. After Notre Dame and Virginia see-sawed through 14 ties and 8 lead changes, the Fighting Irish led 22-20. Already up a set, if ND could close out the final 3 points, it would put a lot of pressure on the hosting Cavaliers.
One of the people that have been through that situation as Hohenshelt put it is senior Natalie Bausback, though. She lifted the Hoos into a tie with a kill and a combo block with Haley Kole. That helped UVa win 5 of the last 6 points and the match was tied 1-1 at intermission.
Bausback finished with a double-double of 15 kills and 10 digs. That’s her seventh double-double of the season. Kole led all players with 17 kills, her fourth straight game in double digits, while Anna Walsh continued her strong freshman campaign with 10 kills. Lauren Fuller added 47 assists and Lexi Riccolo posted 16 digs.
“We played some smart volleyball in the last three points of the second set and started to put some pressure on with our serve, which is a must for us,” Hohenshelt said. “I thought at the end there we started to serve the ball really, really tough.”
The statistics show how Virginia’s serving disrupted the Irish. The Cavaliers held an 8-2 edge in service aces and a 55-36 advantage in assists as their passing led to more kill opportunities. Notre Dame managed just a .187 hitting percentage as it struggled to cleanly pass the ball and establish a rhythm. The Hoos were able to record 56 digs defensively as a result and they held a plus-21 margin in that category.
UVa kept its momentum going after that late surge in the second set. The Wahoos were convincing from start to finish in set three’s 14-point win. That included a 10-1 run and a .571 hitting percentage in the set. After a little bit of a stall in the fourth set when Virginia trailed 7-3 early, it forged ahead with a 7-0 run and put the match away. Sustaining momentum is one area that remains a focus for the Hoos.
“He always tells us for this team it’s not over until we’re in the locker room and we have that W,” Bausback said. “We’re very up and down. We like to keep everyone on their toes. That’s one thing we need to keep working on.”
The Cavaliers have another match this weekend to see if they can continue to embrace the grind. No. 24 Louisville, who is undefeated in the ACC at 9-0, is in Mem Gym at 7 p.m. for a showdown with the Hoos. The Cardinals did not play on Friday night so they’ll be fresh for the contest.
“It’s a big one,” Bausback said. “We want to get the crowd involved. It’s going to be a really big match and we have to be very good.”
