Following a 2-1 performance at the Holiday Inn Jefferson Cup two weekends ago, the Virginia volleyball team traveled to Richmond for the VCU/Third Degree Sportswear Invitational this past weekend. The results weren't quite as good as the home tournament, with the Cavaliers falling to the host Rams and Georgetown before taking down Appalachian State.
Probably the most frustrating game of the tournament was the first one against Virginia Commonwealth on Friday. It was Virginia's first five-set match of the season. After dropping the first set 20-25, the Cavaliers came back and won the second and third sets by identical 25-19 margins. At that point, Virginia seemed in control. But the Rams squeaked out close victories in the fourth (25-22) and fifth (tiebreaker 15-13) sets to take the victory.
Head Coach Dennis Hohenshelt wished that the Cavaliers had taken advantage of the opportunities they had. "I’m disappointed because I thought we had chances," he said. “We showed a lot of fight tonight especially when down 7-1 in fifth with no timeouts. To get back to 11-11 and to see them fight back, it’s a big step for us. I’m not happy, because we lost, but I have good feelings coming out of tonight.”
The Cavaliers dropped another match on Saturday morning to Georgetown in straight sets with scores of 19-25, 19-25, 21-25. Then came the nightcap, with Virginia downing Appalachian State in straight sets with scores of 25-18, 25-20 and 25-21.
Sophomore Tori Janowski continues to be a star on this team. She notched a triple double against VCU with 22 kills, 17 assists and 10 digs. It was the first triple-double by a Cavalier since Jenny Harmon did it in 2000 against Liberty. Janowski also had 20 assists in the game against Georgetown and a double-double (13 kills, 16 assists) in the win over Appalachian State.
Virginia comes home this weekend to host the Marriott Cavalier Classic. The Cavaliers host ACC foe Virginia Tech on Friday at 7pm. The Hokies (6-3) are coming off a 2-1 performance at the High Point University Classic. They fell to the hosts in the final game. On Saturday at 7pm, Virginia will close out the tournament with a match against Liberty. All games are at Memorial Gymnasium.