Hokies Can’t Purge UVa Demons In Commonwealth Clash Rematch 

Dylan Tefft

Staff Writer

November 8, 2024

BLACKSBURG — Two days before Friday afternoon’s match against Virginia, Virginia Tech fell in a thrilling first leg of a two-match series against their in-state rivals, 3–2.

The Hokies may have lost, but they proved that — despite six straight losses dating back to 2022 — UVa was beatable. Call it a moral victory, but there was an air of confidence that a young Tech team could reveal the fruits of a successful rebuild against their biggest adversaries. 

Fast forward those two days, and the Hokies (7–17, 1–13 ACC) nosedived off that track, falling 3–0 to Virginia (19–6, 9–5) in another disheartening sweep that only showed how much longer the road to ACC contention is. 

“Sometimes when you have a quick turnaround, it can be kind of hard to find energy,” said middle blocker Jasmine Robinson. “That was the difference between this and last game. We had a lot of good stuff today, but we had a hard time capitalizing.”

That lack of spirit proved detrimental for a Hokies squad that feeds off momentum-shifting kills and sideline craze like no other. Each set was less energetic than the one before. 

That said, there was no shortage of vigor in a first set that saw Tech pick up where its last game left off, standing toe-to-toe with the Cavaliers despite offensive juggernaut Lauryn Bowie’s three straight kills to make it 5–1 early. 

The Hokies scored five consecutive points following Bowie’s streak and hung around until UVa’s four-headed offensive monster awoke.

Bowie, Becca Wight, Abby Tadder and Kate Dean helped the Cavaliers extend an 11-all game into a 22-14 one — a lead too great for a rather energetic 7-1 Tech run to overcome, ending the set at 25-21. 

Yes, those four are nearly all of UVa’s starters. No, they did not slow down in the ensuing sets. 

Bowie finished with a game-high 13 kills. Wight had 10, while Dean and Tadder had eight apiece. 

Tech’s Robinson led her team in kills with eight. Nobody else had more than six. Plunging energy paired with a simply outmatched defense is typically not a good anti-sweep strategy. 

That showed in the second set, as Virginia got out to a 6-1 lead courtesy of kills by its regulars — plus one from Hokies-transfer Elayna Duprey’s second of six kills.

Tech would crawl back to within three later in the set, 18-15, but ultimately lacked the energy to fend off a Cavaliers offense that was never caught lagging for long. 

“One or a few good points aren’t gonna get you to 25,” Robinson said. 

That held true in the third frame as — despite a sleek Robinson kill to even the frame at one after a lengthy rally — UVa fired off a 3-1 lead on the back of soft but well-placed kills by Wight.  

A Hailey Pearce rocket propelled a Tech run to put it within one, 7–6, but the Cavaliers’ monster isn’t one that can be held off for long.

The Hokies scored just seven more points before the Cavaliers hit 25, cementing their sweep and a 3–6 Commonwealth Clash record in the Marci Byers era. 

Next, Tech will take an unprecedented trip for the program as it travels west for a back-to-back with Cal and Stanford on Nov. 14 and 15, respectively. First serve for both matches will come at 10 p.m. EST on ACC Network Extra.