Volleyball: UVA topped by Southern Miss, 3-0

The UVA volleyball team fell to Southern Miss 3-0 in the LSU Tiger Classic on Friday afternoon at the Pete Maravich Center.

Virginia (2-2) was out-hit by Southern Miss (4-1), .250-.146. The Cavaliers led the Golden Eagles in digs, 38-33, but trailed in blocks (10-6) and service aces (5-3). Stephany Purdue led the match with 14 kills for Southern Miss.

Redshirt junior Alex Thorson (Spring, Texas) led UVA with eight kills and freshman Kiley Banker (West Lafayette, Ind.) finished with eight on a .455 hitting percentage. Banker also picked up three blocks, matching fellow freshman Chino Anukwuem (East Hanover, N.J.) for the team high.

Freshman Jennifer Wineholt (San Diego, Calif.) made her first collegiate appearance with 12 assists while splitting time with redshirt junior Meghan McDowell who added eight assists.

Senior Lexi Riccolo (Wheaton, Ill.) recorded 11 digs to lead the back line and fellow senior Haley Kole (Tallahassee, Fla.) added a season-high 10 digs.

After Southern Miss took an 11-5, UVA fought back to cut the lead to 16-11 and force a timeout by Southern Miss following a block by Wineholt and Banker. The Cavaliers then used a 3-0 run to cut it to 18-16, but Southern Miss stretched its lead back out and held on to win the first set 25-20.

The Cavaliers got on the board first in the second set and were leading 6-5, but a 4-0 run put the Golden Eagles up 9-6. UVA cut the lead to 14-13 when Southern Miss used another run to go ahead 20-14. Virginia closed the gap to four but couldn’t overcome the deficit as Southern Miss took the set 25-17 to lead the match 2-0.

Virginia fell behind in the third set, 12-6. The Cavaliers would cut the lead to 12-9 after back-to-back blocks from Anukwuem and Burton then Anukwuem and Sebastian. However, UVA was unable to get any closer as Southern Miss remained in control and took the set 25-17 to win the match.

UVA will be back on the court tonight against tournament-host LSU. The Cavaliers and Tigers are set to play at 8:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. CT at the Pete Maravich Center.