VCU Volleyball celebrated a memorable Senior Day for Alica Kandler, Tori Pearce, and Rebekah Strange at the Siegel Center. The Rams tamed Davidson in their final Atlantic 10 game of the season to remain unbeaten and hoist the Atlantic 10 regular season title outright.
You Can’t Handle The Rams
The Rams roared out of the gates in Set 1 with a 15-1 scoring surge. Once Alica Kandler collected the opening kill for the Black & Gold, VCU could not be stopped offensively. Jasmin Sneed got to work early with a pair of kills followed by Gina Tuzzolo adding to VCU’s lead.
Rebekah Strange made their advantage much sweeter with 2 services aces during this run. Remi Lehnertz was able to stop the Rams temporarily with a kill for Davidson. Late in Set 1, both teams traded points off of attacking errors.
A pair of errors by the Wildcats led to Tori Baldwin scoring her first kill of the match. Following that was Tuzzolo with her 4th kill of the set. There was too much Black & Gold for Davidson to handle as VCU rolled 25-10 to win the opening set.
Davidson Bounces Back
Set 2 was a different story for the visitors. Davidson and VCU traded the first couple of points but neither could get the advantage as the set continued. VCU swung the game their way with a 7 point swing to capture the lead.
Julia Adler along with Kandler and Sneed made a triple threat on the scoreboard to put the Rams up 12-5. Davidson countered with a 5-0 run of their own to close the gap. Attacking errors was not on VCU’s side as the Wildcats looked to capitalize.
Davidson did just that with a few more kills and making a run towards the finish line. The Wildcats ended the set on a 6-0 scoring drive with 4 straight kills. Emma McLaughlin solidified the 25-19 win in Set 2 to tie the match at 1-1.
A Much-Needed Third
Vicky Giommarini started a 6-0 run for the Black & Gold just moments into Set 3. During that sequence, Tuzzolo added 2 more kills and Sneed got another one to put VCU up 8-2. Davidson was making moves back into the set until a service ace by Kandler stopped their momentum.
Errors once again were shared between both squads. Dajah Ard changed the tide with her assists to Baldwin and Tuzzolo that resulted in kills for the Rams. Davidson made 4 straight errors to end the set in defeat. VCU won Set 3 25-15 needing one more set to claim their 25th straight win.
Celebrate Good Battles! Come On!
A blocking party was held by Baldwin and Tuzzolo to start Set 4 and the Wildcats were not invited. The duo got a crucial team block followed by Baldwin with a solo to go up 3-0. Davidson answered back scoring the next 4 straight before Giommarini tied it up at 4-4.
Sneed and Tuzzolo kept the Rams in it on the scoresheet while Davidson continuing attacking the net in hopes of regaining the lead. The Wildcats were able to get out to a 19-13 advantage late in the set.
VCU responded by scoring the next 8 points consecutively. Baldwin, Sneed, and Tuzzolo scored the first 3 kills followed by Rebekah Strange’s third service ace of the contest. Kandler connected on 2 additional kills to make the score 21-19 VCU.
Davidson recollected themselves to draw level at 21-21 but VCU had an answer. Sneed came up huge for the Rams with 2 big kills and a costly Davidson errors by Mason Rooney wrapped up the set and the match.
A Historical A-10 Campaign
VCU won the 4th set 25-22 to take the 3-1 win over Davidson at the Siegel Center. Gina Tuzzolo led VCU with 15 kills and 6 blocks along with Jasmin Sneed collecting 14 kills and 8 digs. Alica Kandler scored 8 kills and Dajah Ard had 29 assists against the Wildcats. Rebekah Strange had 34 digs with her 3 service aces on the night.
With this victory, VCU Volleyball won the Atlantic 10 Regular Season title outright with a perfect 14-0 conference record. The Rams will be the #1 seed for the A-10 Tournament in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. VCU finished the season with a 28-2 overall record and brings their winning streak into the post-season at 25 wins.
The Atlantic 10 Volleyball Tournament will begin on Friday, November 17th. The tournament will take place at the Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh.
