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AUGUST 2023 25 VOLLEYBALL PREVIEW BY PATRICK BOLING T he 2023 season marks year No. 3 for Virginia volleyball head coach Shannon Wells. The Cavaliers have achieved a handful of milestones over the course of the last two seasons, and while the goal of continuing on the path of success remains intact, she and her staff have their work cut out for them. This offseason UVA lost six players to graduation, including 2022 second-team All-ACC selection Grace Turner, but there are still plenty of reasons to be optimistic. For starters, Virginia welcomes its largest first-year signing class since Wells began her tenure at UVA in the spring of 2021. The in- coming first-year group consists of pin hitter Lauryn Bowie, middle blockers Nala Cornegy and Lily Gervase, and libero Meredith Reeg. Bowie, who verbally committed to UVA in the fall of 2021, was Wells' first signee as an incoming first-year. Wells believes Bowie can make an impact right away. "Her elite arm will score points for us on either pin throughout her four years at UVA," Wells said. Cornegy and Gervase, who stand at 6-foot-3 and 6-foot-4, respectively, will join perhaps the Cavaliers' most seasoned posi- tion group, middle blocker. Returning middle blockers Abby Tadder, a third-year, and Vere- sia Yon, a graduate student, are coming off terrific seasons for the Hoos — both finished in the top 10 in the ACC in hitting percent- age in 2022. Wells described Cornegy as one of the "most underrated athletes in this class." At 6-foot-4, Gervase is the tallest player on the team, alongside fourth-year opposite hitter Chloe Wilson. Gervase also comes from an athletic family, highlighted by her brother, Paul, who was selected in the 2022 MLB Draft by the New York Mets. Reeg led Cardinal Gibbons High School to a North Carolina 4A state championship in 2021, and she will compete for playing time among quite possibly UVA's deepest position group. Reeg's never-rest attitude is why Wells is adamant that Reeg will "raise the level of competition in our gym the min- ute she steps on Grounds." In addition to UVA's four incoming first- years, Wells hit the transfer portal hard this offseason by adding three immediate im- pact players at three different positions. The first of them was former Maryland standout Milan Gomillion, whom Wells dubbed as "one of the best liberos in the Big Ten." In 2021, she led the Big Ten in digs per set (4.67), a clip that has been produced only twice at UVA in the last 19 seasons. Gomillion joins an experienced UVA back row, which consists of fourth-year Madison Morey, third-year Heyli Velasquez, and sec- ond-year Kate Johnson — all of whom com- bined for 276 sets played last year — and Reeg. Morey and Velasquez split time as the team's starting libero in 2022. The Cavaliers also inked setter Regan True- blood, who finished her Division II career as one of Illinois Springfield's most accomplished setters, and Ciera "CiCi" Hecht, a versatile six- rotation outside hitter from Texas A&M. "I have a soft spot for my D-II kids," joked Wells, a Hall of Fame inductee at both Southern Indiana, her alma mater, and the Great Lakes Valley Conference. "[Regan] will come in and really compete for that setter position and give us the opportunity to run a 6-2 [rotation]." Trueblood and third-year setter Ashley Le will quarterback the Cavaliers' offense. Le has appeared in 57 career matches, and with 865 career assists she is approaching the 1,000-assists milestone. Like UVA's ball control unit, the Cavaliers' pin hitters make up one of the deepest groups on the team. In addition to newcomers Hecht and Bowie, UVA returns third-year Brooklyn Borum, fourth-year GG Carvacho and Wilson. Borum, who like Hecht can play all six rotations, was named to the ACC's All-Freshman Team in 2021. Carvacho and Wilson transferred to UVA before the start of last season and provide tre- mendous length and physicality for the Hoos, but both were nagged by injuries as the 2022 season progressed. With nearly half the team brand new, Wells is grateful for the leadership initiatives taken by the team's "summer captains" — Carvacho, Johnson, Le and Morey — to ac- climate their seven new teammates into the fold immediately. "Having our athletes here in the summer is a really big deal," Wells said. "You know, they're taking class, but they're also around each other a lot, and I'm really proud of this captain group because they've worked really hard. "They already have some team-building opportunities and that's wrapped around com- munity service or just some social events." With Seven Newcomers, UVA Has An Optimistic Outlook 2023 SCHEDULE Date Opponent Time (ET) Aug. 25 Rider^ 7 p.m. Aug. 26 Rutgers or NC A&T^ TBA Sept. 1 vs. Quinnipiac# 4 p.m. Sept. 2 at Columbia# 12 p.m. Sept. 5 Old Dominion 6 p.m. Sept. 8 at Howard! 6 p.m. Sept. 9 vs. Coastal Carolina& 12 p.m. Sept. 10 at UMBC& 1 p.m. Sept. 15 Norfolk State+ 7 p.m. Sept. 16 George Wash. or Wofford+ TBA Sept. 22 at North Carolina* 6 p.m. Sept. 24 at Duke* 1 p.m. Sept. 29 Syracuse* 7 p.m. Oct. 1 Boston College* 1 p.m. Oct. 6 Clemson* 7 p.m. Oct. 8 Georgia Tech* 1 p.m. Oct. 13 at Notre Dame* 6:30 p.m. Oct. 15 at Louisville* 1 p.m. Oct. 18 at Pittsburgh* 7 p.m. Oct. 22 at NC State* 1 p.m. Oct. 27 Wake Forest* 7 p.m. Oct. 29 Virginia Tech* 2 p.m. Nov. 3 at Miami* 7 p.m. Nov. 5 at Florida State* 1 p.m. Nov. 12 Notre Dame* 1 p.m. Nov. 17 Duke* 7 p.m. Nov. 22 NC State* 7 p.m. Nov. 25 at Virginia Tech* 1 p.m. ^ Cavalier Classic at Charlottesville; # Big Apple Tournament at New York City; ! DMV Invitational at Washington, D.C.; & DMV Invitational at Baltimore; + Jefferson Cup Invite at Charlottes- ville; * ACC match Third-year middle blocker Abby Tadder finished ninth in the ACC with a .333 hitting percentage in 2022. (Photo by Matt Riley/ courtesy UVA)