The last game played in Memorial Gymnasium was Dec. 8, 2024, before the 22-month renovation began. After a season of bouncing back and forth between the Aquatic & Fitness Center and John Paul Jones Arena, Virginia volleyball was supposed to return to Memorial Gymnasium for the beginning of the 2026-27 season. However, due to unexpected additional construction, the start date was pushed back to this past weekend against conference rival Duke Friday, followed by a match against No. 25 North Carolina Sunday.
And while the court looked shiny and plenty of fans huddled into the new bleachers, the weekend went far from planned. Instead of securing two wins during the gym’s opening weekend, they suffered two losses, extending their losing streak to five.
The Cavaliers (5-10, 1-5 ACC) played the Blue Devils (12-4, 4-2 ACC) Friday evening in what turned out to be a highly contested game at the net. Duke won the first set against Virginia, 25-20, before the Cavaliers were able to preserve and win sets two and three, 25-22 and 25-20. After dropping the fourth set, Virginia headed to the fifth hoping to close out a win. However, the Blue Devils had other plans, never trailing in the final set despite the Cavaliers’ rally. The set ended at 15-13 and Virginia suffered yet another brutal loss…