Virginia headed down to the Lone Star State to play No. 10 SMU Friday — a trip that added another loss to an already existing losing streak. The Cavaliers (10-13, 3-10 ACC) fell in three sets to the Mustangs (18-5, 10-3 ACC), 25-7, 25-17, 25-18.
Whether it was the long travel day or the change in time zones, the first set was a rough one for Virginia. From the start, the defense looked confused and discombobulated on the court, letting SMU get an early lead.
Before the Cavaliers knew it, it was 14-4. However, not all of the Mustang’s points were from kills — many were from Virginia’s five total attack errors. In fact, by the end of the first set, the teams’ stats were drastically different. The Cavaliers had only six kills compared to the Mustangs’ 16, zero blocks, zero aces and only a 0.04 hit percentage — SMU had 0.667. Virginia lost the set 25-7, one of its least productive sets this season…