A boundary value problem simulating a periodic array of spherical voids in an isotropically hardening elastic-viscoplastic matrix is analyzed. The calculations show a shift from a general axisymmetric deformation state to a mode of uniaxial straining at which point the plastic deformation localizes to the ligament between neighboring voids. This event is associated with the accelerated void growth accompanying coalescence. The numerical results are related to the description of void growth and coalescence within a phenomenological constitutive framework for progressively cavitating solids.