Virginia Volleyball Sweeps N.C. State 3-0 In ACC Championship
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Nov. 15, 2001
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Second-year middle Shannon Boyle (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) posted nine kills and hit .471 in leading the Virginia volleyball team to a 3-0 (30-24, 30-19, 30-28) win over N.C. State Thursday (November 15) in the opening match of the 2001 ACC Volleyball Championship at Tully Gymnasium. With the victory, UVa improves to 8-17 overall and advances to Friday’s quarterfinals of the ACC Championship where it will face top-seeded Duke at 1:30 p.m. N.C. State concludes the season with a 6-21 record.
The Cavaliers, who won their 12th-consecutive match over N.C. State, hit .400 as a team in winning the first game 30-24. Virginia continued its hot hitting with a mark of .455 in taking the second game 30-19. UVa led 12-4 to open the second game before N.C. State rallied to cut the lead to 13-12. The Wolfpack could not get any closer however, as the Cavaliers used a 10-3 run to open a 23-15 lead en route to the 30-19 win. Virginia completed the sweep with a tight 30-28 victory in the third game. N.C. State jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead in game three, forcing Virginia to call time-out. The Cavaliers eventually rallied to tie the game at 15-15. The teams battled back-and-forth through nine ties and four lead changes in the game before Virginia won 30-28.
Fifth-year outside hitter Andrea Fischer (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara) and fourth-year outside hitter Jenny Harmon (Virginia Beach, Va./Salem) both recorded eight kills for UVa. Fischer also hit a match-high .545, while Harmon added a team-high eight digs and two blocks. First-year middle Alexis Geocaris (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) continued her outstanding play by posting a match-high six blocks, including three solo stuffs. Geocaris also contributed six kills and a .395 hitting percentage to the Cavalier offense. First-year Lily Phillips (Phoenix, Ariz./Horizon) and second-year Abby Whittenburg (Amarillo, Texas/Amarillo) split the setting duties and notched 19 and 14 assists, respectively. Phillips, who was named to the 2001 ACC All-Freshmen team, also added six digs and two service aces. Virginia outhit N.C. State .281 to .029 and held a 43-29 edge in kills. The Cavaliers also had a 40-31 advantage in digs.
“I was pleased with the way our team played, we haven’t beaten a team in three games in awhile,” said UVa head coach Melissa Aldrich Shelton. “I don’t even know when the last time that was, it sure has been a long time though. It was very good mentally for us to get that done. And I was able to get some different looks in for us and it was good to get some people in who haven’t played in awhile, which is always nice at the end of the year.”
“N.C. State came out to play in game three and we didn’t and I think we sort of slacked off and that’s a credit to N.C. State. It is not easy to end up eight or nine in the conference, it’s really tough. It is mentally challenging to stay positive. They proved that they had stayed positive by coming out the way they did in game three.”
“We took Duke to five games just two weeks ago on their home court,” Shelton said. “We are actually excited about the match-up and we think we have a great chance to go in there and play a great game. We are going to go out and lay everything on the line.”
Melanie Rowe and Alison Kreager had 10 kills each for N.C. State. Kreager also added four blocks, while Lindi Sheppard added 25 assists and nine digs.