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Sept. 6, 2003
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia volleyball team jumped out to a 2-0 lead and held off George Mason for a 3-2 (30-26, 30-24, 19-30, 28-30, 15-12) victory Saturday evening (September 6) at Memorial Gym to win the 2003 Jefferson Cup Tournament. UVa was a perfect 3-0 in the tournament. Fourth-year libero Whitney Ashcraft (Yorktown, Ind./Burris) turned in a stellar defensive effort for the Cavaliers with a career-high 33 digs and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. With the victory, UVa improves to 7-0 on the season, matching the second-best start in program history.
Virginia fourth-year outside hitter Paige Davis (Austin, Texas/Westlake) and first-year outside hitter Lindsay Osco (Rosharon, Texas/Elkins) were named to the All-Tournament Team. Aline Pereira and Milena Racic represented George Mason on the All-Tournament Team, while Becky Rudnick (Liberty) and Che Cochrane (Campbell) round out the All-Tournament Team.
In addition to Ashcraft’s 33 digs being a career high, it also ties for the fifth most in match by a Virginia player. Davis tallied a season-high 23 kills and added eight digs and eight blocks, while Osco set career highs in kills (16) and digs (17). Third-year middle Alexis Geocaris (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) also reached double figures in kills with 14, to go along with four blocks. Fourth-year middle Shannon Boyle (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) also had a good match with eight kills, eight blocks and three service aces.
First-year setter Emily Kirkwood (Tampa, Fla./Plant) handed out 43 assists and added four digs, while classmate Kathleen Branagh (Lafayette, Calif./Campolindo) added 23 assists and four digs.
Pereira led the Patriots (3-4) with a match-high 27 kills and added 13 digs, while Racic posted 21 kills and 10 digs in earning All-Tournament Team honors. Setter Jesica Umansky dished out a match-high 60 assists and added 11 digs, while Natalia Porosa paced GMU in digs with 22 and also tallied 14 kills.
Virginia won the first two games of the match only to see the Patriots win games three and four to knot the match at two games apiece. UVa jumped out to an 8-3 lead in game five, but Mason stormed back to take a 12-11 lead. The Cavaliers closed out the match with four consecutive points to take game five 15-12.
In the first match of the evening session, Liberty (1-5) defeated Campbell 3-0 (30-27, 30-16, 30-19) to finish third in the tournament. Rudnick paced Liberty with 11 kills, while Jennifer Belk contributed nine kills and 10 digs. Setter Kristin Colson handed out 31 assists. Campbell (0-6) was led by Tammi Batson who had six kills, while Cochrane added five kills and seven digs.
The Cavaliers return to action on Tuesday (September 9) when they host in-state rival Virginia Tech at 7:00 p.m. at Memorial Gym.