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Sept. 9, 2003
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia volleyball team improved to 8-0 on the season with a 3-1 (30-19, 30-26, 27-30, 30-25) victory over Virginia Tech Tuesday (September 9) at Memorial Gym. First-year outside hitter Lindsay Osco (Rosharon, Texas/Elkins), third-year middle Alexis Geocaris (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) and fourth-year outside hitter Paige Davis (Austin, Texas/Westlake) each scored 19 points and combined for 44 kills and 16 blocks to pace the Cavaliers in the victory. With the win the Cavaliers are off to the second-best start in school history. With the loss, Virginia Tech falls to 4-4 on the season.
Virginia’s 8-0 start in 2003 is only surpassed by the 1996 team’s 10-match winning streak to start the season. The Cavaliers’ last four victories have come at Memorial Gym, UVa’s new home court.
Against the Hokies, Osco recorded her second consecutive double-double of the season with 15 kills and 13 digs. She also added four blocks and a pair of service aces. Geocaris tied Osco for team-high honors in kills with a season best 15 while hitting .500 and contributing six blocks. Davis had a solid match with 14 kills, six blocks, five digs and two aces. Fourth-year middle Shannon Boyle (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) led all players with nine blocks and added nine kills, while third-year outside hitter Celeste Laborde (New Orleans, La./Academy of the Sacred Heart) tallied eight kills and three blocks.
Fourth-year libero Whitney Ashcraft (Yorktown, Ind./Burris) paced all players with 15 digs and contributed three kills in as many attempts and two assists to the UVa offense. First-year setter Emily Kirkwood (Tampa, Fla./Plant) and Kathleen Branagh (Lafayette, Calif./Campolindo) combined to hand out 60 assists. Kirkwood led the way with 37 assists and added eight digs, while Branagh had 23 assists and four digs.
Annie Spicer lead Virginia Tech with a match-high 22 kills and added 10 digs and six assists. Setter Melissa Markowski nearly recorded a triple-double, but fell one kill shy. She had nine kills to go along with 41 assists and 12 digs. Kaitlin McPeak and Ashley Bayer added 13 and 12 digs, respectively.
The Cavaliers posted a .283 hitting percentage while Virginia Tech hit at a .160 clip. UVa notched 71 kills compared to Tech’s 57. Virginia also held 15-7 advantage in team blocks, while the Hokies had one more dig than UVa (62-61).
Virginia returns to action on Friday and Saturday (September 12-13) in the Kentucky Conference Challenge in Lexington, Ky. UVa opens the tournament on Friday with a 4:30 p.m. match against Wright State. On Saturday, the Cavaliers will play Syracuse and Kentucky at 10:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., respectively.