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Oct. 7, 2003
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Junior outside hitter Molly Pyles registered a match-high 20 kills and hit .559 in leading the North Carolina volleyball team to a 3-0 (30-22, 30-23, 32-30) victory over Virginia Tuesday night (October 7) Memorial Gym. The Cavaliers suffered their third consecutive loss and fall to 17-4 overall and 1-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. With the win, North Carolina improves to 13-5 overall and 4-1 in the ACC, and extended its winning streak over UVa to 10 consecutive matches.
Fourth-year outside hitter Paige Davis (Austin, Texas/Westlake) led the Cavaliers with 13 kills, while third-year middle Alexis Geocaris (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) added nine kills and five blocks. She also led UVa with a .368 hitting percentage. First-year outside hitter Emily Perilli (Thompson’s Station, Tenn./Page) set new career highs with seven kills and 11 digs.
Fourth-year All-ACC libero Whitney Ashcraft (Yorktown, Ind./Burris) posted 16 digs in the match to lead all players. Ashcraft, who is fifth in the nation in digs per game (5.17), notched her 17th double digit dig performance of the season. First-year setter Emily Kirkwood (Tampa, Fla./Plant) tallied 22 assists, while first-year setter Kathleen Branagh (Lafayette, Calif./Campolindo) had 12 assists and five digs.
In addition to totaling 20 kills, Pyles added 14 digs for a double-double. Katie Wright hit .533 for the Tar Heels with nine kills and five blocks. Meg Eckert also reached double figures in kills with 12 and added nine digs and three blocks. Setter Norma Cortez posted a double-double with 45 assists and 11 digs.
The Tar Heels won the first two games by 30-22 and 30-23 scores. Virginia jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the third game, but North Carolina came back to tie the game at 14-14 and eventually took a 17-14 edge. The game was tied 10 times after that, including 30-30, but UNC’s Eckert and Pyles closed out the match with back-to-back kills.
North Carolina hit .246 in the match, while UVa hit .177 as a team. The Tar Heels held a 58-41 advantage in kills and a 63-44 margin in digs. Virginia held a 9-7 margin in team blocks.
Virginia continues its four-match homestand on Friday, October 10 when it hosts Florida State at 7:00 p.m. at Memorial Gym. Admission is free of charge.