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UVa Volleyball Rallies For 3-2 Marathon Win Over North Carolina
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Nov. 8, 2003
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Virginia volleyball team had five players set or tie career highs in an impressive 3-2 (25-30, 30-26, 26-30, 30-26, 18-16) come-from-behind victory over North Carolina Saturday evening (November 8) at Carmichael Auditorium. The match took two hours and 37 minutes to complete. The victory snapped UVa’s 11-match losing streak to the Tar Heels and it was also the Cavaliers’ first victory in Chapel Hill since 1994. The win is Virginia’s third consecutive and improves the team’s record to 23-7 overall and 7-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Tar Heels fall to 18-10 overall and 9-5 in the conference.
Fourth-year All-ACC libero Whitney Ashcraft (Yorktown, Ind./Burris) equaled her impressive school record with 42 digs in the match against North Carolina. Ashcraft, who also went over the 1,500-dig mark in the match, originally set her school record against Syracuse on September 13, 2003. First-year setter Emily Kirkwood (Tampa, Fla./Plant) had a phenomenal match as she set the school record with 81 assists and also added a career-high 19 digs for her seventh double-double of the season. The former school record for assists in a match was 80 by Mary Frances Scott in the 1990 season and Jo Anne Gilman in the 1985 campaign.
Fourth-year outside hitter Paige Davis (Austin, Texas/Westlake) pounded a team-high 28 kills and tallied 25 digs to set career highs in both categories. Her 73 attack attempts ties for the second most in a match in school history. First-year outside hitter Lindsay Osco (Rosharon, Texas/Elkins) set a career-high with 28 digs and equaled her career-best with 19 kills. Third-year middle Alexis Geocaris (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) set a career-high with 19 kills and led all players with a .405 hitting percentage. Geocaris also added five blocks, including two solo, and three digs. Second-year outside hitter Kristin Chaney (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) was the fifth UVa player to set a career-high as she totaled 16 digs. Fourth-year middle Shannon Boyle (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) notched a season-high 15 kills and added three blocks (two solo) and three digs.
As a team, UVa had an impressive 141 digs in the match, which is the second-highest single match total in school history. Virginia’s 269 attack attempts is also the second most in a match, while the team’s 88 kills ties for the sixth best single match total.
North Carolina’s Dani Nyenhuis tied Davis for match-high honors in kills with 28 and added 21 assists. Molly Pyles also had a big match with 21 kills and 29 digs. Katie Wright added 12 kills, nine blocks and seven digs.
Virginia hit .212 in the match with 88 kills, while the Tar Heels had 82 kills and a .192 hitting percentage. UVa held a 141-128 advantage in digs, while North Carolina led in blocks 16-8.
UVa returns to action on Tuesday (November 11) when it travels to College Park, Md. for a 7:00 p.m. match against Maryland.