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Oct. 5, 2005
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Third-year outside hitter Lindsay Osco (Houston, Texas/Elkins) and second-year outside hitter Sarah Kirkwood (Tampa, Fla./Plant) combined for 31 kills to lead the Virginia volleyball team to a 3-0 (30-28, 30-23, 30-19) victory over Virginia Tech Tuesday night at Memorial Gym in the first competition of the Commonwealth Challenge. With the victory, UVa garners .5 points in the competition. The Cavaliers are now 8-6 overall and 3-2 in the ACC, while Virginia Tech falls to 7-7 overall and 2-3 in the ACC.
Osco and Kirkwood registered 31 of UVa’s 57 kills in the match. Osco led all players with 16 kills and also recorded a .452 hitting percentage in helping lead Virginia to the victory. Osco also added five digs, three assists, two blocks, and a service ace. Kirkwood notched 15 kills, six digs, three service aces and two blocks in an excellent all-around performance. Third-year setter Emily Kirkwood (Tampa, Fla./Plant) handed out a match-high 38 assists in running the Cavaliers’ offense.
Third-year middle Stephanie Everett (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore) and first-year middle Shannon Davis (Austin, Texas/Westlake) both posted four blocks. Everett also tallied six kills while hitting .462 and Davis had five kills. Second-year outside hitter Beth Shelton (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursula Academy) had six kills, six digs, and three blocks. Second-year middle Katie Oakes (Lorton, Va./Evangel Christian School) hit .444 while tallying five kills after missing the last four matches. Second-year libero Melissa Caldwell (Houston, Texas/Stratford) led UVa’s defensive effort with 14 digs and also contributed two service aces and two assists.
Sarah Munoz led Virginia Tech with 13 kills while hitting .423. Munoz also added nine digs, while Katie Esbrook had 10 kills and a .400 hitting percentage. Setter Melissa Markowski dished out 35 assists and had nine digs. Amanda Cloyd led the Hokies in digs with 11.
The Hokies jumped out to an 11-3 lead in the first game, but Virginia came back and eventually tied the game at 25-25. With the game tied at 28-28, back-to-back kills by Osco and Sarah Kirkwood gave UVa the 30-28 win. In game two, the Cavaliers took a 7-6 lead on a service ace by Caldwell and never trailed again and went on to register a 30-23 win. Virginia never trailed in game three and cruised to a 30-19 win to seal the victory. The Cavaliers hit .457 in the final game.
Virginia hit an impressive .325 in the match with 57 kills. The Hokies managed only 44 kills with a .226 hitting percentage. UVa tallied 75 points in the match, compared to 52 for Virginia Tech. The Cavaliers held a 10-5 advantage in blocks as well as an 8-3 edge in service aces. Virginia also held a slight 43-41 edge in digs.
By capturing the victory, UVa earned .5 points in the Commonwealth Challenge and was also the recipient of the volleyball traveling plaque. In each sport, the winner of each competition is awarded the traveling plaque to display. The next competition in the Commonwealth Challenge is a women’s soccer match in Blacksburg on October 13.
The UVa volleyball team returns to action on Friday (October 7) with a 7:00 p.m. match against Duke at Memorial Gym.