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Oct. 14, 2005
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Virginia volleyball team tied its longest conference winning streak at four consecutive matches with a 3-1 (30-26, 33-31, 21-30, 30-28) victory over Miami Friday (October 14) at the Knight Sports Complex. In addition to equaling the mark for longest conference winning streak, UVa also garnered its 100th Atlantic Coast Conference win. The Cavaliers now stand at 11-6 overall and 6-2 in the ACC, while Miami drops to 9-7 overall and 4-4 in the ACC.
With the victory, UVa extended its winning streak to four matches, tying the school mark for consecutive ACC wins, which was last set in 2004. Virginia also moved past Georgia Tech into third place in the ACC standings.
Second-year outside hitter Sarah Kirkwood (Tampa, Fla./Plant) and second-year middle Katie Oakes (Lorton, Va./Evangel Christian School) led a season-high five Cavaliers in double digits in kills. Kirkwood paced UVa with 17 kills and also added 17 digs for her third consecutive and fourth double-double of the season. Oakes smacked a career-high 15 kills while posting a team-high .414 hitting percentage. Oakes also led Virginia with a pair of blocks. First-year middle Shannon Davis (Austin, Texas/Westlake) and third-year outside hitter Lindsay Osco (Houston, Texas/Elkins) both registered 13 kills with Davis hitting at a .360 clip. Second-year outside hitter Beth Shelton (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursula Academy) rounded out UVa’s players in double figures in kills with 10. She added nine digs and was just one shy of recording a double-double.
Third-year setter Emily Kirkwood (Tampa, Fla./Plant) handed out 59 assists for an impressive average of 14.75 per game. She led all players with three service aces and also totaled four digs and two kills. Second-year libero Melissa Caldwell (Houston, Texas/Stratford) came up with 16 digs, just one shy of Sarah Kirkwood team high honors for the evening. Caldwell also registered a pair of service aces, as did third-year outside hitter Emily Perilli (Thompson’s Station, Tenn./Page). Perilli had nine digs as well.
Francheska Savage and Karla Johnson led the Hurricanes with 21 and 20 kills, respectively. Savage hit .450 in the match, while Johnson tied Jill Robinson for team high honors in digs with 17. Robinson also handed out 50 assists and recorded four blocks. Ciara Michel totaled 10 kills and eight blocks for the Hurricanes.
The Cavaliers held a 70-60 advantage in kills, but Miami out-hit UVa .242 to .215. The Hurricanes held a 76-63 edge in digs as well a 14-3 advantage in team blocks. Virginia recorded eight service aces to Miami’s two.
UVa hit .315 in winning the first game 30-26. The second game was close throughout, but the Cavaliers came away with a 33-31 victory. With Miami on top 29-28, Oakes tied the match with a kill. A UVa service error gave the Hurricanes another match point, but Sarah Kirkwood’s kill tied the score at 30-30. An attack error by UVa gave Miami another chance to win, but Davis’ kill knotted the game at 31-31. A bad set by Miami and then a kill by Shelton gave the Cavaliers the victory. Virginia let an early lead slip away in game three and the Hurricanes went on to post a 30-21 win. In the fourth and final game, the Cavaliers led 28-20, but Miami stormed back to pull within 29-28 on a kill by Johnson. Osco ended the comeback with a kill to make the final score 30-28.
UVa continues its Florida road trip with a 7:00 p.m. match against Florida State Saturday in Tallahassee.