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Sarah Kirkwood Leads Virginia Volleyball To 3-1 Victory Over Wake Forest
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Nov. 18, 2005
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Second-year outside hitter Sarah Kirkwood (Tampa, Fla./Plant) slammed a match-high 23 kills and third-year outside hitter Lindsay Osco (Houston, Texas/Elkins) notched her 1,000th career kill to help lead the University of Virginia volleyball team to a 3-1 (22-30, 30-24, 30-23, 33-31) victory over Wake Forest Friday evening (November 18) at Reynolds Gym. With the victory, the Cavaliers have now won four consecutive matches and improve to 19-9 overall and 14-5 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Demon Deacons drop to 16-12 overall and 9-10 in the conference.
Osco became the 11th UVa player to register 1,000 career kills when she accomplished the feat during the third game with her seventh kill of the match. Osco finished the night with nine kills and now has 1,002. It marked the third consecutive match a Virginia player has reached the 1,000 milestone in a statistical category. Second-year libero Melissa Caldwell (Houston, Texas/Stratford) tallied her 1,000th dig against Florida State on November 11 and Sarah Kirkwood followed with her 1,000th kill versus Miami the following evening (November 12).
In addition to her 23 kills, Kirkwood posted 13 digs for her team-leading 10th double-double of the season. She also recorded a pair of solo blocks. Second-year middle Katie Oakes (Lorton, Va./Evangel Christian School) turned in a match-high .458 hitting percentage with 14 kills and three errors on 24 attempts. She also had three blocks. Second-year outside hitter Beth Shelton (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursula Academy) totaled 10 kills and 11 digs for her sixth double-double of the season.
Third-year setter Emily Kirkwood (Tampa, Fla./Plant) was the third Cavalier to tally a double-double as she had a match-high 61 assists (15.3 per game) to go along with 11 digs. Caldwell led UVa’s defensive effort with a match-high 26 digs, while third-year outside hitter Emily Perilli (Thompson’s Station, Tenn./Page) was the fifth Cavalier to reach double figures in digs as she had 13.
Lauren Peterson led a balanced Wake Forest attack with 16 kills, while Natalie Mullikin had 15 kills and a .414 hitting percentage. Christy Williams hit .429 with 14 kills, while Jessica Furlong also registered 14 kills. Setter Erin Borhart recorded a triple-double with 11 kills, 51 assists and 15 digs. Natasha Schaefer led Wake in digs with 20.
Wake Forest held a slight edge in nearly every statistical category. The Deacs hit .284 with 76 kills, while UVa tallied a .240 hitting percentage with 72 kills. Wake held a slight 82-80 advantage in digs and a 12-8 margin in team blocks. Virginia led 5-3 in service aces and committed only three service errors to Wake Forest’s 12.
The Demon Deacons hit .342 in winning the first game 30-22. UVa won the next three games to pull out the victory. Virginia took game two 30-24 and then hit .277 to win game three 30-23. The Cavaliers clinched the match with a 33-31 win in game four. Kirkwood hammered eight kills in the fourth game to help UVa seal the victory.
Virginia concludes its road trip with a noon match against Duke on Saturday (November 19).