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Virginia's Kirkwood Sisters Named To VaSID First Team
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Dec. 19, 2005
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – University of Virginia second-year outside hitter Sarah Kirkwood (Tampa, Fla./Plant) has been named the 2005 Virginia Sports Information Directors University Division State Volleyball Player of the Year. It marks the second consecutive year Kirkwood has been selected the state’s best player. She is joined on the VaSID All-State First Team by older sister Emily Kirkwood (Tampa, Fla./Plant), while second-years Melissa Caldwell (Houston, Texas/Stratford) and Katie Oakes (Lorton, Va./ Evangel Christian School) have been named to the VaSID Second Team.
The VaSID Player of the Year award is yet another in a long list of honors for Sarah Kirkwood in 2005. She recently earned AVCA honorable mention All-America accolades after capturing first-team All-East Region honors. Kirkwood is also the first UVa volleyball player to garner national Academic All-America honors when she was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Volleyball Second Team. She was also an All-ACC First Team pick in 2005. The 6-0 outside hitter became the first sophomore in ACC history to register 1,000 career kills. She has tallied 1,085 kills in two seasons and already stands seventh on UVa’s all-time kills list. She is the first Cavalier to total 500 kills in two different seasons. In 2005, Kirkwood led the Cavaliers with 531 kills (4.43 per game) and in service aces with 69. Her average of 0.58 aces per game led the ACC and is 19th among all Division I players. The 69 aces are the third-highest single season mark in school history. She had a career best .296 hitting percentage, including .303 in conference play, and tallied 271 digs (2.26 per game). The 2004 ACC Freshman of the Year led the team with 13 double-doubles in kills and digs and registered double figures in kills in the final 30 matches of the 2005 season.
Emily Kirkwood, a third-year setter, earns VaSID First Team honors for the second consecutive season. She led Virginia with a career-best 1,492 assists for an average of 12.64 per game. Kirkwood’s 1,492 assists are the fourth-highest single season total in school history. She stands second on UVa’s all-time assists list with 4,077. Kirkwood was second on the team in service aces with 47 in 2005 and her total of 128 career aces ties for fifth all-time at UVa. Kirkwood also added 209 digs, 59 kills and 35 blocks.
Caldwell, a libero, captures second-team VaSID All-State honors for the second consecutive year. She played in all 31 matches and 120 games and tallied a team-best 497 digs, the sixth-best single season total in school history. Caldwell averaged 4.14 digs per game in 2005. She became the 11th Cavalier to record 1,000 career digs and just the second sophomore to accomplish the feat. She stands seventh on UVa’s career digs list with 1,108. Caldwell was sixth on the team with 24 aces in 2005. In 2004, Caldwell set the school record with 5.46 digs per game.
Oakes, a middle, earns VaSID honors for the first time in her career with her selection to the second team. Oakes posted career-best stats in every category. She led UVa with 108 blocks (1.03 per game) and in hitting percentage with a .308 mark. With 304 kills (2.90 per game), Oakes was third on the team. Concluded the season with seven consecutive double figure kills matches, including a career-high 18 kills vs. Clemson (Nov. 25).
The Cavaliers, who led all schools with four players earning VaSID honors, finished the season with a 20-11 overall record and a 15-7 mark in ACC play.