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Sept. 11, 2006
GREENSBORO, N.C. – University of Virginia third-year outside hitter Sarah Kirkwood (Tampa, Fla./Plant) has been named the Atlantic Coast Conference Co-Volleyball Player of the Week as announced by the ACC Monday (Sept. 11). Kirkwood shares the award with Maryland’s Jade Brown. It marks the third time in her career Kirkwood has garnered the ACC’s weekly award.
Kirkwood captured the honor after helping Virginia finish second in the Michigan/Pepsi Challenge, which was held Sept. 8-9 at Michigan’s Cliff Keen Arena. She was named to the all-tournament team after registering 61 points (6.1 per game), 51 kills (5.1 per game), 49 digs (4.9 per game) and seven service aces (.70 per game) in 10 games. She hit .266 in the three matches and added four blocks and three assists. Kirkwood recorded double-doubles in all three matches and has five consecutive double digit performances in kills and digs (and seven on the season).
Kirkwood slammed a season-high 26 kills while hitting .451 in UVa’s 3-1 win over Pacific. She also had a season-high 20 digs against the Tigers. Kirkwood tallied team bests of 11 kills in a 3-0 loss to Michigan and 14 kills in a 3-0 victory over Marquette.
This season, Kirkwood leads UVa with 130 kills (4.33 per game), 102 digs (3.40 per game), and 25 service aces (0.70 per game). She has registered a service ace in all nine matches this season and has a streak of 22 consecutive matches with a service ace dating back to the last 13 contests of the 2005 season.
Virginia now stands at 7-2 on the season and opens ACC play on Friday (Sept. 15) when it travels to Blacksburg, Va., to play Virginia Tech (6-3). The match is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.