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Virginia Volleyball To Play Two Key ACC Road Matches This Weekend
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Oct. 5, 2006
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia volleyball team will play two key Atlantic Coast Conference matches on the road this weekend. The Cavaliers continue their four-match road trip at ACC-leader Duke on Friday (Oct. 6) at 7:00 p.m. UVa then plays at Wake Forest on Saturday (Oct. 7) at 6:00 p.m. to wrap up the road trip.
Virginia enters the weekend in second place in the ACC thanks to a five-match winning streak. UVa stands at 12-3 overall and 5-1 in the ACC with the five league victories leading the conference. The Cavaliers’ five-match conference winning streak is just one shy of the school record.
Friday’s match at Duke, the ACC preseason favorite, pits the top two teams in the league standings. The Blue Devils have won their last four matches and are 11-2 overall and 4-0 in the ACC. Duke leads the all-time series against Virginia 32-13. The two teams split a pair of meetings last season with both teams winning by 3-1 scores on their home floors. Duke won 23 of the first 26 meetings in the series, but since the 1998 season UVa holds a slight 10-9 edge.
Wake Forest is 7-6 overall and 3-1 in the ACC this season. The Demon Deacons have won their last two matches and are tied for fourth in the ACC standings. Virginia leads the series against Wake Forest 15-14 and is riding a four match-match winning streak against the Deacs. Last season, UVa took a pair of 3-1 decisions over Wake Forest.
Two Cavaliers, third-year middle Katie Oakes (Lorton, Va./Evangel Christian School) and fourth-year setter Emily Kirkwood (Tampa, Fla./Plant), remain in the NCAA Division I Statistics through matches played Oct. 1). Oakes is second in the nation in blocks per game with an average of 1.92 (100 blocks in 52 games). Kirkwood is 11th in assists at 13.18 per game (593 assists in 45 games).
As a team, UVa is 15th in blocks per game at 3.27 and 17th in service aces per game with an average of 2.35. The Cavaliers lead all ACC teams in service aces and blocks and are second in the conference to Duke in assists (14.65 per game) and digs (17.92 per game).