Virginia Volleyball Closes Out Home Season With 3-1 Win Over Wake Forest
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Nov. 17, 2006
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia volleyball team bounced back from a loss to Duke Thursday with an impressive 3-1 (30-18, 25-30, 30-22, 30-19) victory over Wake Forest Friday evening (Nov. 17) to close out its home season at Memorial Gym. With the victory, UVa improves to 22-7 overall and 15-5 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and ties the school mark for ACC victories in a season. Wake Forest drops to 14-14 overall and 10-9 in the ACC.
Third-year outside hitter Sarah Kirkwood (Tampa, Fla.) took sole possession of UVa’s career service aces record from her older sister, fourth-year setter Emily Kirkwood (Tampa, Fla.), with four aces. The four aces increased the younger Kirkwood’s career total to 164. Sarah Kirkwood also recorded her 13th double-double of the season with 14 kills and a team-high 15 digs. Emily Kirkwood tallied 61 assists to move her career total to 5,344 and jumped into seventh place on the ACC’s all-time assists list. She also added five digs, five blocks, three kills, and two service aces, which increased her career total to 162, just two shy of her sister’s new record.
First-year outside hitter Lauren Dickson (Austin, Texas) and second-year middle Shannon Davis (Austin, Texas) both had productive evenings for the Cavaliers. Dickson led Virginia with 16 kills while posting a match-high .483 hitting percentage. Dickson also added eight digs, two aces and a block. Davis tallied a .409 hitting percentage with 13 kills and also posted three blocks. Third-year middle Katie Oakes (Lorton, Va.) nearly recorded a double-double as she notched 14 kills and nine blocks, including three solo stuffs. The nine blocks increased her season total to 159, the fifth highest single season total in school history. Fourth-year outside hitter Lindsay Osco (Houston, Texas) registered eight kills, six digs and three blocks, while third-year libero Melissa Caldwell (Houston, Texas) recorded 12 digs. Second-year defensive specialist Beth Shelton (Cincinnati, Ohio) tied Sarah Kirkwood for match-high honors in aces with four and also added eight digs.
Jessica Furlong led Wake Forest with 17 kills, seven digs and three blocks. Lauren Peterson tallied 15 kills and five blocks, while Jackie Lucas added 10 kills and six blocks. Setter Dylan Faulkner added 44 assists, six digs and two aces.
UVa posted a .290 hitting percentage with 68 kills, while Wake managed to hit only .176 with 51 kills. Virginia held a huge 13-5 advantage in service aces and also won the defensive battle with a 60-56 edge in digs and a 12-11 lead in team blocks.
UVa hit .333 with 15 kills while cruising to a 30-18 win in the first game. The Demon Deacons had 11 attack errors and only nine kills in game one. Oakes registered four blocks in the frame. Wake Forest bounced back to hit .382 in game two and post 30-25 win. Oakes had five kills in game two for UVa. Virginia registered 21 kills and hit .356 in a 30-22 win in the third game. Sarah Kirkwood and Dickson both had five kills in the game. Virginia never trailed in game four while taking a 30-19 decision. Dickson paced UVa with six kills.
Virginia returns to action on Friday (Nov. 24) when it travels to Clemson, S.C., for a 6:00 p.m. match against Clemson.