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Volleyball Plays at Virginia Tech Tuesday
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia volleyball team (10-6, 5-2 ACC) has an action-packed week, beginning Tuesday with Virginia Tech. The Hoos will travel to Blacksburg to close out the series with the Hokies at 7 p.m.
SERIES INFORMATION
Against Virginia Tech: Virginia leads 28-21
Last Meeting: Sept. 14 in Charlottesville
Result: Virginia, 3-0 (30-28, 32-30, 30-25)
SHELTON ONE AWAY FROM 100 ACC WINS
Virginia head coach Melissa Aldrich Shelton one win away from her 100th career victory in Atlantic Coast Conference play. Now in her 13th season at Uva, Shelton currently has 99 league wins after beating Maryland Saturday.
A GLANCE AT VIRGINIA TECH
Virginia Tech is 9-8 overall and 3-4 in conference play. VT commenced its ACC season at Virginia back on Sept. 14, a 3-0 loss to the Cavaliers. The Hokies, however, have played tough at home this season, boasting a 6-1 mark. The squad’s only loss in Blacksburgh was a 3-2 set back to Miami on Sept. 20. Last weekend, Virginia Tech picked up wins over Maryland (3-1) and Boston College (3-1).
Taylor Parrish leads the Hokies with a 3.53 kills per game average and has totaled 208 kills on the season. Felicia Willoughby’s 1.56 blocks per game and Amanda Cloyd’s 5.29 digs per game also lead the team. Setter Michelle Lang averages 11.63 assists per game and also paces the Hokie squad with 16 service aces on the year.
RECAPPING: CAVALIERS VS. HOKIES
Virginia opened conference play with a 3-0 sweep of the Hokies back on Sept. 14 at Memorial Gymnasium. Sarah Kirkwood and Lauren Dickson led the Cavaliers attackers with 14 and 11 digs, respectively. Kelly Irvin (19 assists) and Marlow Bruneau (18 assists) shared setting responsbilities and Melissa Caldwell paced the defensive effort with 17 digs against the Hokies.
LAST TIME OUT
The Cavaliers picked up two wins last weekend at home against Boston College (3-1) and Maryland (3-0). Sarah Kirkwood had a solid outing, hitting over .500 in both matches. Friday against BC, the All-American outside hitter registered a match-high 21 kills and also contributed 12 digs. She committed just three attacking errors and hit exactly .500 for the match. Third year Shannon Davis also had a strong performance with 12 kills in the winning effort.
Against Maryland, Kirkwood once again led all players with 25 kills. With just two errors in 40 attempts, she finished with a .575 hitting percentage against the Terps. Katie Oakes also registered double-figure kills with 14 and led the squad with seven blocks. Beth Shelton, who started at libero for the Hoos, paced Virginia with nine digs.
WIN GAME ONE
Virginia is 7-0 this season after winning game one. In contrast, the squad is 3-6 when dropping the first game of the match to its opponent.
HOOS AMONG ACC LEADERS
Several Cavaliers rank among the top 10 in the latest statistical reports from the ACC, released Tuesday, Oct.1. Sarah Kirkwood is second in the league in kills, averaging 4.58 per game. That mark trails Duke’s Carrie DeMange, who puts up 5.09 kpg. Additionally, Kirkwood ranks fifth in service aces. Melissa Caldwell is seventh among the ACC dig leaders with 4.21 dpg. Teammate Katie Oakes stands fourth in blocks, averaging 1.43 bpg.
SECOND IN CAREER DIGS
Fourth year Melissa Caldwell has a shot at breaking the program record for career digs, needing 207 more to claim the top spot. The Houston native is now in sole possession of second place. She played in four games of the team’s seven games last weekend and finished with 10 digs.
RECORD BREAKER
Fourth year and team tri-captain Sarah Kirkwood has set three program records this season. She set the career record for service aces in UVa’s season-opener against Texas Tech (Aug. 24), blasting seven aces in that match to surpass her sister Emily (167 career aces) as the program’s all-time leader. She currently has 197 career aces.
In Virginia’s match against Oklahoma (Sept. 7), Kirkwood set the school record for career kills. Needing just eight kills to take over the top spot on the list, Kirkwood posted a match-high 15 kills against the Sooners to replace former Cavalier Deanna Zwarich as the career leader. Kirkwood has tallied 1,708 kills in her career.
Her third program record came in the ACC opener against Virginia Tech (Sept. 14), this time for attack attempts. Kirkwood needed 18 more attempts to break Paige Davis’ record of 4,018 career attack attempts. Davis was one of the program’s first All-Americans and is the older sister of Kirkwood’s teammate, Shannon Davis. Kirkwood now has 4,322 career attack attempts.
CALDWELL, OAKES ALSO AT THE TOP
Fourth years Melissa Caldwell and Katie Oakes join Kirkwood near the top of career lists. Caldwell, the squad’s returning libero, currently holds the top spot for digs per game. Oakes, meanwhile, is first in blocks per game and ranks among the top 10 in block assists and kills per game.
KIRKWOOD APPEARS IN PSA SPOT
The University of Virginia has created three new video spots that will air during televised football and basketball games this fall and winter. The spots show faculty members and students delivering the words of the University’s founder, Thomas Jefferson. Kirkwood is one of three student-athletes featured in the spots, along with Sean Singletary (men’s basketball) and Somdev Devverman (men’s tennis). Men’s basketball coach Dave Leitao also appears in the spots. They are available online at http://www.virginia.edu/president/spch/07/tvspot.html
2007 TEAM CAPTAINS
Fourth years Sarah Kirkwood and Taylor Russo and third year Marlow Bruneau are serving as Virginia’s captains this year. It is the second consecutive year in the role for Kirkwood, who also was a captain as a third year.
UP NEXT
Virginia will then return home to play host to NC State at 7 p.m. Friday and North Carolina at 1 p.m. Sunday in Memorial Gymnasium.