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ATLANTA, Ga. The Virginia volleyball team concluded a tough away weekend with an 0-3 (19-25, 22-25, 16-25) loss at Georgia Tech Saturday evening, but fourth-year Shannon Davis joined elite company in that her two blocks saw her become just the fifth Cavalier in program history to reach the 1,000 kill and 400 block career marks.
Davis (Austin, Texas), currently sitting at 1,052 career kills and 400 blocks, joins former teammate and Cavalier All-American Katie Oakes (2007), 2004 grad Alexis Geocaris, Deanna Zwarich (2000) and Jessica Parsons (1999) as the only Cavaliers to reach the plateau.
First-year Simone Asque (Chicago, Ill.) paced the Cavaliers throughout the match, landing 14 kills, while fifth-year Beth Shelton (Cincinnati, Ohio) tallied 11 and led the defense with nine digs.
Second-year Kelly Irvin (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) dished out 17 helpers, while fourth-year Marlow Bruneau (Lakeville, Minn.) distributed 14 assists and contributed three blocks. Second-year Sydney Hill (Kalamazoo, Mich.) also had three blocks.
For Georgia Tech (17-6, 9-4 ACC), Chrissy DeMichelis had 10 kills and Allie Niekamp dished out 24 assists. Michelle Kandell and Jordan McCullers reached double-figures in digs, with 11 and 10, respectively.
Alison Campbell landed three service aces to lead the Jackets to five total aces, while Tech’s serve receive unit held the Cavaliers without any. Georgia Tech’s offense hit .298, while the defense held Virginia to a .157 clip.
The Yellow Jackets got off to a hot start in the first set, jumping ahead 4-0 before kills from Asque got the Cavaliers going, enabling them to knot the score at 7 all. Attack errors put Virginia behind again and although the Cavaliers rallied to remain within one point of the Jackets, Georgia Tech worked for a five-point advantage by 19-14 after Niekamp landed an ace. The two squads proceeded to trade points the remainder of the frame, leading Tech to a 25-19 victory.
Virginia used a four-point run late in the second set to pull within one of the Jackets at 21-20, forcing Georgia Tech to call at timeout. A service error out of the intermission gave the ball back to Tech, in which the Jackets converted into back-to-back kills to earn their first set point at 24-20. The Cavaliers held Georgia Tech at set point, landing a kill and forcing an attack error, but Miller secured the 2-0 lead for the Yellow Jackets with a kill to bring the final score to 25-22.
Georgia Tech controlled the third frame from the beginning of the set, opening with a 4-1 lead and extending the margin to five at 8-3. Neither team could gain much momentum as they swapped points until a 6-1 run of the Jackets’ pushed Tech ahead 22-14. Voelker and Asque knocked down late kills for the Cavaliers, but Georgia Tech held on for a 25-16 victory.
The Cavaliers (13-12, 5-8 ACC) will return home for a four-match homestand beginning Friday, Nov. 7 against North Carolina. Virginia will conclude next weekend with a contest against NC State on Saturday, Nov. 8. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Memorial Gymnasium for both matches.