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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia volleyball team heads on the road this weekend to play its final pair of away matches this season. The Cavaliers (16-13, 8-9 ACC) will face Wake Forest on Friday before traveling to Durham, N.C., to play Duke on Saturday. Both contests are slated to begin at 7 p.m., with Saturday’s match against the Blue Devils set to be broadcast live on ACCSelect.com.
Twelve Cavaliers have tallied kills for Virginia this season, including four who have reached the 200-kill plateau. Third-year Lauren Dickson (Austin, Texas) heads the group with 274 kills, while second-year Kendahl Voelker (Fort Myers, Fla.) is sitting at 199 kills. Dickson has also landed a team-high 32 aces.
Defensively, third-year Brittani Rendina (Lisle, Ill.) has collected a 459 digs and second-year Sydney Hill (Kalamazoo, Mich.) leads the charge at the net with 122 blocks. Each of them have made their way into Virginia’s respective single season record categories with their season totals so far.
Fourth-year Marlow Bruneau (Lakeville, Minn.) has dished out a team-high 638 assists, while second-year Kelly Irvin (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) has distributed 396.
Wake Forest (17-12, 8-9 ACC) has dropped three of its last four contests, but are led by Natalie Mullikin, who has landed 349 kills and 113 blocks. Megan Thornberry has 488 digs on the season, while Kelsey Jones has dished out 1,135 assists.
When facing the Demon Deacons, the Cavaliers are 19-15. Dating back to 1980, the two squads have played at least once a year since 1996, with Virginia winning the last three meetings.
Duke (21-8, 12-5 ACC) has won four of its last five games coming into the weekend. Rachael Moss leads the Blue Devils heading into the last home match of their season, landing 388 kills and 49 service aces. Claire Smalzer has dug 494 attacks and Jourdan Norman has blocked 141. Kellie Catanach has dished out 1,187 assists.
The Blue Devils lead the all-time series versus the Cavaliers, 37-13. The duo have met on the volleyball court at least once a year since 1982, with Duke holding an 8-4 record throughout the past five seasons, including victories in the last four-straight contests.
This trip will mark the final road tilt for Virginia’s seniors, Bruneau, Shannon Davis (Austin, Texas) and Beth Shelton (Cincinnati, Ohio). Throughout their careers, the trio has defeated each conference-foe at least once in Memorial Gymnasium and all except Duke on the road. They will be honored prior to their next match, the season-finale on Friday, Nov. 28 against Virginia Tech. First serve for the contest is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Memorial Gymnasium.