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Virginia Sweeps Wake Forest, 3-0
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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Led by a 20-kill, nine-dig outing from freshman McKenzie Adams, the Virginia women’s volleyball team swept Wake Forest 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-18) on Friday evening at Reynolds Gym in Winston-Salem, N.C. The Cavaliers avenged an earlier loss this season at home to the Demon Deacons.
“We did a wonderful job as a team in being very steady and efficient in our passing and we were aggressive with our serving,” head coach Lee Maes said. “That was the difference tonight. We also did a nice job in learning from our previous match versus Wake Forest, by making some good adjustments defensively and executing. I continue to be pleased with our effort and preparation.”
Adams came up big all evening for Virginia (14-14, 8-10 ACC). In addition to her 20 kills and nine digs, she added a pair of service aces and two blocks. She also hit an impressive .325. With her 20-kill performance, Adams moved into 10th place in kills among UVa freshmen with 241, passing Amy Mitchell, who had 225 in 1994.
Senior AJ Cushman added a match-high 17 digs and became the fifth Cavalier to reach 500 digs in a season. Cushman now has 510 digs in 2010. Defensively, the Cavaliers stifled Wake Forest (18-11, 10-9 ACC) all evening, holding the Demon Deacons to just a .028 hitting mark, the lowest of any Virginia opponent this season. Wake hit -.081 in the final set. UVa hit .175 for the match.
UVa also was impressive in its serve receive and did not surrender an ace all evening. In turn, UVa posted nine service aces.
Kadija Fornah had 13 kills and hit a team-best .219 to lead the Demon Deacons.
Virginia set the tone for the night by winning a close first set, 25-23. UVa jumped out to an early 12-5 lead, punctuated by one of Adams’ seven kills in the set. Wake battled back to knot the score at 18 on a block by Kristen White and Andrea Beck, and the score was tied at 19, 20 and 21 before UVa scored consecutive points to grab a 23-21 lead. Wake pulled within 24-23 before an Adams kill sealed the set.
Wake Forest got off to a better start in the second set, taking an early 7-6 lead before the Cavaliers started firing on all cylinders with six-straight points to grab a 12-6 advantage. The Demon Deacons closed to within four, 12-8, but got no closer as Virginia cruised the rest of the way in a nine-point set win. Adams had seven kills in the set, while junior Simone Asque added four as the Cavaliers hit .281 in the set compared to just .065 for Wake.
The third set was nip-and-tuck early, although the Cavaliers never trailed. UVa held a slim 14-13 lead before rattling off 11 of the final 18 points in the match to take the final set, 25-18, and the match, 3-0.
Virginia continues its road swing at 7 p.m. Saturday at Duke.