Volleyball Competes in Baylor Classic This Weekend

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Sept. 15, 2016

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia volleyball team (3-6) closes out the non-conference schedule at the Baylor Classic on Friday and Saturday at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas.

Virginia opens the tournament on Friday night against tournament-host Baylor at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT. The Cavaliers play Washington State at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT and College of Charleston at 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT on Saturday.

Live stats for all three matches will be available on VirginiaSports.com. Live streaming (subscription required) will be available for the Baylor match on Friday night.

Last weekend, UVA fell to Saint Louis, 3-2, Kentucky, 3-0, and Marquette, 3-0, in the Bluegrass Battle. Freshman Chino Anukwuem (East Hanover, N.J.) had a breakout match against Saint Louis, recording 10 kills with no errors for a .833 hitting percentage and adding seven blocks. Anukwuem led UVA in blocks in all three matches, finishing with 14 total.

Senior Haley Kole (Tallahassee, Fla.) is leading the Cavaliers with 89 kills to average 2.78 kills per set on the year. Kole has tallied double-digit kills in five matches. Anukwuem is leading the team with 1.20 blocks per set and fellow freshman Kiley Banker (West Lafayette, Ind.) is adding 0.94 blocks per set with a team-best 29 on the season.

Baylor (7-4) has won three-straight matches entering this weekend’s tournament. The Bears most recently defeated LSU, 3-0. Katie Staiger leads the offense with 5.86 kills per set to rank second in the NCAA. Three players are averaging 1.00 blocks or more per set, led by Camryn Freiberg with 1.32 per set. This will be the first meeting between UVA and Baylor.

Washington State (8-1) has won seven-consecutive matches with four-straight sweeps heading into the weekend. The Cougars rank fifth in the nation in opponent hitting percentage (.116) and are seventh in blocks per set (3.23). Kyra Holt leads the attack with 3.67 kills per set, while Hailey Bethune is fourth nationally in hitting percentage (.469). This will be the second meeting between Virginia and Washington State. The Cougars won the only other meeting, 3-1, on Sept. 12, 1992.

College of Charleston (6-3) has won four-straight matches, topping VCU, 3-1, Charleston Southern, 3-1, and Eastern Michigan, 3-1, at home last weekend. Lauren Freed leads with 3.36 kills per set and setter Allison Beckman is dishing out 10.83 assists per set to lead the Colonial Athletics Association. The series between the Cavaliers and CofC is tied, 1-1, with the Cougars winning the most recent matchup 3-2 on Sept. 6, 2002.

Following this weekend, Virginia will return home to open ACC play. The Cavaliers host Wake Forest on Sept. 23 and Duke on Sept. 24 in Memorial Gymnasium.