Virginia Treks to Liberty for First Midweek Match
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia volleyball team (4-5) begins a four-match week with a Tuesday (Sept. 11) trip to Liberty (2-7). The match against the Flames will air on ESPN+ with first serve set for 6 p.m.
The Cavaliers are coming off a 2-1 weekend in the Jefferson Cup. Sarah Billiard (Matthews, N.C.) and Jelena Novakovic (Belgrade, Serbia) earned all-tournament honors for Virginia. Billiard racked up 55 kills, including a career-best 25 to cap the weekend in a 3-1 win over George Mason. Novakovic caught fire at the service line, racking up 10 aces over the three matches.
Links to live stats and the ESPN+ ($) broadcast are available on VirginiaSports.com.
SERIES HISTORY
• Virginia holds a commanding 31-3 advantage in the series with the Flames.
• The Cavaliers have won 31 of the past 32 meetings against Liberty.
• The Flames lone win in the streak was in Virginia’s last visit to Lynchburg in 2014. Liberty claimed a 25-23, 21-25, 22-25, 25-22, 15-13 victory.
• Virginia’s 31 victories over Liberty are the second most for the Cavaliers against a single opponent (35 vs. Virginia Tech).
BILLIARD’S BEST
• One week after setting a career high with 21 kills in a victory over Northern Kentucky, the sophomore blew past that mark with 25 kills in the Cavaliers’ victory over George Mason.
• The outside hit .417, averaging better than six kills per set in the match.
• Through nine matches, Billiard already has 154 kills and leads the ACC in total kills.
• Her 4.05 kills per set average would rank seventh in Virginia single-season history.
WILSON WITH THE HELP
• Sophomore setter Megan Wilson (Brookeville, Md.) has helped the Virginia attack hit over .300 in three of the past four matches.
• In Sunday’s victory over George Mason, she set a new career best with 55 assists while setting the Cavaliers to a .360 hitting percentage.
• Wilson ranks fifth in the ACC with 9.77 assists per set.
A NEW ACE
• Virginia amassed 21 service aces over the weekend with 10 of those off the hand of Novakovic.
• In Virginia’s match against UNCW, Novakovic rifled six aces to become only the 11th Cavalier to hit the mark in the rally scoring era.
• The six aces are the second most in a five-set match by a Cavalier since 2001.
MEET MILLA
• In her first career start, freshman Milla Ciprian left quite the impression with a 10-kill day against George Mason.
• Ciprian hit .412 (10-3-17) in the match and added a pair of blocks.
• She also picked up two digs to cap her first significant action with the Hoos.
UP NEXT
Virginia continues its road trip at the VCU Invitational on Friday and Saturday. The Cavaliers will open the weekend against the Rams on Friday (Sept. 14) evening at 7 p.m.