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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Following four consecutive matches at home, Virginia volleyball (5-11, 1-5 ACC) returns to the road to face North Carolina State (8-8, 2-4 ACC) on Friday, Oct. 12 at 6 p.m. and North Carolina (5-10, 1-5 ACC) on Sunday, Oct. 14 at 1 p.m.
GAME COVERAGE
Friday’s match at NC State will be nationally televised on ESPNU. A live stream will also be available on WatchESPN and the ESPN app.
Sunday’s contest at UNC will air on ACC Network Extra, which is available to authenticated subscribers of ESPN3 through WatchESPN and the ESPN app. Fans can also get in-game updates on the match’s live stats feed on VirginiaSports.com and on volleyball’s official twitter feed (@UVAVolleyball).
VIRGINIA VS. NC STATE
• Virginia and NC State meet for the 67th time on Friday, with the Wolfpack holding a 39-27 advantage in the series.
• The last five meetings are 3-2 in favor of Virginia.
• NC State has won back-to-back matchups in the series, including a 3-0 victory in 2017.
• This is the third consecutive season the Cavaliers will trek to Raleigh.
VIRGINIA VS. UNC
• Sunday’s match marks the 63rd in the UVA-UNC series with the Tar Heels leading 48-14.
• UNC has won 15 consecutive meetings dating back to 2008.
• The last five matches have all been 3-0 victories for UNC.
LAST TIME OUT
• Virginia earned its first ACC win of the season in a five-set thriller over Boston College on Friday night.
• The Cavaliers rejected 19 Eagle attacks, the most since 2007 and the eighth most in school history.
• Three Cavaliers (Sarah Billiard, Grace Turner and Jelena Novakovic) finished with 15 or more kills in the victory. It was the first time since Sept. 19, 2015, that three Virginia players finished with 15 or more kills.
• In Sunday’s match against Syracuse, the Cavaliers held a 43-41 advantage in kills but 27 errors proved costly in a 3-0 loss.
CLUTCH CIPRIAN
• First-year middle blocker Milla Ciprian (St. John’s, Fla.) continued her run of stellar play with one of the best performances in school history on Friday night. Ciprian racked up 13 total blocks and added nine kills to lead the Cavaliers over Boston College.
• Her 13 blocks (3 solo, 10 assists) were the third most by a single player in Virginia history.
•The massive total is also the second most by a first year, dating to 1989 when Kara Warner had 22 blocks against West Virginia.
• With the Cavaliers facing match point at 14-13 in the fifth, Ciprian hammered home a slide to even the score. The next play she recorded her 13th block of the night to give Virginia a 15-14 lead as part of a 3-0 run to earn the victory.
TURN(ER) IT ON
• A strong defensive performance featuring a career-high 14 digs against Miami seems to have sparked freshman Grace Turner (Cincinnati, Ohio).
• In the week to follow, she recorded her first collegiate double-double with 15 kills and another 14 digs in the win over BC.
• She closed the weekend with another 13 kills and eight digs against Syracuse.
• The BC and Syracuse matches were the first time the freshman has recorded consecutive matches with double-digit kills.
• Turner’s 2.50 kills per set are second on the team.
NOTING NC STATE
• Melissa Evans paces the Wolfpack with 224 kills on the season. Her 3.56 kills per set are eighth in the league this season.
• Middle blocker Lauryn Terry sits eighth in the ACC with a .350 hitting percentage this season.
• Libero Makenzie Kuchmaner is second in the ACC with 4.60 digs per set.
• Setter Kylie Pickrell ranks 49th in the country and third in the ACC with 10.57 assists per set.
• NC State’s 15.4 digs per set are the second most in the ACC.
NOTING UNC
• Destiny Cox leads the tar Heels with 189 kills, averaging 3.50 per set.
• Skylar Wine and Ava Bell each chip in better the two kills per set as well.
• UNC has dropped three consecutive matches and will face No. 6 Pitt on Friday prior to hosting the Cavaliers.
• The Tar Heels allow opponents to hit .246, the highest mark in the ACC.
UP NEXT
Virginia returns home to host No. 22 Louisville and Notre Dame next Friday (Oct. 19) and Sunday (Oct. 21), respectively.