Francis Fires Virginia to Sweep of Lehigh

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Freshman Jayna Francis (Virginia Beach, Va.) floored 14 kills to lead Virginia (6-5) to a 25-14, 25-17, 25-18, sweep of Lehigh (6-7) on Friday (Sept. 20) night in Memorial Gymnasium.
 
Francis hit .281 on the outside and was joined in double-digits by junior Sarah Billiard (Matthews, N.C.), who racked up 10 kills in the win. The Cavaliers hit .284 as a team and posted a stellar 77-percent sideout rate.
 
Lehigh was paced by Sabrina Lancaster with six kills. Ava Hudson added another five, but Virginia stymied the Mountain Hawks to a .097 hitting percentage. Friday evening marked the fourth time this season the Cavaliers have held an opponent below .100 hitting.
 
Set 1: Virginia 25-14
Virginia raced out to a 7-1 lead behind two early kills from Francis and back-to-back aces from Jelena Novakovic (Belgrade, Serbia). Novakovic added a pair of kills and a third ace while Francis finished the frame with four kills. Billiard also floored four kills for the Cavaliers, who hit .323 as a team to run away with the set.
 
Virginia held Lehigh to negative-.042 hitting in the opening frame.
 
Set 2: Virginia 25-17
After trading points to 6-6 early in the set, Virginia went on a 6-1 run to seize control. Francis sparked the run, which included kills from five different Cavaliers. Moments later, another Francis termination was followed by a Milla Ciprian (St. John’s, Fla.) ace to ignite a 4-0 run and give Virginia an 18-10 advantage.
 
After Lehigh pulled within 19-14, Virginia closed the frame with a 6-3 run. Ciprian put away the set with back-to-back kills.
 
Set 3: Virginia 25-18
A 4-0 run for Virginia gave the Cavaliers a 9-6 lead and forced a Lehigh timeout. Megan Wilson (Brookville, Md.) rolled an ace off the tape to key the run. Virginia slowly extended its lead behind five kills in the set from Christine Jarman (Boynton Beach, Fla.). Jennifer Wineholt (San Diego, Calif.) added a pair of kills on two swings off the right side, as the Cavaliers closed out the sweep with a 25-18 frame.
 
QUICK HITS
• Francis’ 14 kills are the second most of the season for the freshman.
• Four Cavaliers – Francis (14), Billiard (10), Jarman (6) and Novakovic (6) recorded five or more kills.
• Libero Kelsey Miller (Crestwood, Ky.) picked up 18 digs.
• Kristen Leland (Dallas, Texas) added a career-high 11 digs.
 
UP NEXT
Virginia returns to action with a pair of matches on Saturday (Sept. 21). The Cavaliers open the day at 10 a.m. against Elon before taking on UNCG at 6:30 p.m.