Virginia Opens Road Trip at No. 23 Florida State, Miami
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (9-6, 1-1 ACC) heads to No. 23 Florida State (8-3, 2-0 ACC) and Miami (6-4, 2-0 ACC) to open a four-match road trip. The Cavaliers challenge the Seminoles on Friday (Oct. 4) at 6:30 p.m. before taking on Miami on Sunday (Oct. 6) in a 1 p.m. first serve.
GAME COVERAGE
Both matches will air on ACCNX. ACCNX streams via the ESPN App and is available to authenticated subscribers of ACC Network. Links for the live stream and in-game live stats are available on VirginiaSports.com.
SERIES HISTORY
Florida State owns a 40-14 all-time edge against Virginia. The Cavaliers have dropped 11 in-a-row to the Seminoles with the last victory coming in 2010 against an FSU squad ranked No. 25 in the polls. Virginia’s last victory in Tallahassee came in 2006.
Virginia trails the all-time series against Miami 15-10. The Cavaliers once led the series but the Hurricanes have captured the last six meetings. Virginia has not won in Miami since 2007.
ON THE RISE
Virginia enters the weekend at 9-6 overall, marking the first time the Cavaliers have entered October above .500 since 2015. That season, Virginia started 9-4 overall and went on to finish the year at 18-13 and 10-10 in ACC action.
With its win over Virginia Tech on Sept. 27, Virginia also notched its first ACC win on opening weekend since the 2015 campaign.
MILLER MOVES INTO TOP 10
Senior libero Kelsey Miller (Crestwood, Ky.) has jumped into the top 10 all-time at Virginia in career digs after racking up 20 against Virginia Tech. With her eighth dig of the match, Miller surpassed Courtney Stanton for 10th all-time.
The four-year starter now has 1,311 digs. She needs 45 more to reach ninth-place Mary Frances Scott. At her current pace, Miller could become just the sixth Cavalier to ever record 1,500 career digs.
CONQUERING CLASH
Virginia leveled the all-time series against rival Virginia Tech with its 3-1 victory over the Hokies on Friday night (Sept. 27). Four Cavaliers finished the match with double-digit kills, marking the first occurrence this season. Virginia has not had four players in double figures since the last meeting with Virginia Tech in 2018.
The Cavaliers have now captured back-to-back meetings against the Hokies for the first time since 2013-14.
MATTI MAGIC
Freshman Mattison Matthews (Charleston, S.C.) posted a career-high 12 kills in Virginia’s win over Virginia Tech. The dozen terminations are the most by a Virginia middle since Chino Anukwuem put down 15 against the Hokies in 2017.
Matthews currently ranks fourth in the ACC with a .413 hitting percentage. The single-season record at Virginia is .404 set by Beth Brockell in 1988.
ACE UP THE SLEEVE
Don’t blink when senior Jelena Novakovic (Belgrade, Serbia) steps back to the service line. The southpaw has uncorked 29 aces this season, just one shy of her career-best mark. This season, Novakovic has three matches with five or more service aces and another three matches with a trio of winners.
Novakovic served up a career-high seven aces in Virginia’s win over College of Charleston. The senior floored an eye-popping five aces as part of a 10-0 run to open an 11-1 lead in the first set. The total is tied for third in program history, as Novakovic became the first to reach seven aces since Kayla Sears’ record-tying nine aces in 2015.
Her 29 aces lead the ACC and rank 12th nationally.
UP NEXT
Virginia’s road swing continues as the Cavaliers travel to Boston College and Syracuse in ACC action next weekend.