Virginia Hosts Duke in ACC Home Opener on Sunday

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia volleyball team (8-5, 1-2 ACC) returns to Memorial Gymnasium to host Duke (10-4, 1-2 ACC) on Sunday. First serve is set for 3 p.m. ET. Sunday’s contest against the Blue Devils is slated to air on ACC Network. Admission to all 2021 Virginia volleyball regular-season home matches is free to the public. Face coverings are required and must be worn at all times.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION

• Paul Sunderland (play-by-play) and Salima Rockwell (analyst) will have the call live on ACC Network.
• Live stats can be accessed on the Cavalier volleyball schedule page on com.
• Fans can also get updates by following Virginia Volleyball’s official Twitter account (@UVAVolleyball).

 SERIES HISTORY

• Duke leads the all-time series, 14-56, and has won the last eight contests.
• The last time the Virginia defeated the Blue Devils was on Sept. 25, 2015, in a four-set (25-17, 25-17, 21-25, 25-23) victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
• The first-ever meeting between the two teams was on Nov. 5, 1982, in UVA’s fourth season as a program … Duke won the inaugural matchup, 8-15, 7-15, 13-15, in Durham, North Carolina.

 LAST TIME OUT

• Virginia fell in three sets (19-25, 15-25, 15-25) at No. 2 Pitt on Wednesday evening.
• The Cavaliers were led by Mary Shaffer, who posted six kills, two blocks and hit .235. Securing its 13th win of the season, Pitt is currently one of three unbeaten teams in the nation.
• Wednesday’s contest marked just the eighth matchup against top-5 opponent in Virginia volleyball program history.

SHAFFER’S DUKE CONNECTION

• Mary Shaffer’s mother, Janie Shaffer (formerly Janie Borcherding), was a four-time letter winner in volleyball at Duke from 1990-93.
• Shaffer, an outside hitter for the Blue Devils, also won three consecutive ACC championships from 1991-93.
• Shaffer is currently ninth all-time in aces per set (0.35) and 16th in total aces (101).
• Shaffer is the only player in Duke history to record at least 14 aces in one match, which she achieved as a freshman against Mercer in 1990.
• She also owns the freshman record for aces per set (0.62), also good for third overall all-time.

 ON THE FAST TRACK

• With an overall record of 8-5 through its first 13 matches, Virginia is off to its best start since the 2015 season, when the Cavaliers finished with an overall record of 18-13 and went 10-10 in ACC play.

 VIRGINIA IS UNDEFEATED WHEN

• Virginia is 6-0 when leading its opponents in kills and 7-0 when leading in hitting percentage.
• The Cavaliers are 6-0 this season when winning the first set.
• UVA is 5-0 when holding its opponents to a hitting percentage of .150 or below.

 BLOCK PARTY

• Virginia is currently sixth in the nation and second in the ACC in blocks per set (3.00).
• UVA has led its opponents in blocks in 11 of its first 13 matches of the season and has an 8-3 record when out-blocking its opponents.
• Middle blocker Alana Walker has led UVA’s defensive effort with a team-best 83 total blocks on the season, good for 1.77 per set … Walker is currently fourth in the nation in blocks per set and total blocks and leads the ACC in both categories.
• Last weekend, Walker tied her career high of 11 blocks in UVA’s four-set win at UNC … While playing for Northwestern, Walker set a career-high 11 blocks against Indiana (Nov. 23, 2018).

(GR)ACE TURNER

• Virginia senior Grace Turner currently leads the ACC in total aces (25) and aces per set (0.55), both of which are also good for 20th in the nation.
• Turner tallied a career-best five aces, also the most by any UVA player in a single match this season, in the Cavaliers’ sweep over Hofstra (Aug. 28) and five-set win over Akron (Sept. 3).
• As of Oct. 1, Turner is the only player in the ACC this season to record at least two five-ace performances.