Virginia Welcomes No. 18 Georgia Tech, Clemson This Weekend

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia volleyball team (8-6, 1-3 ACC) returns to Memorial Gymnasium this weekend to host No. 18 Georgia Tech (11-3, 2-2 ACC) on Friday at 7 p.m. and Clemson (10-5, 2-2 ACC) on Sunday at 1 p.m. 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

• Both matches are slated to stream on ACCNX from Mem Gym.
• 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

• Georgia Tech leads the all-time series, 22-39, and has won the last four matchups against the Cavaliers.
• The last time the Virginia defeated the Yellow Jackets was in a four-set win in Mem Gym on Nov. 4, 2017.
• Clemson leads the all-time series, 23-43 … Most recently, both teams split their pair of matchups with each other in 2019.

 LAST TIME OUT

• Virginia fell in three sets (17-25, 23-25, 20-25) against Duke on Sunday (Oct. 3).
• The Cavaliers were led by Brooklyn Borum, who tied for a match-high nine kills on 31 swings and added a team-high seven digs.
• In its ACC home opener against the Blue Devils, UVA was out-blocked by their opponent for just the third time this season as Duke posted nine rejections to UVA’s eight.

 A BATTLE OF TWO FIRST-YEAR COACHES IN THE ACC

• Virginia’s Shannon Wells and Clemson’s Jackie Simpson-Kirr are both in their first year as head coach at their respective institutions.
• Wells and Simpson-Kirr are the only two coaches in the ACC that are brand new to the league as head coaches.
• Wells and Simpson-Kirr have a combined record of 18-11 (.621) this season.
• Simpson-Kirr was previously the head coach at George Mason University from 2015-16 … She was also the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Clemson from 2017-21 before being elevated to head coach on May 6, 2021.

 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.

 HOT START

• With an overall record of 8-4, Virginia recorded its best start through its first 12 matches of the season since 2015.
• In 2015, the Cavaliers finished with an overall record of 18-13 and went 10-10 in ACC play.

 BLOCK PARTY

• Virginia is currently eighth in the nation and second in the ACC in blocks per set (2.98).
• UVA has led its opponents in blocks in 11 of its first 14 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 87 total blocks on the season, good for 1.74 per set … Walker is currently third in the nation in blocks per set and second in total blocks … She also leads the ACC in both categories.
• Walker tied her career high of 11 blocks in UVA’s four-set win at North Carolina (Sept. 26) … While playing for Northwestern, Walker set a career-high 11 blocks against Indiana (Nov. 23, 2018).

 ALANA WALKER, ONE OF THE NCAA’S ACTIVE CAREER LEADERS IN BLOCKS

• Virginia middle blocker Alana Walker is currently 21st among the NCAA’s D-I active leaders in career kills (420).
• Amongst her peers in the ACC, Walker currently trails only Louisville’s Anna Stevenson and Boston College’s Amaka Chukwujekwu in career blocks.

 (GR)ACE TURNER

• Virginia senior Grace Turner is currently second in the ACC in aces per set (0.50), which is also good for 28th in the nation, and total aces (25).
• 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. 6, Turner is the only player in the ACC this season to record at least two five-ace performances.