Virginia Travels to No. 2 Louisville, Notre Dame This Weekend

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia volleyball team (8-10, 1-7 ACC) travels to No. 2 Louisville (18-0, 8-0 ACC) on Friday and Notre Dame (8-10, 5-3 ACC) on Sunday. Friday’s contest against the second-ranked Cardinals is set for 7 p.m., while Sunday’s matchup against the Fighting Irish is scheduled for 1 p.m.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION

• Both matches are set to stream on ACCNX.
• Live stats can be accessed on the Cavalier volleyball schedule page on VirginiaSports.com.
• Fans can also get updates by following Virginia Volleyball’s official Twitter account (@UVAVolleyball).

 SERIES HISTORY

• Louisville leads the all-time series, 8-3, and is riding a four-match win streak over the Cavaliers … Virginia’s last win over the Cardinals was on Nov. 11, 2016, when it swept Louisville on the road.
• Notre Dame leads the all-time series, 5-5, and is riding a five-match win streak over the Cavaliers … Virginia’s last win over the Fighting Irish was two days after its most recent win over Louisville on Nov. 13, 2016 in Notre Dame, Indiana.

 LAST TIME OUT

• Virginia dropped both of its matchups, 3-0, at Florida State (Oct. 15) and Miami (Oct 17) last weekend.
• Freshman outside hitter Brooklyn Borum shined in Cavaliers’ match against the Hurricanes as she tallied her fifth double-double of the season after posting 11 kills and 12 digs in just three sets.

 THE CAVALIERS’ GRUELING SLATE

• UVA’s match at No. 2 Louisville on Friday marks the fourth AVCA top-25 coaches poll opponent of the season.
• It also marks the third top-5 opponent the Cavaliers will face this season, having faced then-No. 4 Ohio State on Sept. 11 and then-No. 2 Pitt on Sept. 29.
• With Friday’s contest, Virginia will have played all three of its top-5 opponents on the road.
• The Cavaliers also squared off against then-No. 18 Georgia Tech in Memorial Gymnasium on Oct. 8.

 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.

 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 seventh in the nation and second in the ACC in blocks per set (2.83) … The only other team in the ACC that averages more than 2.83 blocks per set is Louisville (2.97), which is currently fifth in the nation in blocks per set.
• UVA has led its opponents in blocks in 13 of its first 18 matches of the season and has an 8-5 record when out-blocking its opponents.

 ALANA WALKER, ONE OF THE NATION’S BEST MIDDLE BLOCKERS

• Virginia middle blocker Alana Walker is currently second in the nation and leads the ACC in blocks per set (1.64) … Walker is also third in the nation and first in the ACC in total blocks (105).
• Walker, the daughter of former NBA All-Star Antoine Walker, is also 19th in career blocks – with 438 total blocks – among active Division I players.
• Walker has tied her career high of 11 blocks on two occasions this season, most recently in UVA’s five-set match against Clemson (Oct. 10) … However, Walker also notched 11 rejections in the Cavaliers’ four-set win at North Carolina (Sept. 26), which was also the first ACC win of the Shannon Wells era … While playing for Northwestern, Walker set a career-high 11 blocks against Indiana (Nov. 23, 2018).
• Walker, a graduate transfer from Northwestern, is the only player on UVA’s 2021 roster that was signed by Wells.

 (GR)ACE TURNER

• Virginia senior outside hitter Grace Turner is currently third in the ACC in aces per set (0.41) total aces (26).
• Turner tallied a career-best five aces, 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. 21, Turner is the only player in the ACC this season to record at least two five-ace performances.

 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.