CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia volleyball team (8-16, 1-13 ACC) travels to Wake Forest (13-12, 4-10 ACC) Friday night for a 7 p.m. match before returning to Memorial Gymnasium to host North Carolina (18-7, 7-7 ACC) on Sunday at 3 p.m. UVA, which has faced every other ACC team once this season, will take on both the Demon Deacons and Tar Heels in rematches this weekend. The Cavaliers collected their first and only ACC victory in a four-set win at North Carolina (Sept. 26), but fell to Wake Forest in three-set home match on Oct. 31.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION

  • Sunday’s match against the Tar Heels is scheduled to broadcast on RSN and stream on ACCNX (subject to blackout).
  • 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

  • The Cavaliers lead the all-time series 28-25 over Wake Forest … Virginia lost its previous matchup (23-25, 27-25, 20-25, 23-25) against the Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem, N.C. in the 2019 regular-season finale.
  • UVA trails in the all-time series against North Carolina, 16-51 … The Cavaliers’ last win over UNC in Mem Gym was in a 30-15, 30-24, 30-27 sweep on Oct. 14, 2007.

LAST TIME OUT

  • Last weekend, Virginia dropped both of its contests to Boston College on Friday and Syracuse on Sunday … In a combined seven sets played last weekend, UVA was out-scored 191-170, just a three-point differential per set (on average) between the Cavaliers and their opponents.
  • Grace Turner collected her first double-double of the season after posting 15 kills and 12 digs against Boston College … The Cavaliers also received a strong performance from Alana Walker, who notched a season-high 13 kills, hit .462 and posted a match-high eight blocks.
  • The Cavaliers out-blocked Boston College 13.0 to 5.0, marking the 15th match this season UVA has led an opponent in blocks.

 BLOCK PARTY

  • Virginia is currently 15th in the nation and second in the ACC in blocks per set (2.65) … The only other team in the ACC that averages more than 2.65 blocks per set is Louisville (2.87), which is currently third in the nation.
  • UVA has led its opponents in blocks in 15 of its 24 matches played this season and has a winning record of 8-7 when out-blocking its opponents.

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

  • Alana Walker is currently second in the nation and leads the ACC in blocks per set (1.49) … Walker is also seventh in the nation and first in the ACC in total blocks (127).
  • Walker, the daughter of former NBA All-Star Antoine Walker, is also 20th in career blocks among active Division I players with 460 total blocks.
  • 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 … Walker, a graduate transfer from Northwestern, set a career-high 11 blocks against Indiana (Nov. 23, 2018) while playing for the Wildcats.
  • Walker is the only player on Virginia’s 2021 roster that was signed by Wells and her staff.

 (GR)ACE TURNER

  • Grace Turner is tied for 10th in the ACC in aces per set (0.31) and ninth in 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 Nov. 10, Turner is the only player in the ACC this season to record at least two five-ace performances.