The Virginia volleyball team disposed of the two worst teams in the ACC this weekend in workmanlike fashion to extend their games-won streak to nine, and take their third straight match.
The Cavaliers (15-6, 8-3 ACC) first swept last-place Florida State 15-8, 15-13, 15-5 Friday. Twenty-four hours later, Virginia returned to University Hall to meet the second-to-last Blue Devils, who also fell victim to the Cavs, 19-17, 15-10, 15-12.
The wins solidify the Cavs' third-place spot in the standings. They are one-and-a-half games behind North Carolina and Clemson, who have identical 9-1 ACC records.
Though the matches didn't have the standing implications of last week's sweep of fourth-place Wake Forest, the Cavaliers were satisfied with avoiding a shocking upset and boosting their Conference record.
"It's two ACC wins," fourth-year setter Mary Frances Scott said. "That's all that matters. Any team can beat any team any day of the week. The fact that we have two more wins under our belt is a plus for us. It doesn't matter where they are in the bracket. They can be first or last, it's still an ACC win."
In Friday's defeat of the Seminoles (8-14, 1-8), the Cavaliers' front line shined. Middle blockers Jessica Parsons and Deanna Zwarich both registered 15 kills, while fellow mid Andrea Fischer contributed with 12 kills on a .500 hitting percentage.
The star of the night, though, was Scott, who moved into third-place on the ACC all-time assist list. Her 51 assists gave the Phoenix native 5,519 and moved her past Carolina alum Erin Berg. After 36 assists against Duke, she needs only 197 to take second place.
"We served really well," Cavalier Coach Melissa Aldrich Shelton said. "Florida State has had a problem passing all year, and we took advantage of that. We were able to execute our offensive plan. We set when we wanted to set and Mary did a good job of executing when we asked her to, and our middles had a phenomenal match."
While the defending Conference champion Seminoles only challenged the Cavs in the early stages their match, Duke (9-11, 3-7) battled the Cavaliers for every point and every side-out Saturday.
In the first game, the Blue Devils came out of the locker room roaring. They extended an early lead to 14-7 before the Cavs used five service aces to tie the game at 14 - eventually prevailing 19-17.
The third game was equally competitive. After Virginia jumped on the Devils en route to a 14-2 lead, Duke roared back thanks to four straight service aces by outside hitter Ashley Harris.
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