The Virginia volleyball team started its 2004 season off with a bang last night at Memorial Gymnasium. The Cavaliers dominated William & Mary on the way to a three game sweep (30-16, 30-17, 30-15) of the more experienced Tribe.
"We played great," Virginia coach Melissa Aldrich Shelton said. "I'm really pleased with how we opened up... our offense was fantastic."
The Cavaliers dominated the match from the opening game, starting things off with a four-point run. The Tribe battled back with a five-point rally to take their lone lead of the first game at 5-4. After that point, William & Mary was not able to score more than two consecutive points.
"We always knew that defense was going to be one of strengths," senior co-captain Alexis Geocaris said. "We always wanted to be a scrappy team, and we were hoping that our offense would just follow from that."
The hopes of the Cavaliers were answered in the form of freshman Sarah Kirkwood. The outside hitter from Tampa, Fla. led all scorers with 22 kills, including eight in the first game alone. Kirkwood's older sister, Emily, helped lead the Cavalier offense with 14 assists in the game.
"Emily and I kind of work as a team," Sarah Kirkwood said. "She's a little bit more passive, whereas I'm little bit more outspoken."
Virginia almost blew a five-point lead early in the second game, as the Tribe rallied to within one point, 10-9. But the Cavaliers maintained their focus and went on a 10-2 run to take control of the game.
"It's nice to know that we can keep our composure, and that when things do get a little bit out of control we know where we can get back to," Geocaris said.
The Cavalier defense was anchored by junior co-captain Kristin Chaney, who had five of her team-leading 14 digs in the second game. The Cavalier offense was also clicking in the second game. They posted a team hitting percentage of .400 with 20 team kills.
The third game began with the Tribe taking only their second lead of the night, 2-0, before Virginia rallied off five consecutive points to take the lead for good. The Kirkwood sisters again paced the Cavalier offense as Sarah added 8 kills and Emily set 14 of her match-high 43 assists. Geocaris also added three of her 10 kills in the final frame to help secure the win for the Cavaliers.
Last night's win was important for the young Virginia team. It played three freshmen in addition to Sarah Kirkwood, and they all contributed. Katie Oakes had a kill and a block in the first game, Melissa Caldwell added four kills in the second game, and Meghan O'Leary played in all three games and took over the important libero position in the second game.
"I'm really pleased how well we played, especially on the first day of class and especially because it can be overwhelming for the freshmen," Shelton said.
The standout freshman last night was Kirkwood, who had a .559 hitting percentage and a match-high three aces.
"I was really nervous ... I had been getting antsy to play," Kirkwood said. "It took the first couple of points, and then I started to relax and remember that this is the same game I had been playing since I was 10 or 11."
The Cavaliers had only 10 errors in the game compared to 22 for William & Mary and held the Tribe to a .096 hitting percentage.
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