Last season the Virginia volleyball team went 7-1 in its second run through the ACC competition, helping the Cavaliers take second place in the Conference. This year's Cavs posted a strong start to the second half of their ACC campaign, downing Wake Forest in a 3-0 (15-12, 15-7, 15-7) sweep last night at University Hall.
With the victory, Virginia (13-6, 6-3 ACC) assumed sole possession of third place in the ACC.
"This is an excellent win," middle blocker Jessica Parsons said. "We knew coming in this was a huge turning point in our ACC schedule."
"That's the team we were tied with," Cavalier Coach Melissa Aldrich Shelton said. "It's great to beat Wake because we always have trouble with them on the road."
Wake Forest defeated Virginia 3-1 Oct. 9 in Winston-Salem and looked poised to take an early advantage on the Cavs in the first game. The Deacons (18-6, 5-4) led 12-8, but the Cavaliers scored the next seven points to take a pivotal 1-0 lead.
Parsons led the way during this stretch, connecting on one block and three of her 10 kills.
"We came out slow and kind of hesitant," Shelton said. "Then we kind of got going. Our defense kept us in the game."
The Virginia defense kept Wake Forest stymied in each of the last two games. The Cavs leapt out to a 10-2 lead in the second game and coasted to the 15-7 win.
Then, in what proved to be the final game of the match, the Cavaliers leapt out to an 8-1 advantage. The Deacons rallied back to come within four points at 11-7, but Virginia finished things off, notching the last four points of the match. Middle blocker Deanna Zwarich tallied the match-winning point with a blistering kill off the assist from setter Mary Frances Scott.
Parsons and Zwarich each had 10 kills to fuel the Cavalier victory. Parsons also led Virginia in digs with 15 and had a pair of service aces. Scott had 32 assists and needs only 46 more to capture third place on the all-time ACC assists list.
Parsons and Zwarich's big effort up front was the result of more offense from outside hitters Katie Jones and Whitney Bilger in recent matches.
"Our offense was spread out more in the last couple," Parsons said. "With Whitney and Katie playing well, it makes our offense more potent, but it's also easier for the middles to get an opening."
Wake's Trina Maso de Moya had 12 kills to pace the Deacs in the losing effort, but defensive adjustments by the Cavs made Maso de Moya a virtual non-factor in the last two games of the match.
"Part of that is our serving, and just getting our serves in the right zone of their court," Scott said. "We blocked her pretty well. She had her kills but we played better defense."
The victory gives the Cavaliers tremendous momentum as they continue in their march through the ACC gauntlet.
Up next, Virginia welcomes Duke and Florida State to U-Hall this weekend for a pair of Conference tilts. Following that contest, Virginia has only one more home match, against Maryland Nov. 6.
"This win just sets us up for a wonderful home weekend," Parsons said.
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