Sometimes making history can look pretty routine. For the Virginia volleyball team, it all began Saturday night against Miami when junior setter Emily Kirkwood handled a pass from her back row, setting up her younger sister Sarah for a kill along the right side -- a move the two have pulled off dozens of times this season and thousands of times in practice. But this time, as Sarah slammed the ball off Miami's blockers and into the rafters, it went straight into the record books.
With her fifth kill of the night, the outside hitter from Tampa, Fla. became the first sophomore in ACC history to reach 1,000 career kills. In the 52-year history of the conference, no player has ever reached the milestone faster than the 19-year old Echols scholar.
Perhaps most telling of all, Kirkwood found out about the record at the same time as the rest of the crowd at Memorial Gymnasium -- and was the first person to shrug it off.
"I had no idea I was even close," Kirkwood said. "I didn't even know until they made the announcement. It feels good, but really, it's just another number."
Maybe so, but after two years of seeing Kirkwood lead by example, coach Melissa Aldrich Shelton has high praise for her outside hitter.
"[Sarah's milestone] is impressive, especially when you consider she's the first sophomore in ACC history to reach 1,000," Shelton said. "It's a testament to how hard she works and how much she wants to win."
Against the Hurricanes, that will to win seemed contagious. After a dominating first game, the Cavaliers held on for a strong finish, beating Miami 3-0.
Though Kirkwood might have made the record books, Virginia's undisputed star on the floor Saturday was sophomore Katie Oakes. The middle from Lorton, Va. paced the team with a match-high 14 kills and a .545 hitting percentage, not to mention a career-best nine blocks.
"Katie Oakes legitimately had the blocking game of her life," Kirkwood said. "It was amazing. We knew that Miami was going to be big, and they're a good blocking team, so we knew that we had to honor their blocks and not try to swing into it."
The Cavaliers also took the match into their own hands from the service line, slamming 14 aces to the Hurricane's five.
"Our serving was on tonight, and when our serving is on, there's not a team in the ACC that can beat us," Kirkwood said.
Virginia's victory over Miami comes on the heels of a hard-fought 3-2 win over Florida State Friday night, highlighted by freshman Shannon Davis's career-high 22 kills. In both matches, the Cavaliers were able to finish strong down the stretch, in contrast to their endurance struggles earlier in the season.
"I like our pace," Shelton said. "I like our evenness and our maturity on the court. I feel like we're peaking at the right time and playing really well, and I'm so proud of our girls for taking it through tonight."
Between Kirkwood's kill milestone and career-best matches by Davis and Oakes, the Cavaliers seem to be pacing themselves just about right.
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