BLACKSBURG – Coming off a 3-0 win on Senior Day, the Virginia Tech volleyball team will head to Charlottesville for its second matchup of the season with Virginia on Friday at Memorial Gym.
The match will begin at 7 p.m. ET on ACC Network Extra and the WatchESPN app. The Hokies (14-12, 5-9 ACC) got the best of the Cavaliers (7-17, 3-11 ACC) the first time around, winning in straight sets on Sept. 24 inside Cassell Coliseum.
Kaity Smith (11 kills) and Jaila Tolbert (13) combined for 24 kills and a .292 hitting percentage that day, while Rhegan Mitchell dished out 41 assists, as well as scooping up seven digs.
Tech leads the all-time series against the Cavaliers, owning a 37-34 advantage. The Hokies have won six straight dating back to a 3-2 win on Nov. 28, 2015, in Blacksburg.
The Commonwealth Clash presented by Virginia529 currently stands at 3-1.5 in Tech's favor. For more information on the competition between the two schools, click here.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Fri. | 7 p.m. ET vs. Virginia | Stats | Broadcast
This past weekend, Tech split its matches, falling on Friday to Syracuse and defeating Boston College on Sunday. It was also Senior Day on Sunday honoring seniors Rhegan Mitchell and Tolbert.
Against the Orange, Tolbert turned in a season-high 21 kills on an even .400 hitting percentage. It was the second-most kills of her career, just being one kill shy of tying her career high set on Oct. 15, 2017, versus NC State.
Smith registered a team-high 14 kills, eight digs and a season-high three blocks versus the Eagles, marking her most blocks since Nov. 22, 2017. Tolbert had her sixth straight match of double-digit kills, owning 12 on a .364 clip.
The Hokies are No. 5 in the ACC for service aces per set with 1.39 and are No. 4 in opponent kills with a 12.11 mark. Smith owns the seventh-best average for kills per set (3.53) in the league, as well as the sixth-best points per set mark (3.94).
SCOUTING VIRGINIA
• Virginia (7-17, 3-11 ACC) is coming off a 3-1 home loss to Georgia Tech (16-11, 5-9 ACC) on Sunday. In their previous two matchups, the visiting Cavaliers defeated Wake Forest (8-18, 3-11 ACC) in straight sets, before falling to Clemson (14-13, 5-9 ACC) on the road.
• The Wahoos look to close their season on a winning note after losing five of their six past matches. The 'Hoos will play host to three of their four remaining regular-season matches, first featuring the Hokies, as the Cavaliers aim to boost a 3-6 (.333) home record.
• Head Coach Aaron Smith begins his second year in Charlottesville, following a 7-24 season in his first year as the top one in command. Smith, a former assistant coach for the Cavaliers, was promoted in February 2017. He was honored with AVCA Thirty Under 30 award in 2013 as one of the country's up-and-coming coaches.
• Outside hitter Sarah Billiard paces the Cavaliers with a team-best 3.52 kills per set, ranking eighth in the ACC. Libero Kelsey Miller is fifth in the league with 4.01 digs per set.
