Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Katie Oakes set a career-best with 14 blocks against Florida State

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia volleyball team (7-4, 2-0 ACC) tallied 23 blocks to set a match record as it continued Atlantic Coast Conference play with a 3-1 win over Florida State Thursday at Memorial Gymnasium. Despite dropping the first game 30-28, UVa came back to win three straight by scores of 30-24, 30-27 and 30-20.

Fourth year Katie Oakes paced the Cavaliers with a match-high 14 block assists, which ranks second-all time in the UVa record book. Teammate Marlow Bruneau finished with 10 block assists, Shannon Davis had seven and rookie Kendahl Voelker added six.

Oakes’ 14 blocks also marked a career-high, having surpassed her previous best of 11 swats against Maryland last season. Additionally, Bruneau set her personal-best in the blocks category. She previously had tallied four blocks in three different matches.

Meanwhile, Sarah Kirkwood led the attacking with 14 kills, with Oakes adding 12 and second year Lauren Dickson chipping in 12. The Cavaliers finished with a .252 hitting percentage and 50 kills. Florida State tallied a .157 hitting percentage with 61 kills, led by a game-high 21 from FSU’s Mira Djuric.

“This match was incredibly close,” Virginia head coach Melissa Aldrich Shelton said. “Even though the score of the fourth game was 30-20, it was one of those games where your heart is in your throat the whole time. I think we showed a lot of composure coming out on top after dropping the first game. Our blocking was on tonight which also helped.”

Defensively, fourth year Melissa Caldwell tallied 16 digs to move her into second place on UVa’s all-time career digs list. Dickson and Kirkwood added nine digs apiece for Virginia.

“This was a great win,” Caldwell said. “Florida State is a great team and this gives us great momentum continuing the first half of our conference matches.”

The Cavaliers took an early lead in the first game but the Seminoles answered back, tying the game at 11. The two teams battled throughout the remainder of the contest, with Florida State ultimately taking its first lead of the game 25-24. Despite a strong defensive effort by Virginia, the Seminoles won the contest 30-28.

The second game continued in the same nail-biting fashion. The Cavaliers powered a strong offensive in the final half of the contest, winning 30-24 after a game-ending service error by Florida State.

In the third game, Virginia jumped ahead early 4-1. Florida State replied and scored five straight points to go up 14-8. UVa then cut the lead to one late in the contest at 27-26. A subsequent point by the Seminoles tied the game at 27 but the Cavaliers held off FSU for the remainder of the game and got three straight points to win 30-27.

The Seminoles pulled ahead early in the fourth game 6-4, their largest point margin since the first contest. UVa answered back, scoring five consecutive points. Virginia ultimately won the game by 10 points, 30-20, and turned out to be its largest margin of the match.

The two teams will meet again Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. in Tallahassee, Fla.

The Cavaliers continue their ACC homestand at 7 p.m. Friday against Miami at Mem Gym. The match can be seen live on ACC Select at www.accselect.com.