The Virginia volleyball team will look to remain unbeaten in the ACC this weekend as it welcomes Duke and Louisville to Memorial Gym.
The Cavaliers (9-6, 2-0) got back on the winning track last weekend against Clemson and Wake Forest after losing six of seven games in the previous two weeks. Virginia had its best offensive performance of the season against Wake Forest, recording a .383 hitting percentage.
“This weekend we passed really well, and I think that was a big part of why we did so well — when we’re in system, it’s hard to stop us,” sophomore outside hitter Jasmine Burton said. “All of the hitters, we were on our game, putting balls away and doing everything that coach asked us. If we continue to swing high and pass well, I think we’ll do well against Duke and Louisville.”
Four of the six Cavalier hitters who played last weekend were able to record double-digit kills in either the Clemson or Wake Forest game. Burton and senior outside hitter Tori Janowski were able to do it in both games.
“Getting our offense to flow together is definitely something that we’ve been working on, so it’s good for it to finally show up in a game,” Janowski said. “We can always improve, but I’m very pleased with what’s been happening.”
Senior middle hitter Morgan Blair hit .600 and .545 against the Tigers and Demon Deacons, respectively, hitting 13 total kills on 21 attempts. She was also involved in 11 blocks in the two games. Junior middle hitter Natalie Bausback also contributed with nine blocks during the weekend.
“Blocking to me is the hardest skill in this game,” coach Dennis Hohenshelt said. “Sometimes, the stats show you have a great blocking night and sometimes the stats will tell you, you didn’t have a great blocking night, but I think it’s really important to go back and look at ‘Did we close the wall down, were we in good position, did we at least funnel players through our diggers?’”
The Cavaliers will look to maintain their passing, hitting and blocking against two teams which made the NCAA Tournament last year.
No. 25 Duke (10-3, 2-0 ACC) is the reigning ACC champion, and thus earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament last year, when they lost in the second round.
The Blue Devils return 11 letterwinners and five starters from last season’s team, including the reigning ACC Player of the Year, junior outside hitter Emily Sklar. Sklar was named to the Preseason All-ACC Team alongside teammates senior setter Maggie Deichmeister and senior outside hitter Jeme Obeime. Duke coach Jolene Nagel, the reigning ACC Coach of the Year, also returns for her 16th season with the team.
Duke has historically been one of the ACC’s best teams, with 18 tournament appearances in program history.
“They have five attackers that are really good,” Hohenshelt said. “They just make plays. You watch them and you go, ‘How does that happen?’ and then you watch it again and you go, ‘Oh, that’s how it happened.’ I think for sure they’re the best team we’ve played at this time, and we have to be good from start to finish.”
With five returning starters, Duke has continued to play well this season. They currently lead the ACC in total assists, kills and digs, but are last in the league in blocks. Sklar was named ACC Player of the Week for her efforts in the Blue Devils’ ACC openers against Georgia Tech and Miami last weekend.
Unlike Duke, Louisville (9-5, 1-1 ACC) is a newcomer to the league, playing its first-ever ACC conference games last weekend against Boston College and Georgia Tech after spending nine years in the Big East and American Athletic Conference. The Cardinals lost against Boston College, but bounced back with a win against Georgia Tech.
Earlier this year, Cardinals sophomore outside hitter Janelle Jenkins and junior setter Katie George were named to the Preseason All-ACC Team. Freshman middle blocker Maggie DeJong was named ACC Freshman of the Week on Sept. 1.
“Louisville is good,” Hohenshelt said. “They’ve beaten Minnesota at Minnesota, which is a tough place to play. They’ve had a tough preseason: they’ve played a lot of tough teams, and they’ve got a lot of talented kids. They’re going to be a force to reckon with in this league and it’s going to be two tough matches. Duke’s tough, Louisville’s tough and we’re going to have to be ready to play both days.”
The Cavaliers are 5-0 at home this season, and will look to use home court advantage to continue their two-game winning streak.
“It’s going to be fun,” Hohenshelt said. “It’s two good teams. It’s good volleyball for people to come out and see. Hopefully, we get people Saturday at 5 before the football game who want to see a good volleyball game.”
The Duke game will begin at 7 p.m. Friday. The Louisville game will open at 5 p.m. Saturday.
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