It's been six straight wins for the Cavaliers, seven for eight overall, and there's no sign of the team slowing down. The squad is steadily picking up rhythm and momentum as they come off their recent Jefferson Cup Tournament win. The upcoming match against the Towson Tigers (4-3) will indicate what the Cavaliers took away from the recent tournament and what work is left to be done. The team next heads to a tournament in Wisconsin before entering ACC regular season play.
"We learned a lot from this game," senior co-captain Alexis Geocaris said. "We learned that we can come back from a deficit like we did in that last game. We have the endurance to push through and the mentality [to win]."
The confidence the team took away from their tournament win will likely factor into their approach to tonight's match, as they take on Towson in Memorial Gymnasium at 7 p.m.
It will be crucial that the team continue to build on its past performances because tonight it will take the court without co-captain Kristin Chaney, who sprained her ankle on Friday. Virginia coach Melissa Aldrich Shelton doesn't know when Chaney will return to the lineup. The outside hitter's presence has been crucial both on and off the court, and the team will have to continue compensating for her absence.
The Cavaliers will look for outside hitters Lindsay Osco and Sarah Kirkwood to continue their strong play in Chaney's absence. Osco was named tournament MVP last weekend, and Kirkwood led the team in kills in Saturday's game against the University of Pennsylvania.
The fate of the team lies in no one player's hands. A young team with plenty of talent, the Cavaliers are prepared to call on a variety of players for big matches.
"With Sarah [Kirkwood] not playing her best match, it proves that other people can step up and play well and hit the ball and get it down," Shelton said after the win over Penn. "It really builds our team morale. Winning five-game matches early in the season is great because when you get to them down the stretch in tough ACC competition, it gives you confidence that you can win that fifth game."
The crucial question at this point is whether or not the team will be able to carry its energy out of Saturday's match and maintain it for the rest of the season.
"It definitely says something about our character as a team and our desire to win," said sophomore outside hitter Emily Perilli, who had three service aces and 23 digs Saturday. "Our team generates our own energy and excitement."
This internal energy will be a real asset throughout the ACC season, particularly during five-game matches.
Tonight, the team will look for its seventh straight win. While the Cavaliers have eight players listed at six-feet tall or above, two of Towson's players, Christina Grempler and Liz Goubeaux are, according to the Tigers' roster, 6-feet-4-inches and 6-feet-3-inches, respectively, and will give the Tigers a height advantage over Virginia's front line.
The visiting Tigers handed Virginia Tech a loss at Tech's invitational tournament but fell to the home-standing Duke Blue Devils. Virginia beat both Tech and Duke last year, and tonight's game could give the Cavaliers an idea of where they will stack up against Duke and Tech just 10 days before the ACC season begins. The level of success the Cavaliers find will ultimately depend on their ability to carry the confidence and energy from the Jefferson Cup Tournament into tonight's match and the rest of the season.
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