The Virginia volleyball team suffered from mediocre performances this weekend as the Cavaliers went a lackluster 1-2 at the Marriott Cavalier Invitational. Though Virginia (6-6, 1-0 ACC) started the tournament on a high note - beating in-state rival Virginia Tech, 3-1 - poor passing contributed to two losses Saturday, as the squad fell 3-1 against Villanova and 3-0 against Albany.
Playing in their home gym, the Cavaliers' intensity showed Friday night against the Hokies (10-2, 0-1 ACC).
"We came out so pumped and excited, we had this killer instinct," freshman middle hitter Tobi Farrar said.
The first set went into extra points, but Virginia held on to win 29-27, giving it the early momentum needed to take control of the match. The second set played out much like the first, as the Cavaliers took control late to win 25-19. Although the Hokies avoided the sweep with a third set comeback, 25-22, Virginia managed to close the deal by taking the fourth set, 25-11.
The victory gave the Cavaliers their first ACC win and handed the Hokies their first ACC loss.
The win "is really good [for motivation] because now we're 1-0, and we're just rolling ahead," sophomore outside hitter Simone Asque said.
Although Virginia seemed poised to continue its undefeated home streak Saturday, a number of different factors left the Cavaliers with two losses.
"We didn't play with the type of mental approach that's going to allow us to be competitive," Maes said.
The Cavaliers lost to eventual tournament champion Villanova (11-2) in Saturday's first game, and Albany (5-8) then swept an unfocused Virginia in the finale.
"It came down to us not showing up," Farrar said.
Virginia struggled to create and execute routine offensive plays, and this lack of fundamentals left the Cavaliers scrambling to make up ground in each match.
"When we can't pass the ball it limits what we do offensively and makes defense for the opposing teams a lot easier," Maes said.
Last year's lack of consistency appeared to haunt Virginia once again Saturday.
"We paid for it by not being able to step up to the plate and handle a lot of the serves that were coming at us today," Maes said.
Still riding a high from beating rival Virginia Tech, the Cavaliers also lacked the necessary concentration and intensity to defeat Villanova.
"I think that - especially against Villanova - our focus was not fully there," Asque said.
After struggling this weekend, the Cavaliers will take Saturday's losses as a learning experience and attempt to refocus before conference play continues.
"It's part of the growing process - the things that we weren't very good at today," Maes said. "A lot of them were the controllable. All we have to do in terms of reflecting on this past weekend is to identify the things we need to get better at."
Virginia will look to bounce back as it heads to Miami on Friday and Florida State on Sunday.
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