After losing to both ACC foes Miami and Florida State last weekend, the Virginia volleyball team hopes to rebound as it heads to North Carolina to take on Duke and Wake Forest on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
With 17 conference games left in the season, including this weekend's matchups, the Cavaliers (6-8, 1-2 ACC) still have plenty of opportunities to bounce back - and their first chance comes against the Blue Devils.
Duke (13-2, 2-0 ACC) has had an impressive start to its 2009 season. The Blue Devils boast the ACC volleyball player of the week, senior outside hitter Rachael Moss. Moss led the Blue Devils in sweeps against Maryland and Boston College this past weekend. For the Cavaliers to have a chance, they will need to look out for Moss' threatening offensive and defensive play.
"Duke has always been a big, physical team," Virginia coach Lee Maes said.
To defeat such a tough opponent, Virginia will look to disrupt Duke's flow with off-timing.
"One of the things that we've been spending a lot of time on is being able to put pressure on our opposing team so that we can get them out of system and make their offense a lot more predictable," Maes said.
Following the match against Duke, Virginia travels to Winston-Salem, N.C to take on Wake Forest.
Unlike Duke, Wake Forest (4-10, 2-1 ACC) has had a rockier start to its season, though the squad has regained momentum in recent games. The Demon Deacons began their season with 10 consecutive losses but have won four matches since. The team's win streak came just in time for conference play as well, as two of those victories were against ACC opponents, Maryland and Boston College.
Although the Demon Deacons still hold a sub-par record, Maes said the Cavaliers will not come out flat-footed.
"I would be very disappointed if we took the wrong mental approach toward any opponent," Maes said.
This weekend, Virginia hopes to compensate for its losses to Miami and Florida State. The Cavaliers lost 3-1 to the 'Canes and were swept by the Seminoles, who currently sit at No. 17 in the national rankings.
"It was disappointing ... because we definitely could have taken Miami," Virginia's junior outside hitter Kendahl Voelker said.
Maes attributed the team's losses to "inconsistent execution, inconsistent focus and inconsistent effort."
The Cavaliers hope to remedy last week's unsatisfactory performances and deliver this weekend with steady efforts from each player.
"Our goal is to still take care of Virginia volleyball and continue working to find some consistency in our focus, consistency in our effort, and the results will take care of themselves," Maes said.
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