The Virginia volleyball team will kick off its season this weekend when the squad travels to Philadelphia to take part in the Temple Invitational. A grueling challenge awaits the Cavaliers, who are set to butt heads with Valparaiso, Delaware and Temple within a two-day span.
After a long offseason, Virginia finally was able to put its skills to the test this past weekend in the Orange-Blue Scrimmage, an intrasquad competition to gauge their progress made during the summer months. With a good portion of the team new to Virginia, the scrimmage gave coach Lee Maes and his new assistant Jenny Andrew an opportunity to try out different lineups and get a better idea of the direction in which their team is heading.
"It was so nice to see so many moving parts and changes with regards to the lineup and how cohesive we still were with all the changes that we made," Maes said.
Even though the game was only scrimmage, the players still showcased plenty of hustle on the court.
"We were definitely challenging one another on the court, which is always a sign that the team has a lot of depth," sophomore outside hitter Jessica O'Shoney said, who put on an impressive performance in the scrimmage, leading the team with 13 kills and seven blocks.
This weekend, O'Shoney and the rest of the squad simply will have to concentrate on how well they can play the fundamentals of the game.
"Ultimately it's going to come down to who's going to be the most efficient - efficient in the serve and pass game, and efficient in terms of hitting," Maes said.
Moreover, without any knowledge of what the weekend's opponents play like, Virginia also will rely on the experience of its three seniors: middle Sydney Hill, defensive specialist A.J. Cushman and right-side hitter Kendahl Voelker.
This may be particularly true for this afternoon's road matchup against Valparaiso, which boasts nine letter-winning returners, meaning that inexperience is not likely to be a problem. Moreover, coach Carin Avery is looking for her 250th career victory with the season-opener.
The Cavaliers then will face off against Delaware, another experienced squad, the following day. The Blue Hens look to duplicate their success from a year ago, when they captured the CAA regular season championship. They will be led by senior captains Jess Chason and Greta Gibboney, setter and defensive specialist, respectively.\nNevertheless, the Cavaliers refuse to be intimidated by their opponents, regardless of how accomplished they may be.\n"We focus on concepts that we expect from every team we'll play [in preparation]," Maes said.\nFollowing Saturday afternoon's game versus Delaware, Virginia will take on Temple at 7 p.m. The Owls return four starters but ended the 2009 season with a mediocre overall record of 14-12.\n"I'm most excited to see different competition this weekend," O'Shoney said.
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