After incurring its first loss of the season last weekend, the Virginia volleyball team travels to the West Coast for a three-game stint in California against multiple ranked teams.
"For us to be able to be one of the best teams in the nation, our goal is to play some of the best teams in the country," coach Lee Maes said.
The Cavaliers fell to George Washington Saturday in five sets, losing the fifth 15-9 after dominating the third and fourth, 25-10 and 25-12.
"I feel like our loss Saturday really had to attribute to our mentality and how we approached the match," junior outside hitter Simone Asque said.
Maes chalked up the loss to inexperience - typical for a young team that had compiled a series of wins.
Asque, named to the Jefferson Cup All-Tournament Team, likely will lead the Cavaliers as they attempt to take down three top-25 teams.
"I know that we expect to play well - but can we play well over the course of three days, every single point? - and that's going to be a challenge in itself," Maes said.
Virginia starts its series today against No. 25 San Diego (2-3).
The Toreros are led by All-American senior right side hitter Ali Troost and Ashton Basch, a 6-foot middle hitter.
Friday, the Cavaliers will face their most challenging opponent, No. 8 Southern California.
The undefeated Trojans (6-0) boast the National Player of the Week, junior outside hitter Alex Jupiter. She led the Trojans to the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic title last weekend, during which she averaged 4.45 kills, 2.36 digs and nearly one block per set.\n"USC has weapons in every rotation, so that's going to put a lot of stress on our defense to be able to create and make stops," Maes said.\nThe three-game stretch will conclude Saturday night against No. 23 Long Beach State, "a very defensively oriented team," Maes said.\nAs strong as Long Beach State is defensively, however, Virginia boasts a number of offensive threats, including Asque, sophomore middle Jess O'Shoney and a string of freshman outside hitters. Still, the Cavaliers will be underdogs this weekend and will look to make a national statement against quality opponents.\nEach game is slated to begin 10 p.m. Eastern Time.
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