The Virginia volleyball team begins the back end of conference play this weekend, taking on Miami and Florida State at Memorial Gymnasium.
The Cavaliers (10-11, 4-7 ACC) are hoping to turn the tables on the Hurricanes and Seminoles, who both decisively defeated the Cavaliers at their respective home courts in September.
When the Cavaliers faced Miami, they boasted three players with double-doubles and five who tallied double-digit digs. The high-intensity match ended with Virginia on the losing end of a 3-1 score.
"Miami was a really good match; they're a good team, but we lost because of our own mistakes," sophomore setter Beth Wildermuth said.
The squad will have to work especially hard to stand up to the 'Canes (16-6, 6-5 ACC) this time, particularly as they currently boast the most assists and kills in the conference and are coming off a 3-0 win against Wake Forest.
Following the match against Miami, the Cavaliers will face No. 25 Florida State (15-6, 7-4 ACC) Sunday afternoon. Florida State, without its stars, junior outside hitter Visnja Djurdjevic and junior right-side hitter Rachael Morgan, knocked off conference-leading Duke Sunday 15-13 in the final set after trailing two sets to none. Florida State swept the Cavaliers during their prior meeting, and the Cavaliers are hoping to correct their mistakes from that previous encounter.
"Florida State last time was a disaster, and I think it just comes down to us being mentally prepared as well as just really focused," Wildermuth said.
Having played nine conference games since the teams' last matchup, the Cavaliers have worked on tightening up their execution.
"We want to see the fruits of our labor, and we know that takes time, but time is starting to run out on the season," Virginia coach Lee Maes said. "Every match we believe it's all going to click."
Friday's match against Miami will start at 7 p.m., and the Cavaliers will face Florida State Sunday at 1 p.m.
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