It was an emotional night as the Virginia volleyball team took the court Friday evening against top-ranked California, a team which had yet to drop a set all year. After defeating East Carolina (1-3) earlier that morning, 3-0, the Cavaliers (4-2) had all the momentum and nothing to lose as they started strong and almost handed the Golden Bears (6-0) - the overwhelming favorites - their first set loss before ultimately falling in straight sets.
"I liked that we started off very well on Friday with a lot of high-quality execution," coach Lee Maes said. "It was evident in our victory [against] East Carolina, and I was really pleased that we were able to play our second match against top-ranked Cal. [We played] with a lot of energy, [had] high level execution and competed extremely well, certainly to start the match."
During an intensely physical back-and-forth ?rst set which featured 19 points with a tied score or lead change, Cal edged Virginia in extra points, 31-29, after the Cavaliers failed to convert multiple set point opportunities.
"To be honest, that was probably one of the [most fun] sets I've played here at Virginia," senior outside hitter Simone Asque said. "We were big into the competition but I think what happened is we realized, 'Oh, we're as good as this team,' [and] we kind of stepped back, but with a team like that you can't drop anything at all, one little drop of anything and you're nowhere able to compete."
After such an emotionally draining set ended in disappointment, Virginia seemed sapped of its initial energy as the squad ?oundered through its next two, losing 25-14 and then 25-11.
"Our expectations were to come out strong, especially against Cal," Asque said, "As far as our team morale the ?rst game, [we] were in there and we should have won, and then the next two were downhill. So I think having won the first set it would have been a whole different game; we could have maybe come out on top at the end of the match or at least put up a better fight in the second two [sets]. But it proves that we can hang with a top group and really when we're 100 percent we're up there [with the best teams]."
The squad successfully regrouped Saturday to defeat a Long Island team by a margin which was a bit too close for comfort.
Throughout that three-set match, Virginia never fell too far behind or took too aggressive a lead, and the overall passion of both the players and the notably scarcer crowd inside Memorial Gymnasium appeared drained. The Cavaliers nevertheless overcame arguably their sloppiest performance of the season to best Long Island (1-5) in straight sets.
"One of the things we learned from playing Cal is that we have to be able to sustain a level of composure, sustain a level of focus where if things are going our way we still have to ?nd ways to better the situation," Maes said. "Understanding that efficiency is key in our opportunity to win every game. Long Island is a very good team and we had a chance to find ways to score today, especially when our passing and ball control was very inconsistent but the girls found ways to win and that's a great sign."
Only upon play starting Saturday did it become apparent that the energy in the gym was very lacking in comparison to that of Friday night's marquee matchup against California. Cavalier fans formed an imposing driving force behind the close first set Friday night and the team certainly took notice.
"It's awesome [having a huge crowd like Friday night]," Asque said. "When we're here and there's not that many people and we cheer [it's not that loud] but when there's a bunch of people ... it gets really loud. Especially when we do something really scrappy and they're cheering you on and you score and it's loud like a roar. It adds so much energy to our team it's ridiculous."
This weekend the Cavaliers hit the road for the first time this season when they travel to Athens, Ohio to play Marshall, Louisville and Ohio in the Ohio Volleyball Tournament.
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