After a winless weekend in Blacksburg, the Virginia volleyball team plays host to a pair of ranked conference competitors from the Sunshine State. The Cavaliers hope to erase memories of last week's frustrating loss against arch-rival Virginia Tech by holding serve against No. 23 Florida State and No. 21 Miami at Memorial Gymnasium.
Virginia (6-5, 0-1 ACC) opened its ACC season last Friday as energized winners of three of its last four games, but Virginia Tech vanquished the Cavaliers, 3-1. The suddenly sputtering Virginia squad then dropped its Saturday contest against Connecticut by an identical 3-1 score.
"We're hoping that our performance this past weekend was just an aberration," coach Lee Maes said. "We had a lot of confidence going into last weekend, so it was a little disappointing that we did not perform at the level we were expecting."
Despite suffering its first two-game losing streak this season, however, Virginia has channeled its subpar showing against the Hokies toward extra motivation for its first home conference contest.
"Last weekend was definitely rough," junior setter Beth Wildermuth said. "I think we're all working really hard in practice and we're all really excited. Last year we beat Miami and Florida State at home, so we're all looking forward to giving them another go ... especially being home after two weekends away."
After five consecutive away matches, the Cavaliers hope the friendlier confines of Memorial Gym can fuel a return to the form that carried the team to winning records during each of its first three tournaments.
"Mem Gym is so intimate and close - we're right next to the fans and we feed off that - whereas last weekend at Virginia Tech we were playing in the same place where their basketball team plays," Wildermuth said. "And we just have the best fans and they're always really positive, so it's always nice to be at home."
Virginia expects difficult matchups against both of its Florida foes this weekend, albeit for very different reasons. The Seminoles boast advantages in size and power, while the Hurricanes field a smaller, speedier and feistier squad that mirrors the Cavaliers' own style of play.
"Florida State, they've got some really big girls, they're bigger and slower than us," Wildermuth said. "Miami is a lot like us. They're not so tall but really scrappy on defense and pursuing the ball all the time. It's kind of hard to play them because we're like the same exact team."
While senior outside hitter Simone Asque and junior middle blocker Jessica O'Shoney have paced the Virginia attack with 255 combined kills this season, the team leans heavily on Wildermuth, who leads the squad with 389 assists but also contributes in ways that go beyond the box score.
"The most important role Beth has for us is leadership," Maes said. "She's our team captain. She is a very vocal and energetic person out on the floor. She's somebody that we look to on the court to make other people around her better and more productive, and she is very conscious of that knowing that she has a really big influence in how our team responds on the court."
Wildermuth stressed that the Cavaliers cannot afford to waste their chance to make a big splash early in conference play. With the bitter taste still lingering from the losses at Blacksburg, the two home tilts this weekend present a perfect opportunity for redemption.
"We hate losing to [Virginia] Tech, we hate losing in general, and we hate losing at home, so this is a really big weekend for us," Wildermuth said. "If we beat two ranked teams, that's a really big deal."
The Cavaliers play Florida State at 7 p.m. tonight and conclude the weekend's action against Miami at 12:30 p.m.
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