The Virginia women's volleyball team will square off against Duke tonight at 8 p.m. at University Hall. The Cavaliers have lost 10 of their last 11 games and need a big win to boost their morale in the midst of their tough ACC schedule.
In contrast, the Blue Devils are riding high on a five-game winning streak, including an impressive victory over No. 23 Georgia Tech.
The Cavaliers (7-19, 1-9 ACC) hope to avenge their defeat earlier this month at the hands of Duke (19-6, 7-3). Virginia coach Melissa Aldrich Shelton believes that her team has learned from the mistakes it made the first time these teams met.
"Last time our passing and ball control broke down, but that has been really good the last two weeks," Aldrich Shelton said. "If we can [pass the ball well], we'll be able to spread the ball out among all of our hitters."
Aldrich Shelton also is excited to have sophomore middle Alexis Geocaris healthy again.
"She was sick this summer with mono, and she's finally to the point now where she left off in the spring," Aldrich Shelton said. "She's playing great, and I know and she knows that she can play even better."
Geocaris' play will be critical to Virginia's success tomorrow. She has tallied 12 kills in each of the Cavaliers' past two games, and is hitting .205 for the season. Despite her impressive numbers, Geocaris is by no means complacent about her on-court performance.
"I still have so much further to go," she said. "My blocking needs to pick up still. I leave a lot of holes in the block."
Virginia's defense especially will need to focus on Duke middle blocker Krista Dill. Dill, who was just named ACC Volleyball Player of the Week, leads the Blue Devils with a .394 hitting percentage.
"I was looking back on the specifics from our match against Duke and they beat us in every aspect of the game -- offense, defense, serving," Geocaris said. "Basically we just didn't play well. They didn't really beat the team that we really are, we kind of beat ourselves. So I think we need to reduce the errors because they have very low errors. They're just going to try to make us make mistakes, so we've got to keep that down."
Virginia is coming off a rough weekend that included losses to both Clemson and Georgia Tech. Despite these setbacks, the team is improving with each game and focusing on the future.
"We played well against Georgia Tech, much better than we did when they were here," Aldrich Shelton said.
The Cavaliers' below average record so far this season and its current losing-streak have not put a damper on the team's fighting spirit.
"I think we definitely have the skill to do it," Geocaris said. "Right now it's just more the mental toughness of finishing the game."
With only six games remaining before the ACC tournament, the Cavaliers need a solid performance tonight to boost their confidence down the homestretch.
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