The Virginia women's volleyball team will look to bounce back from a disappointing start to ACC play when it travels south to face off against Duke tonight and Wake Forest tomorrow.
Last weekend, the Cavaliers (6-11, 0-2 ACC) fell to Clemson (16-2, 2-0) on Friday and to 25th-ranked Georgia Tech (11-6, 2-0) on Saturday.
In their ACC opener against the Tigers, Virginia junior libero Whitney Ashcraft recorded a career-high 29 digs and junior outside hitter Katie Synan notched a career-best 22 kills. Freshman outside hitter Kristin Chaney, playing setter for the injured Lily Phillips, set a new career-high with 54 assists.
Their individual efforts weren't enough, however, as the Tigers took the first, third and fourth games to beat the Cavaliers.
"I was actually really happy with the way we played" against Clemson, Ashcraft said. "We made a few too many errors that caught up with us and that's why we didn't hold out. I think we came into [Georgia Tech] not ready to play. We knew that this was probably one of the toughest teams in the conference, and I don't think we came out there ready for that or expecting that we could win that game."
The Yellow Jackets blew by the Cavaliers the following night for their eighth straight win, not allowing the Cavaliers more than 19 points in any of the three games.
"Georgia Tech runs their offense off their ball control, which is very good, and they have probably the best setter in the conference, who can put up a ball from anywhere to anybody," Virginia Coach Melissa Aldrich Shelton said. "We just weren't ready for that."
The Cavaliers will look to rebound this weekend at North Carolina. Phillips' status for the weekend is still uncertain, but Ashcraft and Synan will try to lead Virginia nonetheless. Ashcraft currently leads the ACC in digs with 4.43 per game.
Senior Jill Sonne, the ACC leader in service aces, leads the Blue Devils (12-5, 0-2) with 0.72 per game. Senior Rachel Vander Griend and junior Arielle Linderman are tied for second in blocks as well with 1.19 per game.
The Demon Deacons (6-8, 1-1) are coming off a loss to Florida State after opening their ACC season with a win over Duke.
Regardless of the opponent, Virginia must focus on its own side of the net. According to Aldrich Shelton, they should be well rested without a Tuesday match this week.
"It's just a lot of unforced errors, people hitting into the blocks, getting timid," Aldrich Shelton said. "Some of that is our setting situation, Kristin isn't used to making decisions and watching the blocks, but our hitters have to be smarter."
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