The Virginia volleyball team will look to make up for a disappointing season when they open the ACC tournament tonight at O'Keefe Gymnasium in Atlanta.
By virtue of finishing eighth in the regular season, the Cavaliers (8-24, 2-16 ACC) will face NC State (3-31, 0-16) in the first round. The winner will face North Carolina on Friday.
The Cavaliers should be fairly confident going into their opening match, having beaten the Wolfpack 3-0 both times the teams faced each other this season.
"It gives us a lot of confidence," junior outside hitter Paige Davis said. "We know what we need to do to beat [NC State] but we're trying not to look past them."
Davis has played exceptionally well as of late, recording her 12th double-double of the season Saturday at NC State. The junior had 10 kills and 13 digs in the Cavaliers' 30-25, 20-19, 30-17 victory.
In the previous match against North Carolina, Davis set season-highs in both kills and digs with 18 and 16 respectively. Junior middle Shannon Boyle also had a big match with 16 kills and a hitting percentage of .455.
Though the Cavs ultimately fell to North Carolina, they made the 12th-ranked Heels work hard, losing 3-1 (30-27, 30-24, 25-30, 30-24).
In a home match against North Carolina on Oct. 19, the Cavaliers lost in straight games, and didn't manage more than 23 points in any game.
"We're definitely playing our best volleyball of the year," Virginia coach Melissa Aldrich Shelton said. "We need to hit very well this weekend. We need to put the ball on the floor when the opportunity is there, and keep our passing crisp to spread out the floor and keep their blockers guessing."
Before beating NC State, Virginia had lost eight straight matches. Other than their two wins against the Wolfpack, Virginia has not beaten another opponent in two months.
But Davis said the pieces are coming together for the team to get on a roll in the tournament.
All season, the Cavaliers have talked about having the skill to win matches but lacking the mental wherewithal to close them out.
Junior libero Whitney Ashcraft leads the ACC in digs at 4.17 per game and has 463 on the season, the fourth-highest total in Virginia history. She was named All-ACC for her efforts. Freshman outside hitter Kristin Chaney was named ACC All-Freshman. The Cavaliers also lead the ACC in service aces.
Should Virginia advance, it would certainly have to pull one of the biggest upsets imaginable in its next game. North Carolina (28-2, 15-1) has won seven straight. North Carolina's last six opponents have only managed to win two games in the matches.
The match tonight begins at 7:30 p.m.
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