Dude, the Virginia volleyball team is hot. So hot right now. No, my editors didn't switch my column with Paul Crane's this week. That is my honest opinion. And it's all about their looks -- or rather, the look of their record. The Cavalier women's volleyball team is on its longest winning streak in school history; their record is a perfect 16-0.
That's right, women's volleyball is worth pulling yourself out of your fall baseball-and-football-induced haze for. No other team at Virginia is still undefeated, and certainly no team is as accessible as these Cavalier women. This Friday night Virginia will return home to Memorial Gymnasium to take on its first conference opponent, Wake Forest, at 7 p.m. You should be there, not only for a front row seat, but to find out whether this team is for real.
Consider the following: This is the Virginia team that finished last year a disappointing 9-25. The Cavaliers could drop every game remaining this season and still finish seven games better than last season. With the kind of determination Virginia has been playing with, my guess is they will certainly be better than that.
After the Cavaliers dominated the National Invitational Tournament in Davidson, N.C. this weekend, Virginiasports.com called the winning streak a "torrid start." The tournament crown marked the halfway point of Virginia's yet-unblemished regular season, and the Cavaliers look strong as they head into ACC competition.
The Cavaliers aren't just winning, they're winning in dominant fashion. The only opponent to take more than one game from Virginia this season was George Mason in the final game of the Jefferson Cup tournament Sept. 6. GMU went down 2-0 to the Cavaliers, then battled back to 2-2 before Virginia senior libero Whitney Ashcraft put on a defensive show, and the Cavaliers took the match, 3-2. Ashcraft was named tournament MVP, and the Cavaliers kept rolling.
Ascraft has been a huge part of her team's success, but she is not doing it alone. Virginia freshman outside hitter Lindsay Osco was named to the National Invitational All-Tournament team. Junior middle Alexis Geocaris was voted MVP of that tournament, most notably for her 13-kill performance against Davidson. She had five digs, three blocks and a .440 hitting percentage against the home school. Even Barry Bonds would kill for numbers like that.
I offer a grain of salt with this excitement, however. The Cavaliers have yet to play a conference opponent, much less a ranked one. Virginia is less than two weeks away from a face-off with the nation's top hitting team, Georgia Tech. Virginia is currently 17th in the nation in hitting percentage, but the Cavaliers will have to play sharp defense to survive the Yellow Jackets, who also lead the nation in kills.
North Carolina bumped Virginia from the ACC Tournament last year, ending the Cavaliers' season, and although they are a shadow of last year's team, they are tougher than any of the opponents Virginia has faced so far. The Tar Heels will come to Charlottesville Oct. 7, and if the Cavaliers can top them, they have a chance against Maryland's top-20 defense on the 17th.
The Cavaliers have shown that they know how to win. If they can bring that intensity and that attitude to their ACC competition, they can keep their streak alive and create one of the most remarkable turnarounds in Virginia sports history.
Virginia, undefeated, is definitely something to see.
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