The Virginia volleyball team returns home this weekend to close out its 2003 home schedule. The Cavaliers (20-6, 4-6 ACC) welcome No. 4 Georgia Tech to Memorial Gymnasium tonight for a 7:00 showdown and will entertain the Clemson Tigers tomorrow at 5:00 p.m.
Georgia Tech (22-0, 10-0) currently stands atop the standings in the ACC. The Yellow Jackets will look to continue both their unbeaten streak in the 2003 campaign and their win streak against Virginia, which dates back to the 2000 season. The Cavaliers fell to Yellow Jackets in straight sets in their first meeting this year.
What's even more intimidating for the Cavaliers is Georgia Tech's senior setter Kele Eveland who has been named the national player of the week once this season. Her team-high average of 14.89 assists per match is just one of the many roadblocks facing Virginia.
"We're going into the match with nothing to lose," Ashcraft said. "No one expects us to do anything, which gives us more freedom to try new things."
Another hurdle facing the Cavaliers this weekend is Clemson (14-12, 3-7) who also defeated Virginia this year, three sets to one.
For the tide to turn, Virginia likely will have to work around the talents of Clemson's Lori Ashton and Leslie Finn. Ashton has recorded a team high 121 blocks, averaging 1.22 blocks per game. Defensively, Finn enters tomorrow afternoon's match with a team high in kills, 427 total and 4.4 kills per match.
Virginia coach Melissa Aldrich Shelton recognizes that any ACC game will be a challenge for the Cavaliers.
"There's not a match where you can let up," Shelton said. "You have to bring your best game to the court every time or you'll get beat."
Aiding Virginia this weekend in their attempt to topple its two ACC foes will be abnormally high emotions. Not only will Virginia look to avenge their earlier losses to Georgia Tech and Clemson, but tomorrow's match also will be the final home contest of the Cavalier seniors' careers.
"It will be emotional," Ashcraft said. "It's marking the last stretch of our careers as athletes and volleyball players."
The group of Virginia seniors taking the Memorial Gym floor for the last time includes Paige Davis, Shannon Boyle and Whitney Ashcraft.
And despite their struggles in the ACC this season, the performance of these three seniors has been significant.
In their most recent game, a loss at Wake Forest in straight sets, senior outside hitter Paige Davis had a team leading 14 kills and a .316 hitting percentage on offense as senior libero Whitney Ashcraft picked up the defense with a match-leading 20 digs. This was Ashcraft's 24th time this year that she recorded double-digit digs in a match, and her 10th straight match in which she has done so.
With four away games left to finish off Virginia's regular season, the importance of this final homestand should be pivotal for the Cavaliers. These two games begin the Cavaliers' tough road to the tournament, and that road begins tonight at 7:00.
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