While much of the University will likely be relaxing and enjoying the nice weather this weekend, the Virginia women's tennis team will be busy playing two matches. The Cavaliers will face Florida State Saturday at 11 a.m. and the University of Miami Sunday at 11 a.m. Luckily for Virginia, both matches will be played in Charlottesville at the Snyder Tennis Center.
This weekend's matches are critical because they will determine seeding in the upcoming ACC tournament. Currently the Cavaliers (9-7, 3-4 ACC) are in the bottom half of the ACC standings.
"These matches are very critical," senior Kristen James said. "They affect the seeding of the ACC tournament as well as our confidence going into it. We need to be ready."
Florida State is coming into the weekend riding a six-match losing streak. The Seminoles have also won only one match in the ACC. However, Virginia coach Mark Guilbeau has said the Cavaliers cannot afford to look past the Seminoles. Last weekend, Virginia lost to N.C. State, who was ranked lower than the Cavaliers, and then beat Wake Forest, who was ranked higher, the next day.
"The first thing we have to do is prioritize Florida State," Guilbeau said. "I'm not even thinking about Miami or who's even on Sunday. I think we learned from the N.C. State match that we need to take it one at a time. The first part of preparing for this weekend is respecting Florida State and their desire to come here and beat us."
The players were equally disappointed by the loss to N.C. State.
"I think we learned a good lesson this past weekend that we really need to focus on the team that is ranked below us first," James said. "We lost to N.C. State this past weekend maybe because we were looking past them before we played Wake. It's really important to focus first on Florida State. They're a great team, and when the time comes for Miami, we'll deal with it then."
Miami (15-4, 7-1 ACC) is one of the top teams in country as well as in the ACC. They are ranked fifth in the country according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and have the nation's second-ranked player, sophomore Audra Cohen.
"Miami has produced results which speak to them being a great team," Guilbeau said. "We've done a little bit of the same, but we can't control what Florida State or Miami will do. However, we can certainly try to play on their weaknesses. Hopefully we know what we can do and what we can control."
In his first year coaching the Cavaliers, Guilbeau has come in and pushed the team in the right direction. He stresses footwork and patience and believes in the importance of daily practice. Now that the team is playing solely outdoors, they have had to alter their style of practice and play.
"Outdoors you want to make sure your patience level is really high," Guilbeau said. "We've always practiced with discipline to stay in points a little bit longer outdoors than indoors. The players are working to be as efficient as possible in matches. Each player has a specific checklist of strengths that they want to be working on. I think everyone is doing a great job of that."
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