No. 10 Virginia will head to Durham this weekend for its final game of the regular season against No. 4 Duke. The Cavaliers will be looking to not only knock off a top-10 team in the Blue Devils, but also to notch only their second in-conference victory this year.
After a win over North Carolina to start ACC play, Virginia has lost three consecutive conference matches to Boston College, Maryland and most recently, Wake Forest.
After having a week off after Sunday's loss to the Demon Deacons, the Cavaliers have fine-tuned certain aspects of their game to prepare for the Blue Devils and the upcoming ACC Tournament.
"I think we are just working on things that we saw against Wake Forest that were weaknesses in our game," senior goaltender Kat Blair said. "Duke will be as strong, if not stronger."
Just one year after a season when the Cavaliers failed to win a single ACC game and took an early exit in the Tournament, new Virginia coach Michele Madison has her team geared up for a late-season run. With just one game left to play, the team has compiled a 12-5 record, including a 6-2 record in the Southern region.
Much of the success late in the season can be attributed to the rest that the team has enjoyed between games. Since Sept. 29, the Cavaliers have played just five games -- their only two losses in that time coming at the hands of No. 1 Maryland and No. 2 Wake Forest.
Aside from having more time to prepare for the upcoming game, the rest "helps in the sense that our legs are a little bit fresher," Blair said. "Playing so many consecutive games [in September] really wears on you. We're definitely fresher now, and when game time rolls around we're itching to play."
Even with the rest, the Cavaliers will have their hands full with Duke. The Blue Devils have defended their home turf well, having lost just two games -- both to top-10 teams -- as well as outscoring their opponents at home 46-14.
Duke is also stacked with offensive talent. The team has five players with 10 or more points. Most dangerous among them is standout Marion Dickinson. The sophomore from Canada has tallied 17 goals and 10 assists in just 17 regular season games.
If Dickinson's not held in check by the Virginia defense, she certainly has the ability to make them pay. Her 2.59 points per game ranks her ninth nationally, and she has already notched three hat tricks.
The problem for Virginia, however, will be finding a way to slow down the entire Duke offense rather than just Dickinson. Duke's past three opponents have seemed to figure her out as she hasn't scored since Oct. 10. But that doesn't mean that Duke's offense has failed to cash in. The Blue Devils have won two of their past three games with strong offensive play from sophomore Laura Suchoski (two goals and an assist in that span).
"There are a couple of girls that I've played with that I know are really good, but I think Duke has a couple of other good ones too," Blair said. "We just have to pay close attention to all of them and not take any of them lightly."
Read More
Volleyball holds off Boston College in tight five-set win
By Lauren Halak | 16 hours agoSenior outside hitter Elayna Duprey led the team throughout the match with 22 points and 18 kills.
Virginia annihilated 41-14 in a must-win contest versus North Carolina
By Peter Kriebel | YesterdayJust about everything that could have gone wrong for Virginia football went wrong.
No. 24 women’s soccer not to be denied in late win over Clemson
By Sam Chun | 2 days agoThe Cavaliers topped Clemson 1-0 in front of a packed out Klöckner Stadium.
