Tipping off the second half of the ACC schedule, Virginia Volleyball heads down to North Carolina this weekend for back-to-back matches against North Carolina and N.C. State. The Cavaliers will first take on the North Carolina Tar Heels Friday at 7 p.m. Next, Virginia makes the brief trip down Tobacco Road to take on the Wolfpack of N.C. State Saturday at 6 p.m.
The Tar Heels (6-14, 4-7 ACC) are coming off a perfect weekend with wins over Boston College and Maryland. North Carolina will travel to Virginia Tech Thursday night before returning home. With only one senior and two juniors on the roster, North Carolina is one of the youngest teams in the ACC. As such, North Carolina is expected to be much improved since the Cavaliers bested them 3-1 Sept. 22.
"Seeing them five weeks later will be a challenge," Virginia coach Melissa Shelton said. "They look a lot better on film than they did originally."
Offense has been the struggle all season for the Tar Heels, hitting for a team percentage of only .151. Defensively, North Carolina has historically performed well. Sophomore Brianna Eskola will lead the North Carolina defense against a Virginia offense that showed its might last weekend in wins over Clemson and Georgia Tech. Eskola leads the team with 316 digs on the season, averaging 4.79 per game.
Offensively "they are connecting with their middles a lot better and they always play tough defense," Shelton commented.
In the Wolfpack (2-18, 0-11 ACC), the Cavaliers will find a team that is better than their record indicates. Despite losing their past two games to Boston College and Maryland, the Eagles managed to force a fifth game against Maryland and a fourth game against Boston College.
"N.C. State has been on the brink of winning a conference match, forcing a fourth game or pushing five," Shelton said. "We had trouble with them last time we met. We're looking for them to come out and fight."
Offensively, the Wolfpack has struggled all season as well, hitting a mere .114. The leader offensively has been Keshia Raibon, who is averaging 2.87 kills per game.
The Wolfpack will look to use their home court as an advantage as they are 0-9 on the road. While Virginia has played dominantly at home this season (9-1), they have faltered on the road where they have a mediocre 2-5 record.
"Every win is critical right now," junior Sarah Kirkwood said. "We need to find a way to play aggressively on the road."
Shelton gave the Cavaliers a day off from practice Wednesday in an effort "to give brains and bodies a day to recover."
At the midpoint in the ACC season, the Cavaliers are solidly in fourth place with only Clemson, Duke and Florida State ahead of them.
"We need to re-focus and be mentally prepared for a battle each night and not underestimate our opponents," Kirkwood said.
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