On the heels of a win against Virginia Tech that sealed the Cavaliers' Commonwealth Challenge victory, the Virginia women's tennis team now opens the weekend at home facing tough competition from the south against North Carolina State Friday and Wake Forest Sunday.
The No. 44 Wolfpack (9-5, 0-3 ACC) enters Friday's match off a win against Charlotte. No. 63 Virginia (7-5, 1-2 ACC) will have both the benefit of coming off of a win in addition to the home-court advantage.
"We have more momentum now that we have beat Virginia Tech," freshman Jennifer Stevens said. "I think it's definitely going to carry over into these matches."
The players hope this momentum will last until the end of the weekend when they will need it most. No. 14 Wake Forest (8-3, 2-2 ACC) will pose a challenge Sunday in the second of two matches that carry large ACC and NCAA implications. The Cavaliers' chance of postseason play will be affected greatly by the outcome of the weekend's two matches.
"If we can win this, it will definitely be a turning point," freshman Brintney Larson said. "We've done almost everything we can to prepare. I feel really confident, like we've done all of our homework on the court, and if we play 100 percent then we have nothing to complain about."
Practice since last week's match against Virginia Tech has focused on finishing touches. Doubles matches have seen continued improvement, and additional small changes have been made to fine tune overall play. In the match against Virginia Tech, the players learned the great advantage the home court can offer. Fans surrounding the players and a familiar atmosphere contributed greatly the win.
Mentally, an ACC win has also done a great deal to improve the Cavaliers' confidence, though a tough upcoming schedule -- including Miami and Florida State -- will offer many opportunities for hard play and upsets.
"Some of the kids on the team feel like we have to have a win in order to be confident," Virginia coach Mark Guilbeau said. "I don't particularly believe that. I think you go out there and you just play hard and then you're confident and probably will get the win, but some of the girls don't see it that way and maybe what they needed was a win. If some of them need the wins in order to feel the confidence, then now they have it, and I look forward to seeing the results."
In last year's play, N.C. State came out with a win. The Cavaliers, however, pulled things together in time to defeat Wake Forest in their next match. Virginia hopes to improve on its record and come out with two wins this weekend against ACC foes.
Game time against North Carolina State is 4 p.m. Friday, and the match against Wake Forest will be Sunday at noon. Both games will be played at the Snyder Tennis Center.
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