The Virginia women's volleyball team heads south this weekend to take on Georgia Tech and Clemson in its toughest conference road trip of the season.
Virginia (7-5, 2-1 ACC) will take on Georgia Tech (8-4, 2-0 ACC) Friday night then travel to Clemson (9-2, 2-0 ACC) to face off against the Tigers on Saturday.
The Cavaliers are coming off of a disappointing loss to Miami at home last weekend and a tough week in the classroom as well as on the court.
"I think it's a good week for us to be away," Virginia coach Melissa Aldrich Shelton said. "The girls have been pretty distracted with their first round of tests and that sort of thing, so it's actually pretty nice to get out of town and put all of those things behind us so we can just concentrate on volleyball. We're looking forward to the trip."
Virginia will have to give a strong performance if it expects to win either of its matches this weekend.
"They're both really tough teams, at the top of the stats in just about every category," Shelton said of Georgia Tech and Clemson. "They play with a lot of passion and heart and they're going to be out for some vengeance since we finished above them last season."
The Cavaliers will look to their setter tandem of freshman Kelly Irvin and junior Marlow Bruneau to get the offense back on track after a subpar performance against Miami.
It is up to them to get the ball to senior outside hitter Sarah Kirkwood and sophomore outside hitter Lauren Dickson. Kirkwood is second in the ACC in kills per game with 4.64.
Seniors Melissa Caldwell and Katie Oakes look to anchor the defense. Caldwell is seventh in the ACC in digs per game and Oakes ranks fourth in the conference in blocks.
Georgia Tech, the preseason pick to finish second in the ACC, is coming off a weekend sweep at North Carolina and N.C. State, defeating both schools 3-1.
The Yellow Jackets are one of the most balanced teams in the conference and are led by preseason All-ACC selections Lindsey Gray and honorable mention All-American Ulrike Stegemann.
Clemson, picked in the preseason to finish fourth in the conference, also garnered a pair of victories away from home against both North Carolina and N.C. State.
Setting the tone for Clemson are preseason All-ACC selections Danielle Hepburn and Jeanette Abbott. Hepburn ranks sixth in the conference in kills per game (3.82), while Abbott is 10th in the ACC in points per game (4.11).
The Cavaliers will definitely have their hands full this weekend, but these are matches they need to win in order to reach their ultimate goal of obtaining a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
With two tough road matches, Virginia will learn a lot about itself and where it ranks among the conference elite.
"I think this will be a good weekend to indicate where we stand in the conference," Caldwell said. "And to prove to ourselves that yes, we can compete against these top teams and that we should be one of the teams to beat"
Read More
No. 5 men’s tennis defeats No. 15 South Carolina in season-opener
By Thomas Baxter | 4 hours agoThe Cavaliers notched a quality victory to kick off the semester.
Aly Khalifa moved on, Ron Sanchez retraced his steps, and then their paths converged
By Michael Liebermann | 5 hours agoKhalifa starred for Sanchez at Charlotte before making the wrenching decision to transfer.
Buchanan jolts arena with season-best performance
By Michael Liebermann | YesterdayRon Sanchez challenged his players to rebound better, and Buchanan answered resoundingly.
