Cavs focus on themselves first

Virginia volleyball Lauren Dickson is in the midst of a breakout year for the Cavaliers. The junior is leading Virginia in kills with 146, living up to her billing as a preseason All-ACC selection.
But you’d be hard pressed to get Dickson to admit that.
“I don’t think of myself as really being put in a more featured role,” she said. “I wouldn’t say that I’m a go-to player or anything like that. We need every single player on our team to perform. We don’t have any real standouts, I think that’s something that’s unique about our team.”
That answer seems to be a product of the Cavaliers’ team-first philosophy. The well-rounded Austin, Texas native exemplifies that approach by stepping up various parts of her game depending on what’s working for her that night, and not getting frustrated by her individual performance.
“She’s one of those players that’s very skilled in all facets of the game,” said Virginia head coach Lee Maes. “If one aspect of her game is not going well we still can count on a different aspect of her game that she can perform for us.”
The Cavaliers seem to have quickly jelled under Maes, their new leader. Maes is a former Nebraska assistant who helped lead the Cornhuskers to a national championship in 2006. Maes, who isn’t coaching with a single player that he recruited, has led the Cavs to a pair of preseason tournament titles and an 8-4 record.
The Cavaliers dropped their ACC opener to Virginia Tech earlier this week, but now the Cavaliers will get a chance to bounce back at home against Georgia Tech tonight and defending ACC champion Clemson Saturday. While the opponents are getting even tougher and the games more meaningful, Maes insists his team is focused largely inwardly.
“We feel like we’re going to be successful if we take care of what we do,” Maes said. “What we do has been very, very good. We have to be able to serve and pass really well. We take a lot of pride in being a very good ball control team. That’s going to allow us to be competitive in every single match we play.”
Still, Virginia could use the momentum. The Cavaliers face a four-game road trip after the two home contests.
“I didn’t even know that,” Dickson said. “But that’s obviously very important — every match in the ACC is so important. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing — you have to show up.”
That might be a good sign for Maes. If he’s got Dickson and the rest of the team focused on one game at a time, Virginia should be able to take care of business in the ACC.