Virginia Tech, Miami surprise ACC as title contenders
With just more than a month remaining before the start of the NCAA tournament, some intriguing conferences races are starting to unfold.
No. 2 Nebraska leads No. 3 Texas by just one match in the Big 12. No. 11 Florida and No. 21 Kentucky are locked in a two-way battle to decide the SEC. In the Pac-10, archrivals No. 4 Cal and No. 5 Stanford are on top with No. 6 Washington lurking one match behind.
With six teams vying for the top spot and a pair of others only two matches behind, one tough weekend could send a team on a free fall toward the bottom of the standings. Conversely, winning two matches could vault a team into sole possession of first place.
While it's no surprise to see longtime conference stalwarts such as Clemson, Duke, Georgia Tech and North Carolina at or near the top, no one expected a match between Virginia Tech and Miami to have an impact on the ACC standings, much less determine which team would be in first place.
But that's exactly what occurred Saturday night in Blacksburg, Va., when the Hokies defeated the Hurricanes in four sets.
When the preseason poll was released in August, Virginia Tech and Miami were picked eighth and ninth, respectively, by the ACC coaches. Not many people outside of Blacksburg and Coral Gables, Fla., gave either team much of a chance to finish near the top of the standings, let alone win the conference title.
"I'm not just using it as a tool to get them excited about playing," said third-year Virginia Tech coach Chris Riley. "We look at it as a challenge and we use it as a motivation all the time.
"You have to prove every week that you deserve to be the best team in the conference. Even though we were in first place, we still felt like everybody thought it was just a matter of time before we came down or that our Georgia Tech-Clemson weekend [back-to-back wins in September] was a fluke."
The Hokies won their first five conference matches before dropping a five-set decision at North Carolina in a match they led two sets to none. Following two more victories, Virginia Tech lost at home to Duke and Florida State before getting back on the right track against Miami.
"The conference is weird this year because everyone keeps beating one of the top teams," said sophomore middle blocker Felicia Willoughby, who leads the Hokies in kills, blocks and points per game. "You never know what to expect."
Just like the Hokies, it was obvious no one expected Miami to be anywhere near the top of the standings.
The Hurricanes finished 2007 in a three-way tie with for eighth place, along with Virginia Tech and Boston College. The Canes posted an 8-14 record in the ACC and an overall record of 14-17 (the Hokies went 14-18), but a year's experience proved to be what Miami needed to make a marked improvement.
"We thought we had a really strong team coming back," said Miami coach Nicole Lantagne Welch, now in her eigth season with the Hurricanes. "We were very young a year ago.
"In some ways, Virginia Tech is a lot like us. They were pretty young last year and they have some good young talent. I'm not surprised that they are doing very well. They play very good defense."
Miami made a statement early in the conference season by posting victories at both Duke and Georgia Tech. The win over the Yellow Jackets was a confidence builder because it happened the night after the Hurricanes were swept at Clemson, the reigning ACC champion and preseason pick to repeat.
Senior opposite hitter Ashley Woods, who is in her fifth year with the Hurricanes, says having experienced players on the court when matches are on the line is the biggest change from a year ago.
"The difference between this year and last year is our mental game," Woods said. "We have a lot of upperclassmen that have provided a steadiness. Our confidence level has gone up. In trouble situations in games, we're so much more calm and collected."
That mental toughness will be tested this weekend when Miami plays host to Duke and Wake Forest. Fortunately for the Hurricanes, they'll be back home at the James L. Knight Sports Complex, where they are 9-0 this season.
Miami is the only team in the ACC that has not lost a conference match at home, but Welch knows playing at home will be of no benefit if her team does not play well.
"It's a very balanced conference," Welch said. "If you have a match where you don't play well, you're going to lose. That's the bottom line. You have to bring your best game every night. That's a mentally draining challenge."
The importance of every match is magnified by the fact the ACC awards its automatic berth in the NCAA tournament to the regular-season champion instead of a postseason champion because the ACC stopped holding a conference tournament after 2004.
The strength and balance of the ACC has one downside: As the teams continue to knock each other off, it prevents the conference from having a team rise in the national rankings and might preclude the ACC from having more deserving teams earn at-large tournament selections.
The most teams the ACC sent to the NCAA tournament in any one season was four, in both 1998 and 2002. Between 1993 and 2002, the conference averaged three bids per season, but over the past five seasons that average has dropped to two. For the Hokies to earn their first trip to volleyball's Big Dance, they'll need to finish at or near the top of the standings.
With half the conference schedule remaining, both Virginia Tech and Miami have shown they are more than capable of contending for the ACC title and are still hoping to crash the NCAA party.
"We kind of like going in as the underdog all the time and having to prove to people we can do it and play with that little chip on our shoulder," Virginia Tech's Riley said. "When we lose, that is when we're going to struggle.
"My job, and that of our staff, is to make sure our kids keep remembering this is a work in progress and we're not there yet. The finish line is the end of the season; it's not now. It's not OK just to be in first place at some point. We want to finish in first place -- that's what's important."
Dave Reed is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.
