When the Terrapin volleyball team first faced Virginia and Virginia Tech four weeks ago, it encountered two very different outcomes: 3-0 and 0-3.

After dismantling Virginia Tech, 3-0, in arguably one of their strongest efforts of the season, the Terps collapsed against Virginia just two days later, losing handily in straight sets.

This weekend, the Terps (16-9, 7-6 ACC) will face Virginia (12-11, 6-7) tonight and Virginia Tech (15-8, 6-7) tomorrow. And, even though both opponents have identical conference records, coach Tim Horsmon said the Terps will have to be much more balanced in the rematches to avoid a similar discrepancy in results this time.

“We haven’t been very consistent all year,” Horsmon said. “But it’s about making plays at the right times and being ready to compete on match days, so we need to perform in those situations.”

Neither opponent is going to make it easy on the Terps, however. The Cavaliers enter this weekend on a two-match win streak, including an upset victory over No. 25 Florida State, and the Hokies have won five of their past seven matches since facing the Terps. But Horsmon said that it is still up to the Terps to take care of business this weekend.

“Both of those teams are playing really well right now,” Horsmon said. “We’re going down to play them at their place, so it’s going to be a tough weekend. But we can only control what we can do, so we need to execute and play hard.”

For the Terps to do this, libero Bethany Springer said they must find more consistency with their energy on the court. If the Terps come out with an understanding of how vital these matches are to their season, Springer believes the NCAA Tournament is still an attainable goal.

“Some days we come with more energy than others,” Springer said. “We know that if we want to make it into the NCAA Tournament, we have to be on top of our game. … It’s all out from here.”

With just seven regular-season matches remaining, each becomes increasingly significant to the fate of the Terps’ season.

“Every match is important at this point,” Hosrmon said. “We want to continue to build on the success we’ve had, move forward and finish strongly.”

vitale@umdbk.com