Photos by Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Utahya Drye was the Hokies' leading scorer last season as a junior and was ninth in the ACC. The senior says her goal this season is for the Hokies to earn a NCAA women's basketball tournament bid. "This is my senior season, and I've never been to the dance," she said.

Porschia Hadley, 22, is one of five freshmen on the Virginia Tech roster. Here, she guards Lenoir-Rhyne's Denise Moore during an exhibition game earlier this month.

BLACKSBURG -- Utahya Drye skies over the lobby of Virginia Tech's new basketball practice facility, an enormous photo of her shooting.

A real ball hangs perpetually on the rim of a real net that hovers above her.

But that isn't the real goal.

"This is my senior season, and I've never been to the dance," Drye said. The dance is the NCAA women's basketball tournament, where the Hokies haven't been since the 2005-06 season. Drye wants to go.

"I know with the freshmen that have come in and the returners we have back, we're capable of doing it," Drye said. "Me being a leader, I want to hold everybody accountable for their commitment, for their heart."

Accountability is a big key for the year's Hokies, who last year went 12-18 overall and 2-12 in conference play. They lost to Virginia in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament and then the season ended without even a WNIT bid.

This year, Tech was picked to finish last in the league's preseason poll.

"That was just ... there's no words for it. It was a slap in the face really," said Hokies' senior center Brittany Gordon.

Still, it wasn't as though the Hokies thought last season was just fine.

"No one wants to be in the place we were last year," Gordon said.

Virginia Tech coach Beth Dunkenberger said there was a marked difference between the past two seasons, and the three before when the team went to the NCAAs twice and the WNIT once.

"The teams that went to the NCAAs weren't perfect, but they won the games they were supposed to win and they were able to find a way to upset some teams along the way," Dunkenberger said.

Inconsistently solid, cohesive play plagued the Hokies last season, when they lost to Duke by only five points but also lost to Wake Forest by 22. They beat that same Wake Forest team a week later by 24.

"We have to have the mentality to finish out every game," said senior guard Lindsay Biggs. "Last year, it wasn't that we'd lose focus ... we just have to push forward all the way to the end."

The Hokies report that they worked harder this summer than they have in the past, getting up early for 6 a.m. weight lifting and running. Point guard Nikki Davis even ran off some guys so they could play pickup games on a rec court at McComas Hall.

"I told them 'you're more than welcome to play, but we're ready to go," Davis said. "We've got work to do."

That attitude has carried over into practice.

"This year we're never cutting corners," Davis said. "Last year we'd run down and back, it would be to the free-throw line. This year, it's all the way down and back."

Freshman Alyssa Fenyn, who is expected to start along with Davis at point guard, Biggs at shooting guard, Drye at forward and Gordon at center, said practice has been intense and competitive.

"Coach does a good job of enforcing that we compete every day," Fenyn said.

With 13 healthy players, there is more competition at every position. Fenyn is going up against sophomore Shanel Harrison, who is behind in conditioning after offseason knee surgery.

Drye was the Hokies' leading scorer last season with 14.3 points a game, ranking ninth in the ACC, and Biggs was second with 12.5 points a game.

Gordon has shed some weight and said she thinks she can play all of this season as well as she did toward the end of last season.

Freshman Porschia Hadley will likely be the first post player to come off the bench, Dunkenberger said. Freshman guard Aerial Wilson was a shooting guard in high school, but can come in and play the point too, using her speed to slash to the basket.

Lakeisha Logan has been doing extra work on her outside shooting, as has Davis.

The addition of freshman Abby Redick, who can play guard or forward, gives Dunkenberger the option of moving Drye out from forward to guard.

Dunkenberger said the good news for the five freshmen, which also includes post Taylor Ayers, is that with Drye, Biggs, Gordon and Davis in the lineup "they don't have to produce senior numbers as freshmen."

"I've seen flashes of brilliance from a lot of players," Dunkenberger said. "But I've got to see more than flashes."

Davis, who along with Drye and Biggs were elected team captains, said that ultimately each player will have to be responsible for herself.

At the same time, "we're playing for each other," Davis said. "If you're not going hard, you're letting me down."

The season starts Friday and it is on the court where Tech will have to make its case to the league.

"Talk is cheap, action speaks," Dunkenberger said.