Charlottesville, VA (cvilleirightnow.com): The calendar has turned for the first time in 2025.  The outlook for UVA athletics, even since the start of the year, has changed.  Did it change for the better?  You decide.  Both tennis teams have seen their seasons take off like a rocket, including a huge win against #1 Texas for the Men’s squad.  Wrestling and Women’s Basketball have slowed down and hit a snag.  Finally, as for Men’s Basketball, unless something big changes, 2024-25 may be a season to forget for players, coaches, staff, and fans.   

 We begin the first Rundown of February at the Boar’s Head Indoor Courts in Charlottesville.  Both UVA Men’s and Women’s Tennis were in action for three matches in front of the home crowd.  Friday began with a matchup of undefeated teams, as the #3 Ohio State Buckeyes also were yet to drop a game in the campaign.  Ohio State jumped out to an early lead after two match wins in doubles, but the Hoos would soon make it interesting.  Dylan Dietrich, on a rough run of form recently in his individual contests, needed a win, what he got was the biggest of his career.  The #57 ranked Dietrich tangled with #11 ranked Aidan Kim and knocked him off in two sets. Rafael Jodar followed it up with an upset win of his own over #64 Will Jansen.  However, OSU’s talent was a bit too much for the Hoos, and they fell for the first time this year 5-2 as the Buckeyes remained undefeated.   

The #5 ranked UVA Women’s team took to the court on Saturday against the #7 ranked Michigan Wolverines.  Two dynamite doubles squads in Sara Ziodato and Meggie Navarro alongside Annabelle Xu and Martina Genis Salas grabbed a lead for the Hoos with doubles wins.  Karolina Kozakova had to deal with the #5 ranked player in the nation, Julia Fliegner.  Kozakova fought the good fight but fell in Michigan’s first win of the day.  Reese Miller then upset #59 Melodie Collard to tie the match.  Ziodato gave the Hoos a slim lead with a victory of her own, before the Wolverines rattled off two more wins to push the match over the line 4-2 in a heartbreaker for UVA.  The loss to the Wolverines was the team’s first defeat of the year.   

The weekend was not over for the Men’s squad after they fell to OSU though, the road did not get any smoother, as the #1 ranked Texas Longhorns came to town on Sunday.  The Longhorns earned their number up that point in the season, and notched two big wins in doubles play to start the day.  Jangjun Kim took home the Hoos first win starting singles play off right for the home team, but the Longhorns charged out to a 3-1 advantage after two singles wins of their own.  After which, the Hoos again looked to Dietrich, coming off a win against the eleventh best player in the nation back on Friday, now stared down #2 Sebastian Gorzny with his team on the brink. After falling to Gorzny 6-2, the sophomore picked his head up and summoned a new gear, knocking Gorzny off 6-4, 7-5 for his second top 15 win of the weekend.  Rafael Jodar followed it up with another upset of #3 Timo Legout, after falling behind Jodar came from behind to tie the match up at 3.   It all came down to freshman Stiles Brackett to try and defeat #116 Lucas Brown to decide the match.  Brown won the first game 6-4, before Brackett fought back to tie at 7-5.  Brockett powered through and won the match 6-3 to give the Hoos the win 4-3, completing the upset.   

In terms of what’s next, the Men’s team takes on the 2-3 Georgia Bulldogs Friday on the road at 6:00pm.  The Women will head to Illinois, for the ITA National Team Indoor Championship starting on Friday.   

The Wrestling team hit the road for their turn in the Commonwealth Clash in Blacksburg against the Virginia Tech Hokies.  Friday night would be nightmarish for the Hoos unfortunately.  The upside was #22 Nick Hamilton earning an important individual win against #29 Mac Church at 165 pounds.  The downside was that those three points were the only three points the Hoos scored all night, as the Hokies won 36-3.  The Hoos will need some momentum and fast in advance of a dual between themselves and Duke in front of the Charlottesville crowd at John Paul Jones arena this Friday at 7:00pm.  Duke is 4-12 on the year after losing to #16 Pitt last time out.   

Time to tackle the hardwood, and it was a mixed back for both Basketball teams this week.  Both squads were in Coral Gables in the middle of the week, as the Men’s team took on the Miami Hurricanes first on Wednesday.  For a moment at least, their offensive struggles seemed to dry up, putting 82 points a directionless Miami team still reeling from their Coach’s departure two months ago.  Find a full report on the game HERE. There were certainly some demerits from UVA on Wednesday night, but they did enough right to carry a large portion of rhythm and momentum back to JPJ for the biggest game of the year against the Virginia Tech Hokies.  Entering play, the Hoos were undefeated at JPJ against Virginia Tech. They were also ahead of the Hokies in the ACC standings entering Saturday.  However, Tobi Lawal and Jaden Schutt combined for 35 against the struggling Wahoo defense.  The Hokies outscored the Hoos in the first 38-31, and though four Hoos reached double figures in the game, led by Issacc McKneely with 19, the Hokies did enough, and held the home team by a single point, 75-74.   ACC play rolls on for the Hoos despite the temptation to hang heads in defeat, the 14-7 Pitt Panthers await them tonight on the road in Western Pennsylvania.  They are vulnerable, fresh off a 76-74 defeat to Wake Forest.  Tip-off is at 7:00pm on the Virginia Sports Radio Network, and you can listen here on Cvillerightnow.com.   

The Cavalier Women also went 1-1 for the week.  They too took on Miami, whose Women’s squad is much to UVA, having a much better season than the Men’s team.   Both times Virginia came out of the locker room they came out a swinging, breaking 20 points in both the first and third quarters of play, but the Canes stuck around, and the Cavinder twins led Miami to a gutsy 77-74 victory as the Hoos once again stumbled in the fourth quarter.  Find a full report on the game HERE. On Sunday though, as the road trip continued, Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton’s team found themselves on the right side of a fourth quarter heartbreaker, knocking the Syracuse Orange off 70-67.  A full report on the game, in which Coach Mox got the better of her old head coach, the legendary Felisha Legette-Jack, can be found HERE.  A ranked opponent comes to town on Thursday to face the Hoos, the #22 Florida State Seminoles, who are 18-4 on the year, coming off a 97-68 drubbing of Wake Forest.  You can listen live on Newsradio WINA and Cvillerightnow.com, tip-off is scheduled for 7:00pm.   

Finally, Women’s Golf was at the Collegiate Invitational in Guadalajara over the weekend, and the finishes, both team and individual, were solid.  Senior Amanda Sambach shot 5-under as her two-day total, good for third on the leaderboard.   As a team, the Hoos shot just 3 over par, also good for third on the leaderboard.  A fine showing indeed for UVA as tournament hosts.   

That concludes the Wahoo Roundup this week!  Thanks for reading and Go Hoos!