Charlottesville, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW): Sports has its highs, and sports has its lows.  The jury is out on what kind of week this has been for UVA athletics.  The Wahoo faithful has seen its fair share of victories, however, the defeats the Cavaliers have suffered throughout the same time, it has to be said, are quite painful.  As we do every week, let’s get into the thrills and the spills for the week of October the 14th of 2024 in your weekly Wahoo Rundown.   

The confidence radiating from the UVA Football team has been palpable over the last month.  At 4-1, they looked poised to carry their momentum far into the ACC schedule a mere two wins away from a bowl game.  Against a Louisville squad in danger of losing three games in a row, the Hoos wanted to pull off another stellar home victory, sadly it was not to be this week.  The Hoos fell 24-20 to the Cardinals, and you can read UVA sideline reporter Jay James’ full report on the game HERE.  Next up, Football heads to Death Valley this Saturday for a noon kickoff with Cade Klubnik and The Clemson Tigers.   

Also dropping a tough one was the UVA Field Hockey team.  The Hoos took to the pitch ranked #3 in the nation, facing the national #8 in the St. Joseph’s Hawks.  The normally reliable Wahoo defense fell behind early, in a chilling signal that something was off, conceding a goal nine minutes into play from a Sol Borensztein chance that came from one of five corners conceded by UVA in the first half.  Julia Duffhuis knocked home two more goals, both coming from corner chances.  Emma Watchila charged into the St Joe’s circle as the second quarter came to an end though and took one back for the Hoos on her fifth goal of the year.  The Hoos found their rhythm in the second half, Emily Field and Meghan Hengerer cooked up a promising opportunity for Mia Abello, who buried the ball in the St. Joe’s net for her fourth goal of the year to cut the deficit to one.  Riding the wave, UVA Keeper Tyler Kennedy made way for another attacker in a high-risk high-reward gamble.  Sometimes however, you lose the bet, and the Hawks made the Hoos pay for their aggression on this occassion, putting two more in the back of the UVA net to put the game away, winning in in upset fashion 5-2.  The schedule rapidly reaches its end, as the squad looks ahead to two more home games this weekend, #14 Syracuse on Friday at 3:00 PM, and a Senior Battle with Miami University on Sunday evening at a time yet to be announced.  The Orange are 10-3 on the year, and are coming off a thrilling 2-1 victory over California at home.  As for the Redhawks, their 7-6, will face Longwood before coming to Charlottesville on Sunday, and won 1-0 against Appalachian State last time out. 

UVA Volleyball went into the weekend riding the hot hand in ACC play, sitting at 3-1 in ACC play (14-2 overall).  Their opponents were Clemson and Georgia Tech, both on the road.  They tackled Clemson in South Carolina on Friday evening.  Set one started out with a Clemson point, but ended with UVA taking the lead directly afterward, never losing it for the entirety of the set.  Their biggest lead was six points, and their smallest, two, but the Hoos never took their foot off the gas and won the set in convincing fashion 25-20.  Set two went back and forth until the set was tied at 10.  The Hoos then rattled off three points in a row, and again they never relinquished the lead, taking the set again 25-19.  Set three was eerily similar, seeing the set knotted up at 12, before the Hoos rattled off a four-point run, carrying them to a 25-21 victory.  They completed another sweep of an ACC squad in the process.  As is often the case in sports though, what goes up must come down, and the battle with Georgia Tech was a night to forget for UVA Volleyball.  The three sets played between the two teams featured good but not good enough offense from UVA, getting themselves to within a few points of taking the lead in each set, but coming short on all three occassion.  The Hoos were swept (25-20, 25-16, 25-21).    Next up, the Hoos come up to Memorial Gymnasium for matchups with Duke and North Carolina on Friday at 7:00 PM and Sunday at 1:00 PM respectively, both games will be streamed on ACCNX.  Duke is 7-10 overall and 3-3 in ACC play, and UNC is 12-2 overall, 4-1 in conference play.  The Devils were swept by NC State last time out, while the Heels swept out Wake Forest in their last match.  Two tall tasks for the Hoos ahead.   

Turning to good news, Women’s soccer successfully righted the ship over the weekend with a pair of conference battles with NC State and SMU.  The Hoos kept a clean sheet and put three past NC State on Senior Night last Thursday evening to snap themselves out of the funk, please find my full report on that game HERE.  Sunday started out nerve-wracking against SMU, with the Mustangs finding the net early by way of a blistering counterattack that was finished off by Nyah Rose.  The Hoos were not dormant on the attack in the first half however, and in their patented fashion, their breakneck attacking pressure did wear their opponents down, just not right away.  UVA took ten shots in the first half forcing five saves out of SMU keeper Hali Hartman.  As it turned out, the interval threw the Mustangs off their rhythm, and 49 minutes into the match, Maggie Cagle’s neat dribbling skills set up Lia Godfrey to barrel in the game-tying goal.  The equalizer was the veteran’s 26th career goal in a UVA uniform.    Timed ticked down, and the Hoos still charged.  The Mustangs held as long as they could, and they were close to forcing UVA to split the points, but Maggie Cagle had other plans.  With ten minutes to play, she won another ground duel to get herself into space, using her pace, she crossed the ball into the box, and Meredith McDermott notched her second game-winning goal of the year, giving the Hoos the lead, 2-1.    Victoria Safradin and the backline saw the game out, ensuring the Hoos’ tenth triumph of the year.  Another ranked opponent awaits the Hoos next, #22 Florida State will be their opponents this Thursday.  The road battle is set for 7:00 PM on ESPNU.   

The UVA Men’s soccer team had an exceptional week, earning a win on a 90th minute own goal against the JMU Dukes on Tuesday, you can read a full report on that match HERE.  They to the road again on Friday to Massachusetts for a Friday night clash with the Boston College Eagles.  The Hoos held control of the possession and the momentum for most the game, and had little trouble causing trouble for the BC backline.  The Eagles, outmatched, committed nine infractions that went into the referees’ book over the course of the game, including two red cards.  The Eagles did play with guts, holding the Hoos scoreless down to ten men for 78 minutes.  Eventually however, with the defense forced to play with too much caution, it could hold the UVA barrage, and a corner kick from Danny Mangarov found the head of Nick Dang, who gave the Hoos the lead with 12 minutes to play.  That woke the Eagles up for the remainder of the game, forcing two key interventions from Joey Batrouni at the other end, but there was nothing left for the hosts.  1-0 is a deceptive scoreline for the match, and it does not accurately portray just how well the Hoos played throughout those 90 minutes.  UVA has another ACC break this Tuesday night against American, before squaring off with Syracuse on Saturday night on Senior Night.  Both matches are at Klockner Stadium here in Charlottesville, kick off at 7:00 PM, and broadcast on ACCNX.  American is 3-4-5 on the year, dropping a tough one to Lehigh last time out, while the Orange have won three in a row, beating Providence last time out, and have an overall record of 6-4-3.   

Rounding up the rest of the news, Men’s Golf placed third as a team at the Hamptons Intercollegiate in New York last week. They will be at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate all weekend this weekend.  Women’s golf will be at the Stanford Collegiate tournament this weekend.  Women’s Tennis competes in the ITA Atlantic Regionals beginning October 17th and running until the 22nd.  The Head of the Charles Regatta is this Sunday in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and naturally UVA Rowing will compete in the nation’s biggest fall rowing event.  Men’s and Women’s Cross Country hosts the Panorma Farms Invitational this Saturday morning here in Charlottesville. Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving continues their season in a dual meet with #2 ranked Florida beginning this Friday (10/18) morning.   And Virginia Baseball associate head coach Kevin McMullan was named the 2024 ABCA/Marines National Assistant Coach of the Year for his part in helping the Baseball team’s stellar performance in their run to Omaha last season. UVA Baseball has their first exhibition game of the fall against Maryland at 12PM on Sunday 10/20.   That brings our rundown to a close, head out and support UVA Athletics wherever you can.  See you next week and Go Hoos!