Charlottesville, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW): The calendar has turned to November, and Football excluded, regular season has turned to the playoffs.  Last week most of the sports on the schedule for the Fall season who compete in UVA colors brought their regular seasons to a close, and the ACC tournament is set to begin for some of those teams this week.  Elsewhere, Basketball has begun, the Women’s team played last night, and the men start their schedule this week.  Let’s see how it all played out and look ahead to the rest of this one, on the first Wahoo Rundown of November 2024. 

 Men’s soccer was the first team to finish their season last week, welcoming the Eagles of the University of Mary Washington.  The Eagles have won 16 games this season, and during this match they were able to show why, putting two past the Virginia defense courtesy of Jared Dubose and Carter Berg.  However, an early own goal in the 23rd minute set the tone for the day the visitors would have on their trip to Charlottesville.  The Hoos swiftly compounded their lead courtesy of a first career brace from Joaquin Brizuela, who has now scored four goals in three games.  The first was headed in by way of a Paul Wiese cross, and the second from Brizuela being at the right place to finish off a stunning charge from Cesar Cordova courtesy of a back heel cutback.  Grant Howard earned a penalty in the 80th minute that Brendan Lambe put away to bring the final score to 4-2 Hoos.  UVA will open ACC tournament play as the 9th seed against the NC State Wolfpack.  The Wolfpack are coming off a difficult 1-0 defeat to Wake Forest last time out, finishing the season on 8-3-5.  Kickoff is at 8:00 PM on ACC Network.   

Women’s soccer went down to Blacksburg to battle Virginia Tech on Halloween night as the Commonwealth Clash continued.  My full report on the match can be found HERE, but the Hoos came out victorious, 1-0 and ended their season at 12-5.  Friday is the day ACC tournament play begins for them; kickoff time and their opponent are still to be determined.    

Virginia Volleyball had its two toughest tasks of the season ahead of them as last week began.  It has been a season to remember for Volleyball, one that has exceeded all expectations, and attendance on Friday night reflected that with 1,150 in attendance to watch the Hoos welcome the best team in the country, the Pitt Panthers.  Sadly for the home crowd, the Hoos were swept in four sets.  They were hit hard in set one and two, but kept it competitive in set three.  The Panthers demonstrated their status at the national number one in an impressive display, (25-9, 25-9, 25-12).  The SMU Mustangs were up next on Sunday, Kate Dean and Abby Tadder chimed in with their usual, substantial contributions, but the Hoos suffered another sweep. UVA was not able to stop the barrage from the No.12 Mustangs, and it all ended (25-16, 25-10, 25-14).    UVA Volleyball has one final regular season match ahead, as its their turn to charge into the Commonwealth Clash against Virginia Tech tomorrow evening at Memorial Gymnasium beginning at 6:00 PM.  The Hokies are 7-15 overall and 1-11 in conference play, last time out they too were swept by the Pitt Panthers.   When it’s all said and done however, the Hoos have earned 7 wins on the year so far in conference play, which is the most in program history since 2015.   

UVA Field Hockey sought to end its season with a victory after a tough defeat to UNC last time out, setting up a strong seed in the ACC tournament.  Their opponents were the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem, and reigning ACC Defensive Player of the Year Jans Croon started the match off just right for the Hoos with a goal following a 10th minute corner and help from Maddi Orsi and Emily Field.  The Deacs held firm on defense and eventually found an answer for Tyler Kennedy and the UVA backline, tying the score at 1 thanks to a strike from Faye Janse.  1-1 remained the score after 60 minutes, and it looked like a shootout may be on the cards, but ACC Offensive Player of the Week Dani Mendez-Trendler had other ideas, as a stellar swat rattled the twine to give the Hoos the win after 17 minutes of overtime.  The victory set the Hoos for ACC Championship action that ultimately resulted in a frustrating opening round exit for the Hoos against the Orange of Syracuse, suffering a 1-0 defeat just hours ago at the time of writing. 

Moving to the winter sports, UVA Wrestling began their season over North Dakota State.  NDSU won at the 149 and 184 classes, but the Hoos ran roughshod against the rest of the classes, starting with Keyveon Roller at 125, Gable Porter at 133 and Kyren Butler at 141.  It all ended with Gabe Christenson winning a major decision at 285.  Wrestling heads to “Throwdown” on the Yorktown in Charleston for dual matches with The Citadel and Gardener-Webb.   

Swim & Dive met with the Tar Heels of #21 North Carolina, the men fell to their bitter rivals 208.5-91.5 but the women put an authoritative, victorious performance to best UNC 213.5-85.5 courtesy of multiple wins from Gretchen Walsh, and wins from Claire Curzan, Leah Hayes, and Aimee Canny.  That concludes dual match action for 2024, and the teams will head to the Tennessee Invite on November 20-22.

 Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton and the UVA Women’s Basketball team opened their season last night and cruised to a triple-digit victory over American University, 104-68.  Jay James’s full report on the game can be found HERE. 

UVA Rowing was at the Princeton Chase over the weekend, and the five crews that were sent placed 5th, 9th, 5th, 7th,  5th, and 9th. UVA heads to the Rivanna Romp in Earlysville on Sunday beginning at 10:30am.  

Men’s and Women’s Tennis are at ITA sectionals in Chapel Hill this weekend.  Softball has their Blue and Orange World Series game this week on Friday at 4:00 PM.  UVA Men’s Basketball begins their season tomorrow night at 7:00 PM against Campbell.  It will be the first game for new head coach Ron Sanchez.  UVA Football will look to bounce back against the #23 Pitt Panthers, who are at 7-1 on the season.   Lastly, a big congratulations to Gary Martin who won the Individual ACC Title at the TFXC championships as the UVA Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams placed fourth over the weekend.    

That wraps-up your rundown, see you next week and GO HOOS!!!