Charlottesville, VA (cvillerightnow.com): Wahoo Rundown time at a critical point in the collegiate sports year.  The month of March is upon us, that means playoff basketball, ACC Baseball and Softball, and the business end of the tennis season!  Let’s get into it! 

Women’s Basketball’s ACC tournament run began and ended last week.  This past Wednesday, after they shocked #9 UNC, the Hoos took on Pittsburgh on Wednesday in the first round in Greensboro.  Full report HERE, but Coach Mox’s squad got the job done by 14 points, 64-50.  That allowed UVA to move on facing the California Golden Bears, a squad they dropped a game to earlier this winter by just six points, 76-70.  In the playoffs however, they looked like a completely different opponent, knocking the Hoos out of contention 75-58.  Coach Mox’s team now awaits an invite to the 2025 WBIT, more updates to follow. 

Meanwhile, the men’s squad finished the regular season against Florida State and Syracuse before their run in the ACC tournament begins this week.    The Seminoles helped the Hoos close out their home slate on Tuesday.  Full report HERE, but the Hoos hung on for a thrilling winner 60-57.  They hoped to carry on the momentum earned from such a tight win up the road to chilly Syracuse to end the regular season with a victory.  That was not to be, as the Orange won out by a large margin, 84-70, full report HERE.  The first game of the ACC tournament for the #9 seed Virginia Cavaliers will be this Wednesday in Charlotte at noon against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, a squad they’ve beaten once this season already, but will need to find a new gear for playoff basketball, especially if they win Wednesday.  Why is this?  The answer is simple, win and they will battle Duke on Thursday.   

Fresh off a three-game home sweep of Dartmouth, two of which by run-rule, the Virginia Cavaliers’ Baseball team welcomed the Tribe of William and Mary to Disharoon Park midweek on Tuesday.  Full report HERE, but the Hoos scored ten rules in the third inning to run-rule another opponent, 15-4.  That set them up nicely to tackle a three-game series with preseason ACC #16 Boston College to wrap up the homestand.    However, the smart money did not pay out for UVA, the Eagle bats lit up at the right time in game one, taking a late lead that they wouldn’t lose to see off game one 7-4.  The Hoos offense lit up for 22 runs on Saturday, winning a crazy game by 6 runs, 22-16.  Unfortunately, looking for the series win, UVA fell short again offensively as a three-run homer from BC outfielder Jack Toomey sank the ship and the series, dropping the final game 6-3.  Full report on game two HERE, and game three HERE.  The 9-5 Hoos have a neutral site game ahead against the Maryland Terrapins this Tuesday at 5:35 PM in Fredericksburg, and their first away ACC series of the year against the California Golden Bears on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  The Bears are 7-8 this year after suffering a series defeat to Duke in Durham.  The Terps are 8-7 after some tough losses in extra innings, they are also coming off a series defeat, winning one game of three against UCLA last time out.   All games can be heard on WINA, Tuesday at 5:35 PM, Friday at 9:00 PM, Saturday at 5:00 PM, Sunday at 4:00 PM.   

Virginia Softball did what needed to be done last Tuesday in a battle with Longwood over at Palmer Park.  Two runs were all it took to carry on their 12-game win streak, Julia Cuozzo and Savanah Henley did the rest to complete the shutout on the mound, striking out 13 Lancers between them.  The weekend battle with Virginia Tech did not go as smoothly for the Hoos, as the #17 Hokies ended the streak at 12 with an 8-4 victory over UVA on Friday.  They secure the series win over the Hoos on Saturday in Blacksburg with a 6-1 home win.  The Hoos did manage to snag one from their rivals in the Commonwealth Clash in the final game of the series with a breakout 9-2 win, but safe to say ACC action did not get off on the right foot.  JMU midweek and Boston College on the weekend await the Hoos over the next seven days.  The Dukes come to Palmer on Tuesday at 4:00 PM. They were at the Lakeside Book Company Tournament this past weekend, where they went 5-0 over Binghampton, Fordham and Radford.   The Eagles have a break from midweek contests after getting swept by Cal in Berkeley last time out, bringing their record on the year to 10-8.  Gametimes this weekend at Palmer are 5:00 PM, 1:00 PM, and 6:00 PM.   

UVA Women’s Lacrosse had a tough task on the road this past Saturday in Chapel Hill taking on the North Carolina Tar Heels, who are ranked #2 in the nation.  Though Virginia was not kept off the scoresheet, it was a day to forget for the Hoos, losing by a score of 20-8 to one of the most dynamic attack forces in the nation.  The ACC slate continues and gets no easier this weekend at Klockner Stadium, because at 12:00 PM, the #18 Duke Blue Devils come to town for Alumni Weekend.  The Devils are 5-2, with their last win coming against Clemson on Saturday, and they’ll play Campbell midweek before coming to Charlottesville.   

As for Lars Tiffany’s UVA Men’s Lacrosse team, they headed to Texas for a neutral site battle with the Towson Tigers.  After a one-goal defeat to Johns Hopkins before the flight to Houston, the Hoos came out swinging and got back to their attacking form quickly, putting 11 past the Tiger defense, and doing just enough to hold the Maryland powerhouse off on defense.  The game ended 11-6.  After the win, maybe the Hoos have just the confidence they need to tangle with the #1 6-0 Maryland Terrapins on Saturday at 4:00 PM. The game will be broadcast here on Cvillerightnow.com so don’t miss it!  The Terps beat Delaware last week 14-3, and former #1 Notre Dame by an 11-10 squeaker two weeks ago.   

Both Tennis teams were in action this weekend.  The #5 men’s team took on #10 NC State Friday and #1 Wake Forest on Sunday.  Two UVA doubles pairs of Hopper/Jodar and Dietrich Dahlberg got the Hoos out to a lead after doubles play with two wins.  Jules Leroux took singles match one for NC State, but freshman superstar Rafael Jodar evened the match at 1.  Luca Staeheli and William Manning pushed ahead for the Wolfpack before James Hopper brought the Hoos within one point of the victory. Martin Borisiouk upended #22 Dylan Dietrich however, and the upset scored NC State the victory, 4-3.  The weekend went from bad to worse during the Wake Forest match however, as a doubles win from Ty Switzer and Jangjun Kim, and one singles victory by way of Jodar was all the Hoos could manage against the #1 Demon Deacons.  The men hit the road this weekend with matches against Boston College on Friday and SMU on Sunday.  BC are 3-5 after two straight losses to Clemson and Georgia Tech.  SMU are 9-10 after a four-game losing streak.    

The #1 ranked UVA Women’s Tennis team were on the road this weekend against Wake Forest and NC State.  The Cavaliers handled the Demon Deacons comfortably with a 4-2 win, thanks to singles wins from #24 Annabelle Xu, #18 Elaine Chervinsky, and Martina Genis Salas.  However, on Sunday, the Wolfpack upset the top-ranked Hoos, handing them their first loss of conference play. Xu was the only Wahoo to earn a win in singles play, while the remaining points were scored in doubles action by the pairs of Sara Ziodato/Isabelle Lacy, and Genis Salas/Xu.  The Wolfpack won the match at home 4-2 as #12 upset #1.  The Hoos are off this week but return to action on March 21st, will cover those matches next Wahoo Rundown.   

As we come to the end of this rundown, we wrap-up the remainder of the action in rapid-fire fashion.  Standout wrestler Dylan Cedeno took the ACC title in the 141-pound weight class as the Hoos finished sixth at the ACC championships in Durham with a total of 38.5 team points.  Women’s Golf shot well at the Gators Invitational in Florida, at +11 as a team, and with Amanda Sambach tied for third two under par.  Men’s Golf, at time of writing, sits second behind Alabama in Florida this weekend, they sit at –15 under par with one day of competition to go.  Men’s Squash lost a tough one to Columbia in the Potter Cup Consolation Bracket 5-4, and the Women’s team finished fifth in the Howe Cup after beating Stanford 5-4.   

Coming up this week, the Men’s and Women’s Diving teams head to Rutgers for NCAA Zone Diving competition until Wednesday, and the track and field squads head to the NCAA championships in Virginia Beach starting on Friday.  Take every opportunity you can to support UVA athletics, and of course, Go Hoos!  Thanks for reading the Wahoo Rundown, see you next week!