CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW)- September has arrived in full for Virginia Sports, the luster of the new season has faded, and the grind is here. In the first week of September, here is how the Hoos fared.

Football:  

The first road game for Tony Elliot’s unit ended in defeat at the hands of Dave Doeren’s N.C. State Wolfpack 35-31.  

A game that saw the Hoos setting the pace for the first half quickly got away from them, as they surrendered 21 points in the third quarter alone, allowing the Wolfpack to come back.  

Virginia’s final drive ended with an endzone interception.  The Hoos will try to bounce back when they return home to face former coach Mike London and William & Mary this Saturday at noon. The Tribe are 1-1, coming off a loss to start the season 23-21 to Furman in week one, and an equally tense win over Maine in week two 28-27.   

Field Hockey 

It was an excellent weekend in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge for the field hockey team, besting both Ohio State and Rutgers on Friday and Sunday respectively.  The margin of victory over the Buckeyes on Friday was slim, with Catalina Quinteros’s 50th minute goal the only points of the defense-heavy match.  It was a similar story on Sunday, with Rutgers also falling to the Hoos’s offensive resilience.  Madison Orsi’s goal in the 56th minute was the only separator of the two teams, that match also ended 1-0.   The #3 ranked Hoos take come home this Sunday for Youth Day festivities and a match against the 3-2 JMU Dukes.  

JMU is coming off a 4-1 win against American and will face Towson before coming to Charlottesville.  The match begins at 1 p.m. Sunday.   

Volleyball 

At the Hoos’ home event, the Cavalier Classic, this past weekend, it was a mixed bag, with Virginia going 1-1 in their two matches as the hosts.  A balanced offensive performance allowed the Hoos to only drop one tightly contested set to VCU on Friday, ultimately winning 3-1.  In Virginia’s second match against App State though, it was the visitors who started on the front foot, dominating set one by 11 points and winning a closer set two by just two.  Virginia then answered with two straight set victories however, only to fall in the fifth and final set 16-14.  Following that tough defeat, the Hoos head to Auburn September ninth to battle the Auburn Tigers as part of the ACC/SEC Showdown at the Net, before two matches this weekend back at home against the Michigan Wolverines.  Auburn is 4-1 after dropping only one match so far in 2025 (to Louisville) to begin the year.  Michigan is 6-0 on the year, dropping only three total sets in those six matches.  The Auburn match is at 6:30 p.m. and the Michigan matches on September 12th, and 13th respectively are at 6 p.m. and 11 a.m.   

Women’s Soccer  

The No. 8 Virginia Women’s Soccer team took home the win in a hard-fought, defensive battle against the Penn State Nittany Lions in front of the Klockner crowd on Thursday night.  Maggie Cagle struck in just the second minute to give the Hoos a lead that the Virginia defense kept safe for the 88 minutes that followed it.  Victoria Safradin and her backline hardly looked vulnerable all match long and secured another clean sheet in 2025.  Virginia opens its ACC slate against a Duke Blue Devils squad who just dropped its first points of the season Sunday in a 1-1 tie against Alabama.  That match is at 7:00pm at Klockner.  The Hoos’ second match of the weekend will feature the 2-3-2 VCU Rams as their opponents Sunday at 5:00pm, also at Klockner.  The Rams fell this past Sunday to the ODU Monarchs, 2-1.   

Men’s Soccer 

Meanwhile, the men’s soccer team travelled to Blacksburg for this season’s first iteration of the Commonwealth Clash against the #8 Virginia Tech Hokies on Friday.  After an early goal put the Hoos in the lead, the Hokies turned the game on its head with a pair of goals in the middle third of the match.  The result unfolding looked bleak, before first-years Bacary Tandjigora and Nick Simmons created a beautiful goal between them to secure one point in what was an immensely frustrating game for the Hoos.  The match ended 2-2.  The Hoos’ next test will be their toughest yet, hitting the road once more for a Saturday evening battle with the undefeated Louisville Cardinals as their ACC opener.  Louisville has won four games, but none better than their recent 1-0 upset of the #1 ranked Stanford Cardinal.  Virginia takes on Louisville at 7:00pm on Saturday.  

Golf/tennis

Women’s Golf is currently deep in competition at the Wolverine Invitational in Ann Arbor, we will have results for you on next week’s rundown.  For the men’s team, Ben James just played alongside his fellow amateur golf standouts on Team USA in the Walker Cup.  James won his match and helped Team USA take the cup.  Next Friday, Virginia Cross Country heads to Panorama Farms to compete in the Virginia Invitational beginning at 8:45am with the Men’s race, followed at 9:30 by the Women’s race.  Both tennis teams commence their campaigns this weekend as well, with all day competitions for the Men’s squad at Boars Head in Charlottesville, and the Women’s team headed to the UNC invite in Chapel Hill.  Both those competitions start Friday.