Virginia fall sports have a tradition of excellence and with teams sporting winning records and impressive rankings, this year is no exception.
Soccer
The No. 16 Virginia men’s soccer team aims to add another win to their 3-1-0 record tonight at No. 17 Duke in their first ACC match-up of the season. Last weekend the Cavaliers won the Virginia Tech Hilton Garden Hokie Invitational in a thrilling 4-2 victory with all four of UVa’s goals coming in the second-half.
Undefeated No. 4 Virginia women’s soccer team has dominated its opponents outscoring them 26-3. The 6-0-0 squad is off to its best start since 2004 and strives to remain unbeaten this weekend in the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic at Klöckner Stadium. Virginia’s first tournament match begins at 7:00 p.m. tonight against Washington State.
Field Hockey
After appearing in the NCAA semifinals two years in a row, the No. 7 Virginia field hockey team faces a challenging schedule this year including seven away games in a row and two ranked opponents early on. The Cavaliers have tackled this challenge and maintain a winning 3-2-0 record for the season. The team plays Miami (Ohio) at 3 p.m. this afternoon.
Tennis
The talented men’s tennis team looks forward to beginning another incredible season at home Sept. 15 in the UVa Grand Slam tournament. The team returns 11 letterwinners from last season including 2010 ITA National Rookie of the Year Alex Domijan. The team is sure to have another thrilling season and is definitely a team to watch.
The women’s tennis team is prepared to take the courts next Friday for their season-opener as they host the UVa Fall Invitational. Head coach Mark Guilbeau is excited to see all the hard work his players put in this summer pay off. Headlining the team is Xi Li who reached the singles final of the UTSA Pro Circuit event, a tournament that featured many top 650 ranked players in the world.
Volleyball
Virginia women’s volleyball is off to a solid start as they advanced to 4-2 on the season in last weekend’s Holiday Inn Jefferson Cup. Senior outside hitter Simone Asque finished the tournament with 11 kills, five digs and four aces. The team travels this weekend to compete in the Ohio Volleyball Tournament.
Cross Country
The No. 17 Virginia men’s and No. 20 women’s cross country teams kick off our their seasons this afternoon at home, in the annual Lou Onesty Open held at Panorama Farms. The Cavs are excited to race at this meet that they have historically dominated. At last year’s open, the women set a meet record and obtained a perfect score while the men took second place overall.
Golf
The No. 21 men’s golf team opens its season Sept. 26 at the VCU Shootout. Senior and two-time ACC Player of the Year Ben Kohles will likely lead the team along with sophomore Ben Rusch and senior Bruce Woodall.
The No. 5 Virginia women’s golf team will travel to Nashville, TN for their season-opener Sept. 23. The Cavaliers have three returning players from last year’s lineup that finished fourth at the NCAA Championships. Junior and two-time All-American Brittany Altomare will lead the team in hopefully another outstanding season.
