CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW)– The Virginia women’s swimming continued to dominate in the pool, breaking five pool records at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center, one in the 200-medley relay, the 100 and 200 back (via Claire Curzan), the 200 IM (via Leah Hayes), and the 50 freestyle (via Anna Moesch), against Virginia Tech on Saturday. The Hoos’ showing left nothing to chance in the Commonwealth Clash as they won 201-87, earning victories in every race except one.
Meanwhile, 2024 Olympian Thomas Heilmann notched wins in the 100- and 200-butterfly for the men’s squad, but the Hoos fell to the Hokies as a team 157-104. The Cavaliers’ final dual test of the season will take place Friday, January 23rd at 6 P.M in Raleigh against the NC State Wolfpack.
Wrestling
For the third season in a row, the Hoos hosted an ACC dual meet at John Paul Jones Arena, as they welcomed North Carolina on Friday night to continue their in-conference slate. The Hoos earned wins from Keyveon Roller, Wynton Denkins, and Nick Hamilton, but the Tar Heels ultimately left the arena victorious, 25-10. The Hoos will remain at home for a duel with No. 24 Stanford on Saturday beginning at 5 P.M. back at the Aquatics and Fitness Center.
Tennis
The women’s squad improved to 3-0 after sweeping a doubleheader with the UNCG Spartans Thursday, but No. 3 North Carolina halted the Hoos’ momentum with a loss 6-1 loss on Monday. The men’s team, ranked No. 5 nationally by ITA, took out No. 3 TCU in their first dual match of the season, sweeping singles play completely, winning 6-1. The Hoos then besting No.2 Texas on Sunday thanks to stellar performances from Jangjun Kim and Dylan Dietrich that turned the match around, giving UVA a 4-1 victory. Both squads are back in action this weekend at the ITA Kickoff Weekend at Boar’s Head Resort.
Squash
Last week’s squash action for UVA began with a neutral site clash with Tufts on Saturday for both squads, with both handling the Jumbos comfortably 9-0. The Hoos then battled Drexel on Sunday afternoon. In the women’s match, wins from Nili Sprecher and Ana Quijano carried the Hoos in a hard fought 6-3 win. Meanwhile, the Dragons proved too much for Virginia in the men’s match, which Drexel won 6-3.
Basketball
Virginia men’s basketball took home two huge ACC road wins this week. First, the No. 16 Hoos took down then-No. 20 Louisville 79-70 before heading to Dallas and dispatching SMU 72-68. Next the Hoos, now ranked No. 14, will welcome No. 22 North Carolina to Charlottesville in front of a sold-out crowd on Saturday at 2 p.m. The women’s team looked for a rebound victory against No. 21 Duke on the road, but the hosts proved too much to handle, sending the Hoos home with a 65-58 defeat on Thursday. The Cavaliers will bookend Saturday’s UNC men’s game with home matchups against Pittsburgh this coming Thursday at 7 p.m., and NC State at noon on Sunday.
Football
After finishing the year with a program-record 11 wins, capped off with a 13-7 victory over Missouri in the Gator Bowl, Virginia football finished No 16 in the final AP Top 25 Poll of the year, marking the first time its finished in the poll to end the season since 2004. The Cavaliers, who finished with the best conference record in the ACC and appeared in the conference’s championship game, was the second highest ACC team in the poll behind only No. 2 Miami, who fell to No. 1 Indiana 27-21 in the College Football Playoff National Championship game on Monday.
Women’s lacrosse
Ahead of its season opener on Feb. 6, No. 7 women’s lacrosse saw three Cavaliers — midfielder Kate Galica and attackers Madison Alaimo and Jenna DiNardo — named as Preseason All-Americans by USA Lacrosse Magazine. Galica was named to the first team after being a consensus All-American last year, with first team selections by IWLCA and Nike. Alaimo was named to the second team after being an IWLCA Third Team All-American last year and DiNardo was named to the third team after being named to last year’s IWLCA second team All-Region.
