CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) — In its regular-season finale, Virginia women’s lacrosse completed its season turnaround in conference play with a 13-10 victory against Virginia Tech on Thursday.
Kate Galica had five goals and two assists for the Cavaliers.
In an end-to-end affair, neither side established a clear advantage. Virginia’s veterans kept them in the contest until the end, with midfielder Kate Galica putting five goals past the Hokies’ defense, three in the first quarter alone, while winning 11 draw controls. But it was freshman Megan Rocklein who broke the 10-10 tie with a goal early in the final quarter, the first of three unanswered from the Cavaliers.
Next, Virginia is headed to the ACC Tournament where it’ll face No. 4-seed Syracuse on Wednesday at 2 p.m.
The men’s lacrosse team dropped a heart-breaker to No. 3 North Carolina on Saturday at Klockner, overcoming an 11-7 halftime deficit and getting a game-tying goal from Ryan Duenkel with one second left to force overtime. But in the extra period, after goalie Jake Marek stopped a Carolina shot, James Matan put in the rebound for the game winning score, 16-15.
Brendan Millon scored three goals and had three assists.
The Cavaliers still cliched spot in the ACC tournament when Duke dropped their conference contest to Notre Dame over the weekend. Before that, Virginia faces Drexel Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in the regular-season finale.
Tennis
The men’s and women’s tennis teams each reached the finals of the ACC Championships, where the top-seeded women fell to North Carolina State, and the second-seeded men were defeated by Wake Forest.
The women bested Stanford 4-1 and then Duke 4-2 before reaching the ACC Championship final against the Wolfpack. Despite one win in doubles play, the Hoos were shut out by the No. 3-seeded Wolfpack 4-0.
The men had a bit more dramatic start to their tournament run. California won the doubles point and took the opening match of singles play, but the nation’s top singles player, Dylan Dietrich, clinched a win to send the Cavaliers to the next round with a 4-3 victory.
After a more comfortable 4-1 win against Notre Dame in the semifinals, Virginia looked for revenge against Wake Forest in the tournament final after the Demon Deacons beat the Cavaliers 4-2 in the regular season. But the Deacons did it again, winning by an identical score 4-2 in the final.
Golf
The Lewis Chitengwa Memorial Tournament was held at Birdwood over the weekend for the first time since 2022, and Virginia men’s golf team secured the victory as the hosting team. The Cavaliers finished top of the team leaderboard, besting fellow ACC programs Florida State and SMU in the top three, shooting 39-under-par as a unit.
Paul Chang also took home the individual crown, topping the leaderboard with a 16-under-par performance. Virginia heads to Panama City, Florida this weekend to play for the ACC title.
Women’s golf competed for the ACC title over the weekend in Wilmington, North Carolina, finishing ninth as a team, eleven strokes ahead of Miami in 10th and four strokes behind Virginia Tech in eighth. Virginia’s top finisher was Jaclyn LaHa, who shot four-under-par, good for joint-eleventh place. The Selection Show for the NCAA Tournament will take place April 29.
Softball
Softball fell in upset fashion to Clemson over the weekend. In Game 1, three of Virginia’s four runs came from a home run from Bella Cabral, who re-announced her presence in the lineup with her 11th long ball of the season. But a five-run fifth inning for Clemson caused the wheels to fall off for Virginia, and the Tigers won 12-4.
Clemson took Virginia down again in game two eking out a 3-1 victory in a pitcher’s duel. Finally, a furious first inning in game three got the Tigers out to a 4-0 lead and allowed them to take permanent control of the game as they completed the sweep with a 6-1 win.
Looking to get back in the win column, the Cavaliers will return home on Tuesday evening to face JMU at 5 p.m. before they play their final ACC series against N.C. State this weekend.
Baseball
Baseball fell in the second leg of the I-64 series against the VCU Rams by a score of 6-2 on Tuesday evening at the Diamond in Richmond.
Afterward, the Cavaliers returned home on Thursday evening to face Clemson, who sent Aidan Knaak, the preseason ACC Pitcher of the Year, to the mound to start the series. Knaak though, was no match for Virginia’s offense, who the rode the long-ball and two big innings in the second and sixth inning respectively to win a tight game 6-4. AJ Gracia sent his 12th home run of the season over the fence in the second inning, a three-run shot, contributing half of Virginia’s runs with one swing.
Clemson ace Michael Sharman went eight innings in game two, surrendering only one run while striking out seven in a 5-1 win for the Tigers.
That set up a Saturday rubber match that featured six home runs in nine innings. Virginia hit four of them in a dramatic 5-4 victory. First baseman Sam Harris and second baseman Joe Tiroly both went deep, and the other two homers came off the bat of left fielder Harrison Didawick, who hits the game-winning shot in the seventh after hitting an inside-the-park home run in the first, Virginia’s first of the season.
The Cavaliers will face Liberty on Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. before heading to Pittsburgh this weekend.
More Action
Track & field team hosted the Virginia Challenge over the weekend and earned several podium finishes throughout the schedule. Lola Kolawole won the women’s 200m, Maya Rollins won the women’s 100m, Janae Profit took third in the Women’s discus and the squad of Ariel Fletcher, Ma’Khi Falkquay, Kaela Swift, and Sarah Akpan took third in the Women’s 4×100 relay.
Rowing’s Second Varsity Eight won at the Eisenberg Cup in West Windsor, New Jersey. Virginia placed second in the Varsity Four and Third Varsity Eight.
Women’s basketball head coach Aaron Rousell officially announced the first addition to his staff, adding former University of Florida Head Coach Kelly Rae Finley as associate head coach.
