For some, riding a horse is a leisurely weekend activity, one that is not very physically demanding. This is not the case for Virginia's men's and women's club polo teams, however. Riding a horse is just one part of the game that polo players must master, and they are the first to admit it is hard work.
Virginia is home to one of the largest intercollegiate polo programs in the country, in terms of members, facilities and horses. The men's and women's teams have more than 35 players combined, and they are able to hone their skills on any of 75 horses. For practicing and playing matches, the Cavaliers head to one of the two arenas or two barns. Also, for those who are not ready to play at the college level, Virginia also has a polo facilities for those just learning the game.
This past weekend, the No. 1 Virginia women's club polo team faced its toughest opponents of the season and stood up to the challenge by defeating No. 2 Connecticut, the two-time defending national champions, and No. 3 Cornell on consecutive days. The Cavaliers defeated the Huskies 16-10 on Saturday and followed that up with a 15-11 win over the Big Red on Sunday.
The first game against UConn was "by far one of the best games we've played in a while," said senior Molly Muedeking. "I thought each team played really well, but, [we] came on top of that game. For Cornell, we played them on Sunday, which was tough because the two games were back to back. That game was a bit slower because I think we were tired from the day before, but we still played really well."
The wins closed the book on who can be called the top team in the nation and ended speculation about Virginia's previous wins over these opponents.
"It was a huge accomplishment for this team," said Virginia men's and women's coach Lou Lopez. "There was a little bit of a question within the collegiate polo community as to which was the better team, because we played the UConn team this fall and beat them pretty substantially, but everybody kept saying 'That was a fluke, that was a fluke, it will never happen again'. We proved to everybody, including ourselves, at this point, that we are truly the number one seed and are looking forward to going to nationals next week."
These matches were a tune up for the Cavalier women, who will take their No. 1 ranking to Lexington, Ky. to compete in the National Intercollegiate Tournament April 1. The No. 2 Virginia men's team will also be competing in nationals, and will have the chance to take on the current No. 1 team, Texas A&M. It will be the first time this season the men can play against top talent, which has been lacking in terms of previous opponents.
"Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, we don't have very much competition on the East Coast," Lopez said. "We haven't had a game against any East Coast team that was even close. The boys won their regionals by a good 20 goal margin, and they played Cornell [Sunday] and beat them by a 16 goal margin."
The Cavalier men and women are both hoping to bring home national championships from this event.
"I think we have the potential to bring home two national titles," Muedeking said. "Speaking for the women's team, I think that we have every chance in the world to bring home a national title for Virginia, and I think we will. I think the men also have a really good shot. They have been playing very strong together. They have a harder road to get to the finals than we do, because of their lower seeding, but they definitely can pull off the win."
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