Brief previews of this weekend in women’s basketball, track and field, and swim and dive. For a full preview of the wrestling team’s weekend matchup, click here.
Women’s Basketball
What: Virginia (13-6, 3-3 ACC) vs. Georgia Tech (12-7, 2-3 ACC)
Where: Charlottesville, Virginia
When: Sunday, 2 p.m.
The Skinny: With a loss to Miami Wednesday night, Virginia fell to 0-3 on the road against ACC opponents. The team will hope to bounce back against Georgia Tech at home, where the Cavaliers are 10-1 this season.
Virginia led 27-25 at halftime against the Hurricanes, but was outscored 42-31 in the second half to lose 67-58. The Cavaliers fell against No. 4 Louisville 67-55 earlier on the week, also on the road.
Georgia Tech is coming off three straight losses against No. 12 North Carolina, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame. In their most recent game against Notre Dame, the Yellow Jackets lost, 86-79.
The matchup will feature two of the ACC’s best scorers and rebounders in Georgia Tech sophomore guard Kaela Davis and Virginia junior guard Faith Randolph. Davis and Randolph are No. 3 and 4 in average points per game in the conference, respectively. Davis, a selection to the Preseason All-ACC Team, enters scoring at a pace of 20.5 points per game, while Randolph is averaging 17.9 per game.
Virginia senior center Sarah Imovbioh continues to lead the league in total rebounds, averaging 11.26 per game, but only grabbed eight boards in her team’s loss to Miami. Georgia Tech’s junior forward Roddreka Rogers is not far behind Imovbioh — fifth in the league in rebounding with an average of 9.7 per game. The Yellow Jackets as a team are third in the league in offensive rebounding — something the Cavaliers will have in mind after allowing Miami to score 18 second chance points.
—compiled by Chanhong Luu
Indoor Track and Field
What: Rod McCravy Memorial Meet
Where: Nutter Field House in Lexington, Kentucky.
When: Friday, 10 a.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m.
The Skinny: After a solid showing in Blacksburg last weekend, the Cavalier track and field team travels to Lexington, Kentucky for the Rod McCravy Memorial Meet this Friday and Saturday.
The Wildcats’ Nutter Field House is the venue for this elite track and field invitational, featuring an excess of highly regarded programs. The Florida men’s and women’s teams — ranked No. 1 in the nation — will be present, and 13 other D1 programs, including No. 3 Oregon, No. 7 Arkansas and No. 5 Texas, will challenge Virginia during the two-day meet. All have a measure of past success and present ambition, which contributes to the hype.
Virginia is one of five teams competing without ranked men’s or women’s sides, but the Cavaliers are in a strong position this early in the season. In Blacksburg, senior sprinters Jordan Lavender and Peyton Hazzard set personal records and sophomore transfer Jordan Young shattered the school record in the shot put. In addition, sophomore Christine Bohan won the women’s shot, besting the school record by nearly a meter.
Coach Bryan Fetzer said he has faith in his athletes’ passion, dedication and ability, even in the face of daunting competition. The SEC+ Network will broadcast the Rod McCravy Meet Saturday at 12 p.m.
—compiled by Grant Gossage
Swim & Dive
What: No. 21 Virginia men (1-4, 0-2 ACC) vs. North Carolina (3-2, 1-1 ACC); No. 6 Virginia women (3-1) vs. No. 18 North Carolina (4-1, 2-0 ACC)
Where: The Aquatic and Fitness Center
When: Saturday, 12 p.m.
The Skinny: The Virginia swimming and diving teams will continue their homestand this weekend as they host conference-rival North Carolina in their final dual meet of the season.
The Cavaliers split their last meet against the Tar Heels. The men fought hard, with the contest knotted at 141 entering the final event — the 400 free relay — but North Carolina prevailed to secure the victory.
The women’s meet was similarly close, with the two teams tied at 131 before Virginia netted victories in the 200 IM and 400 free relay to seal the win.
North Carolina is coming off a sweep of Navy two weekends ago, as well as an impressive showing at the 2014 Janis Hape Dowd Nike Cup last November. After a successful season thus far, the Tar Heels will look to continue their hot streak in Charlottesville.
Meanwhile, Virginia will look to capitalize on the success achieved in its earlier meets.
After a notable performance by both teams at the Georgia Fall Invitational last December, the women continued to dominate as they cruised to a 243-110 victory against Virginia Tech last weekend. The men fell 135-218 to the No. 12 Hokies, but still aim to carry their momentum from the Invitational into this weekend and beyond.
The Cavaliers are looking to finish the regular season strong as they take on the Tar Heels before entering the ACC Championship next month.
—compiled by Chuck Siegel
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