The skinny on weekend competition for Virginia's men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's tennis and softball teams.
Men’s lacrosse
What: No. 7 Virginia (5-2, 0-2 ACC) at No. 19 Johns Hopkins (3-4)
Where: Homewood Field in Baltimore, Maryland
When: Saturday, 6 p.m.
The Skinny: Coming off an 11-9 loss against No. 3 Notre Dame, the Cavaliers are looking to get back to their winning ways against a No. 19 Johns Hopkins team that has struggled to find success thus far this season. Johns Hopkins is 1-3 in their last four games with the only win coming against unranked Navy.
Against Notre Dame, the Cavaliers led a valiant comeback effort after heading into halftime facing an 8-2 deficit. The second half rally was led by junior attackman Greg Coholan and junior midfielder Ryan Tucker, who scored four and three goals in total.
Virginia was particularly hindered by the loss of junior attackman James Pannell, who injured his knee last Thursday in practice. Pannell has logged 11 goals and four assists this season, with six of these goals against then-No. 8 Cornell. Following that performance he was named ACC Offensive Player of the Week. Pannell’s injury will cause him to miss the remainder of the 2015 season.
Struggling this season, Johns Hopkins has just one win against a ranked opponent, No. 20 Villanova. Its most recent loss was to No. 1 Syracuse. Although they started the game with three straight goals, Johns Hopkins was tied with Syracuse 10-10 by the first minutes of the fourth quarter. Giving up three more unanswered, the Blue Jays let a potential upset slip away.
Johns Hopkins has yet to beat a top-10 seeded team and at No. 8, Virginia will look to continue this trend. The Cavaliers are currently ranked sixth in the NCAA in shot percentage with .357, which should bode well against the Blue Jays, who are currently ranked 19th with only .311.
In this upcoming match, the Cavaliers will face freshman attackman Shack Stanwick, younger brother of Steele Stanwick, who played attack for the Cavaliers from 2009 to 2012. Through his first seven games Shack has racked up 12 goals and a .545 shot percentage. This is similar to Steele through his first seven, who posted 13 goals and a .565 shot percentage.
—compiled by Jordan Bernstein
Men’s Tennis
What: No. 9 Virginia (10-3, 3-0 ACC) at No. 36 Notre Dame (8-6, 1-2 ACC); No. 9 Virginia at Boston College (4-7, 0-2 ACC)
When: Friday, 3:30 p.m.; Sunday, 12 p.m.
Where: Notre Dame, Indiana; Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
The Skinny: The ninth-ranked Virginia Cavaliers men’s tennis team is approaching the point in the season when the best teams begin to break from the pack and differentiate themselves as national title contenders.
After opening ACC play with three straight wins and extending their ACC dominance to 127 straight matches, the Cavaliers look to carry their momentum into two road ACC matchups this weekend. As has been the case in years past, the ACC season is a time when the Cavaliers win and win often.
First, they will travel to Notre Dame to take on ACC newcomer Notre Dame, a team the Cavaliers easily handled last season, winning all four matchups, including one in the NCAA tournament.
Next, Virginia takes on the Boston College Eagles, a team desperately looking to stay relevant in the incredibly competitive ACC conference. They’ve lost four in a row and currently sit in 10th place with a 0-2 record in the conference.
Although this weekend may seem like a standard, mid-season pair of matchups, it represents a much bigger part of Virginia’s overall goals for the season. If the Cavaliers can secure both wins, they’ll be 5-0 in the ACC before returning home for a six-match home stand over the course of two weeks.
—compiled by Jacob Hochberger
Women’s lacrosse
What: No. 8 Virginia (5-4, 0-2 ACC) vs. No.4 Duke (9-0)
Where: Klöckner Stadium, Charlottesville, Virginia
When: Saturday, 1 p.m.
The Skinny: The Virginia women’s lacrosse team looks to continue its two-game winning streak on Saturday when it faces its fifth straight ranked opponent in Duke.
After knocking off No. 13 Princeton Saturday and No. 12 JMU Wednesday, the Cavaliers now have three wins against top-25 teams but have yet to beat a ranked ACC opponent after losing to No. 5 Syracuse and No. 2 North Carolina.
Meanwhile, Duke is off to their best start since 2006, where they interestingly lost to the Cavaliers in the Final Four.
This season, Duke is leading the ACC in all facets — offense, defense and goaltending. The Blue Devils are first in the league in both points per game, with 21.22 points, and goals against average — allowing an average of 6.22 goals per game. Both are good enough for fourth in the nation, and Duke’s save percentage is at 53.3 percent.
Senior attacker Kerrin Maurer, who leads the ACC in assists per game, anchors the Blue Devil offense, while junior Kelsey Duryea shuts down opposing offenses in goal for the Blue Devils. Both have received ACC Player of the Week honors this season. Joining the club this week for her defensive efforts was freshman midfielder Maddie Crutchfield, who caused two turnovers and picked up three ground balls in Duke’s win against No. 10 Louisville Saturday.
The Blue Devils have not only been outscoring their opponents by an impressive 8.22 goals per game, but they have also played four fewer-ranked opponents than the Cavaliers, who have played in five games decided by two goals or fewer.
—compiled by Chanhong Luu
Women’s tennis
What: No. 8 Virginia (11-2, 4-0 ACC) at No. 15 Clemson (9-5, 4-1 ACC); No. 8 Virginia at No. 24 Duke (10-5, 5-0 ACC)
When: Friday, 11 a.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.
Where: Clemson, South Carolina; Durham, North Carolina
The Skinny: The No. 8 Virginia women’s tennis team will continue ACC play this weekend with two matches on the road. The Cavaliers travel to No. 15 Clemson Friday and will follow that match Sunday against No. 24 Duke.
Virginia looks to continue their six-game winning streak, including four straight in the ACC. The team has not lost since it fell to No. 2 Florida in the ITA National Women’s Team Indoor Championships.
Clemson is coming off two consecutive 7-0 victories. The Tigers are led by strong doubles play, which is anchored by the No. 1 ranked doubles pair in the nation, Beatrice Gumulaya and Jessy Rompies. Gumulaya and Rompies are 22-2 on the year.
On court one, an interesting match should unfold. Clemson’s No. 24 Joana Eidukonyte will look to take down Virginia junior Julia Elbaba, who is currently the top-ranked player in the country.
On the other hand, Duke enters its match against Virginia carrying momentum as well. The Blue Devils, like the Cavaliers, have won six straight. If Virginia wins against Clemson Friday, someone’s streak will have to come to an end Sunday.
—compiled by Daniel Fisher
Softball
What: Virginia (5-23, 1-8 ACC) vs. Delaware State (2-13), Marist (8-10)
Where: The Park, Charlottesville, Virginia
When: Friday, 3:30 p.m.; Saturday, 2:30 p.m.; Sunday, 12 p.m.
The Skinny: The Virginia softball team will host the U.Va. Home Tournament as they compete in four games against Delaware State and Marist this weekend.
The Cavaliers will play the first game against Delaware State. Delaware State and Marist will also play each other twice throughout the weekend.
Virginia has seen both of their opponents earlier in the year. The Cavaliers first faced Delaware State in the Eagle Challenge at N.C. Central Feb. 13. Virginia routed the Hornets 14-1 with 11 hits in five innings. Four Cavaliers hit home runs, including freshman infielder Danni Ingraham’s first of her Cavalier career. After being held to one and two runs in their last two games against James Madison, the Cavaliers will hope for an offensive performance similar to their last against Delaware State.
Delaware State, in the midst of an underwhelming season so far, will hope to gain a few victories this weekend as they look to build upon their most recent 2-0 win over Villanova, the Hornets’ second victory of the season, while hoping to avenge their trouncing earlier at the hands of the Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers first met the Red Foxes in the Citrus Classic in Orlando, in which they dropped all six games in the tournament. Virginia held a 3-2 lead entering the third inning before Marist erupted for four runs in the bottom of the third. Despite another run in the fourth inning, the Cavaliers were unable to answer as the Foxes held on for the 6-4 victory. Virginia will look to even the score with two games against Marist this weekend.
With the postseason in mind, the Cavaliers will look to win a few games this weekend as they compete on their home turf.
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