The eighth edition of the Smithfield Commonwealth Clash — a year-long competition between Virginia and Virginia Tech that includes 24 matchups across 22 sports — was decided last weekend at the women’s golf ACC Championship as the Cavaliers shot 17 under the Hokies’ weekend finish of 873. Each school is awarded a point when they come out on top over their rival — some sports will face off twice during the season, meaning those games are worth 0.5 points each. The first team to accumulate 11 points is crowned the winner. This final triumph over Virginia Tech marked the last point needed to end the contest and lock in Virginia’s win.
Virginia women’s soccer kicked off the competition with a bang Oct. 15 with a 3-0 shutout of the Hokies. Senior defender Chloe Japic’s goal in the tenth minute put the Cavaliers ahead early on and they never looked back, walking away with the first point of the Commonwealth Clash.
Just five days later, men’s soccer widened the Cavaliers’ lead to 2-0 with yet another 3-0 victory against the Hokies in Blacksburg. Freshman forward Stephen Annor Gyamfi found the net twice to seal Virginia’s win.
The Cavaliers continued to rack up their points Oct. 27 at the ACC Cross Country Championships — both the men’s and women’s teams placed third over the Hokies’ 11th and 10th place finishes, respectively, putting Virginia even further ahead in the Commonwealth Clash standings at 4-0.
The dominance continued when the Cavaliers’ volleyball team faced off against Virginia Tech twice in the fall, winning both matchups to notch another point for Virginia. The first game was Oct. 29, and it made history as the first volleyball match to be held in John Paul Jones Arena since the facility was built in 2006 — the game also brought in an all-time record crowd of 3,162 fans. Virginia dropped the first two sets but recovered to win the final three, sending many of those fans in attendance home happy. A month later, the Cavaliers beat Virginia Tech in Blacksburg in a three-set sweep.
Football posed the only fall sport where Virginia did not dominate over Virginia Tech — the Thanksgiving weekend Commonwealth Cup game left Cavalier fans disappointed as they watched Hokie supporters storm Scott Stadium after a resounding 55-17 win. Virginia was only able to gain 27 yards over the first quarter without a single first down, and that lack of energy remained consistent for the rest of the humiliating defeat. Virginia Tech’s lone Commonwealth Clash victory in the fall left the standings 5-1 in favor of Virginia.
Jan. 17 brought along the first of two men’s basketball matchups between the rivals. The Cavaliers’ 65-57 home victory was highlighted by senior guard Reece Beekman and graduate forward Jordan Minor scoring 16 points each, propelling the Cavaliers to another 0.5 points. But when the two teams met again in Blacksburg a month later, the Hokies put Virginia to shame in a 75-41 drubbing that nicked back half a point for Virginia Tech.
While points were also split in women’s basketball, Virginia’s victory meant more than progress in the Commonwealth Clash. The unranked Cavaliers overcame No. 5 Virginia Tech 80-75 in their last game of regular season play March 3, pulling off one of the program’s greatest upsets of all time. This game was viewed by yet another record-breaking crowd at JPJ, as 11,975 fans of both schools came to watch, marking the largest-ever women’s basketball crowd in the state of Virginia.
Perhaps the most notable Cavalier victory of the year was Virginia women’s swim and dive’s
fifth consecutive ACC Championship title Feb. 24, where the team not only brought home the trophy but broke the ACC all-time scoring record while doing so. The Cavalier women accumulated 1,637.5 points at the meet to beat the record previously held by the NC State men’s team, which sat at 1,615 points. Virginia outscored the Hokies by over 1000 total points as they swept the ACC relays, while junior Gretchen Walsh broke four NCAA records in the process.
The Cavalier men’s swim and dive fell to Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship — placing fifth place overall to the Hokies’ third — meaning the teams’ performances at the collective swim and dive ACC Championships were split evenly.
The Hokies were much more successful in the rival contests over the winter, gaining three more points from their triumphs over Virginia in wrestling as well as both men’s and women’s indoor track. Those results closed the gap in the Commonwealth Clash to just one point when winter sports concluded, with the Cavaliers leading 7-6.
In mid-March, No. 5 Virginia women’s tennis made the trip to Blacksburg and came out on top with ease, winning 6-1 to bring home a point for Virginia. On the other side, just three weeks later, No. 2 men’s tennis also triumphed 6-1 as they brought home their 62nd win over Virginia Tech in just 70 tries. With another impressive fight versus their rival, Virginia had brought the Commonwealth Clash standings to 9-6.
Virginia Tech fought back and was able to squeeze in 0.5 points with a 6-0 softball victory, in a hard home loss for the Cavaliers April 16. With the score now 9 to 6.5, Virginia couldn’t let the Hokies get much closer.
That cause was helped April 17 when women’s lacrosse pulled it together in the second half of their game in Blacksburg for a 14-12 victory. The Cavaliers started off on the wrong foot and were trailing at the end of the first quarter, but graduate attacker Katie Carnevale’s heroics — to the tune of five goals — turned things around for Virginia, who now needed just one more win to clinch the Commonwealth Clash.
The Virginia men’s and women’s golf teams stepped up to the tees last weekend for the ACC Championships, putting any last uncertainties to rest as they both walked away with victories over Virginia Tech. Junior Amanda Sambach became the first Cavalier in program history to finish in the top three in three different ACC Championships — Sambach finished the weekend shooting a 3-under 69 for a team result of 209. Virginia finished 8-under 856 to place 3rd in the ACC, well above the 8th-place Hokies. This triumph was the last one needed to lock in the Cavaliers’ Commonwealth Clash title as they reached 11 points.
To top it off on the very next day, the men's golf team ended the weekend 35 strokes under Virginia Tech, bringing the Commonwealth Clash standings to 12-6.5. The Hokies picked up another half point by way of softball with a 6-1 win Tuesday, but Virginia still leads by five. The final score will not be entirely determined until the two schools face off in baseball May 16-18 and compete in the ACC Outdoor Championships May 9-11 for men’s and women’s outdoor track and field.
The Cavaliers’ fifth Commonwealth Clash victory over the last eight contests highlights the athletic department’s overall success in recent years, as athletes across a myriad of sports continue to dominate. While not every Virginia program is achieving conference or national success, Cavalier fans should see defeats of the Hokies — something Virginia is becoming increasingly good at — as a suitable consolation prize. With the 2023-24 athletic campaign nearing the postseason, Virginia will look to bring home yet more hardware before returning in the fall to set sail for a Commonwealth Clash three-peat.
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