Olympic Sports Update: UVA Volleyball set to host No. 10 Pitt

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Abbby Tadder (Photo: UVA Athletics)

The Virginia volleyball team will face its second ranked opponent of the season when it welcomes No. 10 Pittsburgh on Wednesday to round out its eight-match homestand. First serve from Memorial Gymnasium is set for 8 p.m.

Admission to all 2022 Virginia volleyball regular-season matches is free to the public (no ticket required).

Wednesday’s match will be broadcast on ACC Network and stream on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX) through the ESPN app, which is available through participating TV providers that carry ACC Network.  Sam Gore (play-by-play) and Missy Whittemore (analyst) will have the call.

PARKING INFORMATION 

  • Fans planning to attend Virginia volleyball matches this season are encouraged to park in the Culbreth, Central Grounds or Emmet/Ivy parking garages utilizing the ParkMobile app.
  • For more information regarding hourly parking locations and payments, visit park.virginia.edu/parkmobile.

SERIES HISTORY 

  • The Panthers (11-2, 2-0 ACC) lead the all-time series, 16-3, and are winners of the last nine meetings.
  • Virginia (8-5, 0-2) is seeking its first win over Pitt since its 3-1 victory on Oct. 2, 2015 in Mem Gym.
  • In Virginia’s most recent win over the Panthers in 2015, outside hitter Kayla Sears set the program’s single-match record of nine service aces. The Cavaliers finished with 15 total aces, which tied the program’s team single-match record.

AMAZING GRACE (TURNER) 

  • Grace Turner has been a workhorse for the Cavaliers this season, having started in all 13 matches and appeared in all 55 possible sets as a six-rotation outside hitter.
  • She leads the Cavaliers in kills per set (3.44), aces per set (0.45), points per set (4.08) and total receptions (383). Her 3.44 kills-per-set and 4.08 points-per-set averages are currently good for seventh in the ACC, while her 0.45 aces per set stands at No. 5 in the league.
  • Turner has posted four 20-kill matches on the season and has done so on back-to-back occasions twice, against Charlotte (Sept. 9 & 10) and against NC State (Sept. 23) and North Carolina (Sept. 25). Earlier this season, she became the first UVA player to notch back-to-back 20-kill performances since 2016.
  • Turner also leads the Cavaliers with eight career double-doubles, including three this season.
  • Last year, Turner finished with 27 total aces, the most for her in a single season during her playing career at UVA. Through the first 13 of the Cavaliers’ 29 scheduled matches, Turner currently sits at 25 aces this season

VIRGINIA VS. RANKED OPPONENTS 

  • With the Panthers’ No. 10 ranking, UVA is seeking its third win over a ranked opponent in program history. Wednesday’s contest marks the fourth instance in which Virginia has faced a ranked Pitt team and third time that the Panthers have been in the AVCA top 10 while squaring off against UVA.
  • The Cavaliers’ most recent win over a ranked opponent was on Oct. 31, 2010 (4,350 days ago), when UVA defeated #25 Florida State in five sets in Mem Gym.
  • Virginia’s highest ranked victory was the program’s first, a four-set win over #22 Georgia Tech on Oct. 5, 1996.
  • UVA is 2-69 all-time against ranked opponents. A complete list of results vs. ranked opponents can be found on page 26 of the Virginia Volleyball record book.
  • The AVCA weekly poll began in 1982.

ABBY TADDER AMONG THE ACC’S STATISTICAL LEADERS

  • Virginia middle blocker Abby Tadder is currently ninth in the ACC in hitting percentage (.335).
  • In addition to her efficient hitting percentage, Tadder leads the Cavaliers in blocks (56.0) and blocks per set (1.02).
  • In the first two weekends of play this season, Tadder nabbed all-tournament honors.
  • Like Turner, Tadder has started in all 13 matches this season and appeared in all possible 55 sets.

Cavaliers finish strong, wrap up fourth place at Inverness Intercollegiate

golf

(© Kevin Carden – stock.adobe.com)

The No. 5 Virginia men’s golf team posted the best final-round score Tuesday to move up to a fourth-place finish at the 16-team Inverness Intercollegiate in Toledo, Ohio. The Cavaliers shot 7-under 277 at the par-71 Inverness Club for a 54-hole total of 12-over 864. Texas Tech won the event at 1-over 853. UVA’s final-round score was the best single-round total during the tournament.

Virginia was led during its second tournament of the season by a third-place finish from freshman Ben James. He finished at 2-under 211, including a final-round score of 3-under 68. James has started his UVA career by posting under-par scores in five of his six rounds.

Junior George Duangmanee had the team’s best final-round score shooting 5-under 66 to improve to a 20th-place finish at 6-over 219. Duangmanee’s final-round score was his best overall single-round score as a collegiate. He had posted rounds of 67 six times during his career.

Junior Chris Fosdick placed 28th for UVA, shooting 7-over 220 while senior Pietro Bovari and sophomore Deven Patel tied for 45th at 224.

The tournament featured seven teams currently ranked in the top-30 of the latest Golfweek standings.

The Cavaliers return to action Oct. 3-4 at the Maidstone Invitational in Long Island, N.Y.

Inverness Intercollegiate
Inverness Club
Toledo, Ohio
Par 71, 7,265 yards
Final Results

Team Results
1. Texas Tech — 288-284-281-853
2. Georgia Tech — 287-285-287-859
3. Oklahoma — 289-286-288-863
4. Virginia — 293-294-277-864
5. Louisville — 289-294-290-873
5. Notre Dame — 296-288-289-873
7. Ohio State — 290-292-293-875
8. Purdue — 291-303-286-880
9. East Tennessee State — 290-293-299-882
10. SMU — 289-298-298-885
11. Toledo — 297-296-296-889
12. Iowa — 301-300-290-891
13. Charlotte — 300-302-292-894
14. South Alabama — 307-296-293-896
15. Washington — 303-303-291-897
16. USC — 296-302-306-904

Individual Leaders
1. Christo Lamprecht, Georgia Tech — 67-67-72-206
2. Calum Scott, Texas Tech — 68-69-71-208
3. Ben James, Virginia — 70-73-68-211
4. Maxwell Moldovan, Ohio State — 68-69-74-211

Virginia Results
3. Ben James — 70-73-68-211
20. George Duangmanee — 79-74-66-219
28. Chris Fosdick — 73-75-72-220
45. Pietro Bovari — 74-79-71-224
45. Deven Patel — 76-72-76-224

Appleton, Sado, Anthony pick up ACC weekly honors

cross country

( © Michael Flippo – stock.adobe.com)

Following a pair of strong performances from the Virginia men’s and women’s cross country teams at the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown, Margot Appleton and Yasin Sado were both named ACC men’s and women’s performers of the week while Will Anthony was named the ACC Freshman of the Week, the league announced Tuesday.

Sado led the Virginia men to a win in the 8k race at the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown where the Cavaliers went 2-3-4-5-6 to win their second in a row as Virginia topped a pair of ranked opponents. Sado crossed the line with a time of 23:52.9, his best on an eight-kilometer cross country course in his career and captured his second runner-up performance in as many appearances. The performance from Sado and his teammates helped Virginia crack the top-20 of the latest USTFCCCA national coaches’ poll.

Anthony made his collegiate debut in the same race as he put down a time of 23:57.0 placing sixth overall and fifth among Cavaliers. Anthony’s finish contributed to the Cavalier scoring effort and was enough to earn him the first ACC honor of his career as he was named ACC Men’s Freshman of the Week.

For the third time this season, Appleton was the first Cavalier to cross the finish line as she helped her team remain undefeated at the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown. Her time of 17:11.3 was good for a runner-up finish and secured a top-two finish for the third time in as many races for Appleton this season. Appleton has been named ACC Women’s Performer of the week for the second time this season.

UP NEXT

Virginia will host its final home meet of the season ahead of the ACC Championships with the Panorama Farms XC 23 Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 10 a.m.

Panorama Farms & XC23

In addition to serving as the home course for the Virginia men’s and women’s cross country programs, Panorama Farms will serve as the location for both the 2022 ACC Championships on Friday, Oct. 28, as well as the 2023 NCAA Championships.

Trimborn named ACC Defensive Player of the Week

Photo: UVA Athletics

Virginia field hockey goalkeeper Jet Trimborn has been named the ACC Defensive Player of the Week in honors announced Tuesday by the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Trimborn posted her first career shutout as the No. 10 Cavaliers blanked No. 11 Syracuse 3-0 to earn their first ACC win of the season. The freshman from Bossum, Netherlands, faced eight shots and made all four of her saves in the fourth quarter in blanking a Syracuse team that ranks among the nation’s top five in both goals and points per game.

Friday marked the only time the Orange has been shut out in 10 games this season and only the third match in which it has scored fewer than three goals.

Trimborn, who played the full 60 minutes on Friday, has not allowed a goal in 84:07 of ACC action thus far.

Trimborn is the first Virginia player to earn an ACC Player of the Week honor this season.

Ueland named ACC Defensive Player of the Week

Photo: UVA Athletics

The ACC announced Tuesday that Virginia’s senior captain, Andreas Ueland, has been honored as the ACC Defensive Player of the Week following a pair of outstanding performances anchoring the Cavalier back line.

Ueland was named to the 2022 ACC preseason watch list and has picked up his first weekly honor of the season. As a center back, he has played the most minutes of any Virginia field player this season and led the Cavalier defense to a pair of shutouts as well as a victory over No. 3 Syracuse over the course of the last week.

After a strong showing against American where the Cavaliers allowed just eight total shots and zero goals, Virginia’s defensive anchor turned in an incredible performance on the road against the nation’s third-ranked team in Syracuse. The Cavaliers allowed a combined total of just 11 shots on goal to American and Syracuse.

The Cavaliers conceded just four shots on target to Syracuse and kept a clean sheet against a team that had scored in each of its previous eight matches this season. Ueland was at the center of it all including an individual effort that almost assuredly saved the game for Virginia.

With 70 minutes played in a scoreless battle, Syracuse’s Levonte Johnson was played into the Virginia penalty area and was in on goal. It was a sliding challenge from Ueland that had to be perfect in order to prevent a golden opportunity for Syracuse to snatch the game. Ueland made no mistake and dealt with the danger to keep things scoreless before fellow captain Leo Afonso found the winner for Virginia in the final minutes to seal the victory.

UP NEXT

Virginia will hit the road for another ACC battle with No. 8 Pittsburgh on Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The Cavaliers will return home to Klöckner Stadium to take on No. 11 Denver on Tuesday, Oct. 4. That match is scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m.

Five Hoos ranked in InterMat preseason polls

Photo: UVA Athletics

Five members of the Virginia wrestling team enter the season nationally ranked according to the preseason polls released by InterMat on Tuesday. It’s a group of veteran wrestlers representing the Cavaliers in the individual rankings.

Justin McCoy leads the way at No. 10 at 165 pounds, entering his fifth season with the Cavaliers coming off his third consecutive NCAA berth a year ago along with All-ACC honors for the second straight season after posting a 19-4 record and taking a runner-up finish at the ACC Championships.

Jake Keating starts the season at No. 13 at 157 pounds after earning his second consecutive NCAA Championships berth last season. Keating posted a 17-7 record on the year and finished third at the ACC Championships to lock up the automatic bid.

Jarod Verkleeren is ranked No. 20 at 149 pounds after posting a 16-10 record a year ago in his first season with the Cavaliers after transferring into the program from Penn State.

Neil Antrassian, who is in his first season with the Cavaliers as a graduate transfer from Penn, is ranked No. 26 at 184 pounds. Antrassian posted a 16-11 record a year ago and was named an All-Ivy Honorable Mention selection. He was named an alternate for the NCAA Championships at 184 pounds.

Michael Battista enters his sixth season with the Cavaliers and is coming off a campaign that saw him earn his first NCAA Championship berth a year ago. Battista posted a 15-8 record on the year that included a trio of wins over nationally-ranked foes to propel him into the national rankings a year ago as he locked up the bid to the NCAA Championships.

Virginia begins its season at the Southeast Open on Nov. 5 in Roanoke.

VIRGINIA WRESTLERS IN THE RANKINGS
149: No. 20 Jarod Verkleeren
157: No. 13 Jake Keating
165: No. 10 Justin McCoy
184: No. 26 Neil Antrassian
197: No. 33 Michael Battista