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Weekend Previews: October 12-14

‘The Skinny’ on weekend action for women’s and men’s soccer, volleyball

<p>Junior forward Meghan McCool has six goals this season for Virginia.</p>

Junior forward Meghan McCool has six goals this season for Virginia.

Women’s Soccer

What: No. 6 Virginia (11-2, 4-2 ACC) vs. Pittsburgh (4-8-1, 0-6 ACC)

Where: Klöckner Stadium, Charlottesville

When: Sunday October 14, at 2 p.m.

The Skinny: After a week of rest following the successive victories over Louisville and Notre Dame, the newly ranked Cavaliers squad will attempt to keep their form and show consistency as they square off against a struggling Pittsburgh women’s soccer team this Sunday afternoon. With an overall 11-2 record, the Cavaliers moved up two positions to No.6 in the NCAA United Soccer Coaches rankings. Their return to action in Charlottesville is highly anticipated after playing on the road their last seven of eight games. 

Heading into Sunday, the buzz around Virginia women’s soccer could not be more noticeable. The Cavaliers are 6-0 at home this season and are currently riding a win streak of three. Their impeccable play at home has translated into elite performances on the road as the unit has developed an uncanny ability to find the net. Virginia is averaging a little under goals per game.

Along with high scoring, the Cavaliers ability to share the ball and create opportunities with a variety of targets has lifted their level of play. To date, 12 different players have scored goals and fourteen different players have assists.

While the Panthers appeared to be off to a solid start this season, their luck has run out in conference play as they’ve lost six straight games and have been outscored 18-2 during that span. From an even broader scope, the Panthers are riding a 20-game winless streak in conference play since joining the ACC back in september of 2011. They have been consistently overwhelmed by conference opponents. Their overall record conference record of 7-45 is abysmal. Beginning to show signs of improvement, the contest against the Cavaliers will be an extremely difficult arena to turn things around in.

The match will take place this Sunday Oct.14 at 2 p.m. and will air on ACC Network Extra.

— Compiled by Alex Maniatis

Men’s Soccer

What: No. 14 Virginia (7-1-2, 2-1-1 ACC) vs. Clemson (5-5-1, 0-4 ACC)

Where: Historic Riggs Field, Clemson, S.C.

When: Friday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m.

The Skinny: The No. 14 Virginia men’s soccer team will play its second-to-last road match of the regular season Friday night at Clemson.

The Cavaliers are fresh off a 3-0 win against No. 3 Denver (10-1-2, 2-0-1 Summit League) at home Monday night. Freshman forward Daryl Dike scored twice, one goal in each half, while senior winger Simeon Okoro also scored to defeat the Pioneers.

Dike has scored three times in his last three games. The three goals Virginia scored against Denver were the most they have scored in a single match all season.

Sophomore winger Nathaniel Crofts had two assists against Denver, recording the first two-assist game for the Cavaliers since October 2017.

Denver came into the match boasting the eighth-best attack and the leading scorer in the nation, but the Pioneers were held to only two shots by the Virginia defense.

Clemson is winless so far in conference play this year, surrendering 15 goals throughout the season — the second-most in the ACC. The Tigers will be Virginia’s first unranked opponent since the Cavaliers faced Pittsburgh on Sept. 28.

— Compiled by Colin Cantwell

Volleyball

What: Virginia (5-11, 1-5 ACC) vs. N.C. State (8-8, 2-4 ACC) and North Carolina (5-10, 1-5 ACC)

Where: Raleigh, N.C. and Chapel Hill, N.C.

When: Friday, October 12 at 6:00 p.m. and Sunday, October 14 at 1:00 p.m.

The Skinny: After securing its first ACC win against Boston College (12-6, 2-4 ACC) and losing a hard-fought game against Syracuse (9-5, 5-1 ACC), the Virginia volleyball team will look to continue its recent success in a weekend double-header.

The Cavaliers went into last weekend on a five-game losing streak but they snapped it on Friday, downing Boston College in a five-set thriller. Led by sophomore outside hitter Sarah Billiard and freshman middle blocker Milla Ciprian, the Cavaliers delivered one of their best performances of the season.

Virginia could not, however, replicate its Friday night form against Syracuse. The team gave a valiant effort pushing the Orange to the brink on multiple sets — but couldn’t make big plays in the clutch when it mattered.

Going forward, Virginia will have two fantastic opportunities to pick up conference wins this upcoming weekend as N.C. State and North Carolina have a combined ACC record of 3-9. They will also be Virginia’s first conference opponents without overall winning records.

If Virginia can avoid errors and spells of inconsistency, the team will have a great shot at adding a couple of wins to its record and getting a confidence boost as they continue conference play.

— Compiled by Vignesh Mulay

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