It won't be in Scott Stadium or University Hall, and it won't be in Lane Stadium or Cassell Coliseum either. But even if it isn't football or basketball, the same rivalry exists between the University and its archenemy Virginia Tech.
When the Virginia women's tennis team hosts the Hokies on the indoor courts of the Boars Head Inn Sports Club at 6:30 tonight, it won't be any different.
"Sure there aren't going to be 60,000 people cheering for us, and it's not going to be on national television," Cavalier assistant coach Justin Drzal said. "But the rivalry is just as big."
"It gets really intense between us," junior Amy O'Donnell added. "It's almost like we don't like each other before the match even begins."
But it's not just the rivalry that pumps the Cavaliers up for tonight's showdown. Recent meetings between the two squads have been nothing but battles down to the wire.
Of the four confrontations between Virginia and Virginia Tech over the past three years, the last match decided three. The Cavaliers defeated the Hokies last season as well as during 1998, while the Hokies won in 1999, all by a score of 5-4.
"It's going to be a war, and we're going to have to fight out there," Drzal said. "We're always ranked at a similar place and match up well. We've had very close matches with them that have been gritty and exciting. They're always eager to play us, and it gives us more reason to get riled up to play them."
Virginia (5-4) will need the extra energy to snap a two-match losing streak. The Cavaliers, who have dropped three of their last four matches, lost to Florida International and Miami, 6-1 and 5-2, respectively, last week.
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