The No. 4 Virginia women's lacrosse team travels to Blacksburg tonight to take on in-state rival Virginia Tech in its final ACC game of the regular season.
For the Cavaliers (10-3, 3-1 ACC), the midweek matchup marks the final opportunity to face a conference opponent before heading to the ACC Tournament slated to begin April 22 in College Park, Md. The Virginia squad currently sits in second place in the conference behind No. 2 Maryland, who handed the Cavaliers their lone ACC loss March 5. Since then, Virginia has gone 3-0 in the ACC, including victories against Boston College, Duke and North Carolina - the latter two being top-five teams.
"We finish our ACC regular season with Virginia Tech," Virginia coach Julie Myers said. "We have been through the others, and I think that will add a lot of emotion to the day. Obviously Virginia-Virginia Tech in all of our sports is kind of a fun thing, so we need to make sure that we show up and get the job done."
Indeed, the Cavaliers have been getting the job done as of late. The squad currently boasts a four-game win streak and has edged out its opponents in eight of its last nine contests.
The Hokies (4-8, 0-3 ACC), on the other hand, enter the midweek matchup having lost four of their last six matchups, including a lopsided 19-3 loss against No. 3 North Carolina last Friday. During each of the four losses during this stretch, Virginia Tech's opponents have outscored the squad by a 10-goal margin on average, and the Hokie attack has failed to produce more than 10 goals during three of these contests. Currently, Virginia Tech sits dead last in the conference standings, having yet to defeat an ACC rival this season.
There are several bright spots on the Virginia Tech roster, however, who hope to lead their team to its first victory against the Cavaliers since the two teams first began facing each other in 1997. Junior attack Allie Emala leads the nation in draw controls, capturing 71 draws on the season. Midfielder Jessica Nonn, meanwhile, leads the team in goals scored and ground-ball pick-ups. The talented sophomore has scored at least one goal in every game this season for the Hokie attack.
Not only will the Cavaliers have to try to overcome Nonn and the rest of the Virginia Tech squad, but the Virginia team also must overcome possible fatigue as a result of its busy schedule as of late. During the last week, the Cavaliers have appeared in three contests - the fourth will be against the Hokies. The Cavaliers were sluggish on field Monday against Harvard, their most recent victory, and hope this fatigue will not carry into today's matchup.
"Any ACC game is always a big game, especially with the ACC Tournament coming up," senior attack Caity Whiteley said. "It's important that we are prepared and that we come out a little bit faster than we did [Monday night]."
After tonight's contest, the Virginia squad returns home to face in-state rival George Mason next Tuesday night in its final home game of the regular season.
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