“One of our keys today was show up and finish well,” Hardin said. “That’s important at this point of the season. It’s a grind. We’re ready for a little break here before the ACC Tournament. I’m proud of this team for staying true and steadfast … It’s a long season. I’m proud of how we finished out.”
“I'm used to seeing the ball from a little bit of a different angle,” Call said. “Always happy to be on the field, though. It doesn't matter where I'm at, just getting the opportunity to play, it makes me ecstatic."
The Cavaliers, having dropped out of a top-15 ranking for the first time in eight weeks, are back on the right track with nine games left to play in the regular season. Of those nine games, the next six are all at home — part of Virginia’s longest homestand this year.
As the postseason commences this week, Virginia will have to account for what has been a less-than-soundproof defense.
After suffering heartbreak just a year ago in the NCAA Championship final against Oklahoma State, the Cavaliers cemented themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the ACC.
For the first time since 2021, no Virginia football alumni were selected in the NFL Draft. As of Sunday, though, five Cavaliers signed undrafted free agent deals and three more received invitations to an organization’s rookie camp.
Sandkulla threw a distance of 67.13 meters, steadily progressing in each of her first four throws and placing the highest on her fifth. She was not too far from her personal record of 67.31 meters either, and was over six meters ahead of the runner up.
“We are going to play better,” Pollard said. “We are going to go home, going to regroup and we have got to get some guys going offensively.”
“We are just thrilled that we get to be here and continue playing in our house,” Hardin said. “There’s not enough words to say how excited we are.”
“Just can’t give an offense that's that good, top to bottom, a lot of free bases to go with the way they swing bats,” Pollard said. “They capitalized on it and we were playing uphill the rest of the day.”
“Twenty-two years into this, there's nothing I'm married to,” Roussell said. “There’s nothing in order of business, of how I do this. You're supposed to be a lifelong learner in every business. That’s in college basketball to a T.”
Aside from the top of the first and the ultimate outcome of the affair, Virginia’s second win over the Wolfpack was hardly like their first — unlike Friday, the Cavaliers never trailed.
The ACC Tournament will roar on for two more days as the remaining teams go head-to-head in match play. Virginia earned the No. 2 seed and will face No. 7 seed Louisville in the quarterfinals Sunday, April 26.
Johnson, a two-way star, will get another opportunity against the Panthers Saturday afternoon — this time, he will do it from the mound. He is set to make his sixth start of the season as Virginia looks to even the series.
“We're just trying to play our best lacrosse,” Tiffany said. “As we go down to Charlotte, first and foremost, I want to win an ACC tournament … that's what we're striving for right now.”
“You could just feel like everyone took a deep breath,” Hardin said.
“The buffalo just goes straight into the storm, attacks it every day,” graduate catcher Noah Jouras said. “If you welcome that adversity and just attack it, you can get through it much quicker and come out even stronger on the other end.”
“I thought that was maybe as good as Max Stammel’s looked all year,” Coach Chris Pollard said postgame. “The difference-maker was the ability to land the slider and get something going the opposite way.”
A big offseason looms for LaMonica and her squad, as they’ll look to learn from this season and come out strong next spring.
“I know I still have a lot more to do, and I think I know I can still have a lot greater impact,” Hausmann said. “Help this team in any way — that’s always been my biggest piece.”
