As the Cavaliers’ season reaches its conclusion, three beat writers break down the good, the bad and the ugly ahead of a critical road trip versus Louisville.
“I like that finish on Ava,” Ruden said quietly in the launch. Seconds later, Coach Ng's megaphone carries the validation to the boat, “Ava, we like your finish.”
“We knew it was a matter of time to get to the other side of [an April slump] and get back to a good place,” Coach Chris Pollard said postgame. “Offensively, I've been excited to see that."
“This whole year has [not been] a failure by any means,” Schroter said. ”I truly believe with my whole heart that we have the best culture in the whole … lacrosse world.”
“I told the team after the handshake line, we aren’t in this position with 33 wins without Lucas Hartman,” Pollard said. “[He’s] done an incredible job all year and we will continue to believe in him.”
“Having Brendan has just unlocked so much,” Sunderland said. “It takes some weight off McCabe’s shoulders.”
The team will now say goodbye to three graduating seniors before returning to action in the fall individual season.
“It is whatever it takes, that’s where we are right now. It is not a Picasso, but whatever it takes to get the job done right now,” Pollard said following the game. “We will find our way to the other side of this. We are a better offensive club but, in the meantime, it is just whatever it takes to win a ballgame and we were tough today.”
“We have to buy into our approach better,” Coach Pollard said in the postgame press conference. “More importantly, we have to have better competitive fight, and I told them both of those things at the end of the ballgame.”
The Cavaliers will now travel to Athens to face the winner of 5-seed Mississippi State and 12-seed Georgia.
It would be easy to look ahead towards postseason aspirations, or perhaps national awards at the end of the regular season. But for Hartman, his attention is locked onto the immediate future.
While there are several reasons why the 2026 Cavalier season has been successful, the bullpen has, is and will continue to be the deciding factor in important games that determine the course of the season down the stretch.
Virginia Tech will face second-seeded No. 11 Duke in the semifinal tomorrow, while Virginia will discover their next opponent in the NCAA Regionals following the Selection Sunday ceremony this weekend.
“I get in the box, everything goes silent,” Eaton said. “I kind of go tunnel vision, and I just tell myself, I'm gonna get the job done. I don't think about anything negative. I know they're gonna come in my zone, and when they do, I'm gonna make them pay for it."
To advance past the second round, Virginia will once again need measured performances in the circle from seniors Eden Bigham, Courtney Layne and the rest of a very deep bullpen.
Virginia will be riding into the NCAA tournament match after a weekend trip to Charlotte, N.C., where the lacrosse squad vanquished the Queen City ghosts that had plagued the football and men’s basketball teams.
The Cavaliers will face Louisiana State at home next weekend.
The Cavaliers return to action Friday in their final home series of the season — a three-game set with California.
“We killed both the teams,” Marek said. “We're just playing some really consistent lacrosse right now.”
Under the lights, the Cavaliers' star punched their ticket to the Sweet 16.
