The good news is that this young squad has the time and tenacity required to learn from this season’s mistakes.
Junior back Mia Abello — Leemans’ fellow co-captain and First Team All-ACC honoree — had no trouble converting on the opportunity, sending Virginia to its tenth ACC Championship final appearance and first since 2022.
Virginia earned its ninth ranked win after defeating Wake Forest
It is a testament to how good this Virginia defense is that the Cardinals could not get on the board in the second half.
“Coming off of a loss we really wanted to capitalize on today,” Nemec said.
The loss was the Cavaliers’ first of the season.
The Cavaliers enter the contest ranked higher than the Tar Heels for the first time since 2017.
When the postseason begins with the ACC Tournament, all that matters is making a deep run — and fighting to reach Durham, N.C. for the national championship game.
The victory was Virginia's fourth ACC win this year.
Virginia has started the season with three consecutive ranked wins.
