Virginia Ranked First in IWLCA Women's Lacrosse Poll
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April 20, 1998
CHARLOTESVILLE, Va.–The Virginia Cavaliers, who won the 1998 ACC Women’s Lacrosse Tournament, are the new top school in the Division I Women’s Lacrosse Poll. This is the highest ranking for the Cavaliers since the preseason poll of 1994 when Virginia was tabbed as the nation’s top team. It is the first time at the top position for Cavalier Head Coach Julie Myers as head coach; as a player she was a part of the top-ranked team in 1991 and she was an assistant coach in 1994.
Senior captain Kara Ariza (Lansdowne, Pa./Penn Wood) was also named player of the week in the ACC after garnering Tournament MVP honors this past weekend. Ariza had four goals in the tournament, including three in the championship game, and a tournament-high ten ground balls in helping the Cavaliers claim their first ACC Championship. It marks the second time this season that Ariza has been a part of the nation’s top-ranked team; the Virginia field hockey team was also ranked #1 the week of November 3, 1997.
The Cavaliers travel to Blacksburg to take on in-state rival Virginia Tech on Wednesday, April 22. The 1998 ACC Champions return home on Saturday to take on the ninth-ranked Temple Owls at 1:00 pm. Virginia closes out its regular season with a trip to Baltimore to take on the fourth-ranked Loyola Greyhounds on April 28.
The entire IWLCA poll for the week of April 20 is as follows: (with 1998 records, poll points, first place votes, and preseason rankings)
1. Virginia 12-2 180 (9) 3 2. North Carolina 12-2 171 1 3. Maryland 11-3 161 2 4. Loyola 11-1 154 4 5. James Madison 10-5 133 8 6. Princeton 9-2 129 6 7. William & Mary 8-6 124 7 8. Dartmouth 8-1 119 9 9. Temple 11-3 115 5 10. Georgetown 7-5 97 11 11. Duke 8-5 93 10 12. Penn State 7-6 73 12 13. Yale 10-2 71 13 14. Delaware 9-3 66 14 15. Rutgers 9-4 55 NRAlso receiving votes: George Mason, Towson, Colgate, Syracuse, Old Dominion