Cavaliers Set to Make a Run in ACC Tournament
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 3 Virginia Cavaliers will play host to the 2008 ACC Women’s Lacrosse Tournament beginning this Thursday at Scott Stadium. The Cavaliers (12-3, 4-1 ACC) shared the regular season title with No. 2 Maryland, but the Terrapins will take the top-seed into the tournament as they defeated Virginia, 8-5, earlier this season.
The Cavaliers will enter as the No. 2 seed and both Virginia and Maryland will receive a first round bye and begin play on Friday. No. 6 seed Virginia Tech and No. 3 seed Duke will open play on Thursday at 1 p.m., before No. 5 seed North Carolina faces No. 4 seed Boston College at 3:30 p.m. The Cavaliers will face the winner of the Virginia Tech/Duke game at 3 p.m. on Friday, while Maryland will take on the winner of the North Carolina/Boston College game at 5:30 p.m. The first and second rounds of the tournament will be webcast on ACC Select, while FSN will televise Sunday’s championship. All Virginia games can be heard on WINA 1070 AM.
Fans planning to attend the ACC Championship games are encouraged to purchase tickets ahead of time online at VirginiaSports.com. Tickets may also be purchased by telephone or in person through the Virginia athletics ticket office. The ticket office is located in Bryant Hall at Scott Stadium and may be reached by calling 1-800-542-UVA1 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays. Advanced ticket sales to the events will end on the day of the game three hours prior to the start of the first match-up that day. Game day sales will begin at each venue one hour prior to the start of that first event.
Virginia, the defending ACC Champion, has won the title the past two years and is looking for a third straight championship. The Cavaliers are 13-7 in the conference tournament’s 11-year history and have won four championships in that span, including three of the last four. Virginia has also won one title while playing in Charlottesville.
In 1998, just the second year of the annual tournament, the Cavaliers entered as the No. 2 seed and defeated third-seeded Duke, 9-7, before upsetting top-seeded North Carolina, 9-7, for the title. Overall, the Cavaliers are 1-0 in first round games, 8-3 in second round games and 4-4 in the title game.
When entering the tournament as the second seed, the Cavaliers hold a 7-1 record and have reached the championship game each year, winning it three times.
A trio of juniors pace the Cavaliers’ offense this season, while a trio of seniors lead the defense. Juniors Jenny Hauser, Ashley McCulloch and Blair Weymouth account for 47.8 percent of Virginia’s points, and seniors Claire Bordley, Alice Hughey and Kendall McBrearty anchor a defense that holds opponents to the nations third lowest goal against average of 6.80. Sophomores Kaitlin Duff and Brittany Kalkstein lead the midfield. Duff is ranked fifth in the ACC for ground balls per game and Kalkstein is 17th nationally for draw controls won per outing.
The winner of Friday’s game will advance to the ACC Championship game on Sunday. All games will be held in Scott Stadium.