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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 9 Virginia women’s lacrosse team will head down the road to Blacksburg, Va., to compete against in-state rival Virginia Tech in the first round of the 2009 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. Opening draw is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Thursday; with the game being broadcast live on ACCSelect.com, while live stats can be found on VirginiaSports.com.
The Cavaliers (10-6, 2-3 ACC) enter the tournament as the fourth seed and are coming off a regular-season finale loss to No. 1 Northwestern, 11-10, on Sunday. Senior Blair Weymouth leads the attack with 48 goals and 63 points, while classmate Ashley McCulloch has dished out 28 assists.
The Hokies (7-9, 1-4 ACC) have dropped their last two contests and enter as the fifth seed. Rachel Culp paces the offense with 53 goals and 15 assists.
In Virginia’s season opener, the Cavaliers soundly defeated the Hokies, 19-3, in Klckner Stadium. McCulloch led Virginia in the contest with four goals and four assists, while Weymouth, redshirt junior Whitaker Hagerman and freshman Josie Owen completed hat tricks.
For Tech, Jessica Nonn and Culp combined to score Tech’s three goals, while Kari Morrison had 13 saves in the contest.
Although this marks the first time that the in-state rivals will face each other in the ACC Tournament, the Cavaliers hold a perfect 13-0 record against Tech in regular-season contests.
In conference tournament action, Virginia owns a 15-7 record in the league’s 12-year tournament history. Overall, the Cavaliers have won five conference championships, including the last three-straight and four of the past five.
The winner of the Virginia-Virginia Tech match-up will advance to face top-seeded No. 2 Maryland on Friday at 4 p.m.