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Freshman Britt Knouse and the third-ranked Virginia field hockey team continues Atlantic Coast Conference play at 1 p.m. Saturday on the road against No. 6 Wake Forest. Knouse recently caught up with VirginiaSports.com about her first year of college hockey, her soccer background and what she likes to do for fun.

Question: You play at Wake this week, a team you have already played. What will you have to do to come away with another win?
Knouse:
Well, I think we played really well against them the last time and that game went into overtime. I know we have the potential to play even better and pick up our level of play.

Question: How is the first semester of college going for you?
Knouse:
It was tough at first, just adjusting. College hockey is a different level than high school hockey. But once you get used to everything, it gets easier. It helps to have great teammates. They have always been encouraging. School can be stressful but it’s all about managing your time. If you can do that, you’ll get everything done.

Question: Who has sort of taken you under their win and showed you the ropes?
Knouse:
Taylor (Swezey) and Rachel (Jennings) helped a lot but everyone was encouraging. They were both my hosts on my recruiting visit and they were just awesome. But we have a great team and everyone does a great job and helping the new players fit in.

Question: Have you decided on a major yet?
Knouse:
No, I’m still undecided. I have been looking into psychology or maybe early childhood education. But we’ll see.

Question: How did you get started playing field hockey?
Knouse:
I started in middle school and attended camps when I was younger, but I never did like Futures or anything like that. I played high school hockey and that was pretty much it. Our coach played at Michigan so she was a great person to learn from.

Question: And you played soccer too, right?
Knouse:
I played premier soccer and I thought I was going to college for soccer. But things just turned around, I guess, my junior year. It was a tough decision because I love both sports, but I just ended up playing field hockey. I felt like I could learn a lot more because I never really did premier. There was a lot more I needed to learn and I could learn. To me soccer just felt like I couldn’t really grow as much.

Question: What made you want to come to UVa?
Knouse:
Well, I actually only visited UVa. I had to make a decision fast. I really liked Gounds. The team was really nice and I really liked the coaches so everything just was perfect here. It was a good choice.

Question: What do you do for fun?
Knouse:
I like to draw. I guess I’m artistic I always loved doing artsy stuff. I took a lot of art classes in high school. They were very easy to me. I am going to take an art class in the spring actually. And there’s always shopping and going to the beach.

Question: What has been your best Halloween costume?
Knouse:
I would have to say Pocahontas.

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