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COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The third-seeded and fourth-ranked Virginia women’s lacrosse team defeated sixth-seeded Virginia Tech, 18-6, Thursday afternoon at Ludwig Field in the opening game of the 2010 ACC Tournament. With the win, the Cavaliers advance to tomorrow’s semifinals to face second seed No. 3 Maryland.

Virginia’s senior All-American duo of Kaitlin Duff and Brittany Kalkstein led the way with four goals each. Duff tacked on three assists to tie a career-high seven points, while Kalkstein had two assists to tie a personal-best of her own, with six points.

Kalkstein also won six draw controls to improve her career total to 275.

Other offensive contributors for the Cavaliers included sophomore Julie Gardner and freshman Anne Thomas, who each added three goals – marking a personal-best for Thomas. Redshirt senior Whitaker Hagerman had two goals, while senior Marye Kellermann and sophomore Charlie Finnigan rounded out the scoring with one goal each.

For Virginia Tech (6-11), Jessica Nonn paced the Hokies with three goals.

Led by hat tricks from Gardner, Kalkstein and Thomas throughout the first 30 minutes of play, the Cavaliers were able to take an 11-2 advantage into halftime – their largest halftime lead of the season. Kalkstein got the scoring started at the 27:11 mark, assisted by Duff, before Gardner and Finnigan each tacked on a score to give Virginia a 3-0 advantage 7:37 into play.

The Hokies were able to find the back of the net at 21:18, but Duff, Gardner, Kalkstein and Thomas each tallied goals for the Cavaliers, before Gardner capped off the run with her second in the streak, and third on the day, to push Virginia ahead 8-1 with 8:18 on the clock.

Virginia Tech scored again at 6:02, before back-to-back scores from Thomas and another from Kalkstein accounted for the 11-2 lead for Virginia at the intermission.

Duff sandwiched goals around one from Kalkstein to open the second half, giving Virginia a 14-2 advantage at the 25:09 mark, before the Hokies scored at 22:38. Duff and Hagerman tacked on two more for Virginia, before Tech was able to notch two-straight, bringing the score to 16-5 at 6:53.

Hagerman had another at 5:23, before Kellermann recorded her first at 2:36. The Hokies closed out the scoring in the game with 47 seconds remaining, bringing the final score to 18-6.

Defensively, redshirt junior Lauren Benner stopped five shots in cage and scooped up three ground balls, while Duff caused two turnovers.

The win brings Virginia’s all-time tournament record to 17-8 and 3-0 in first round games.

The Cavaliers (13-3) will return to action tomorrow, facing second-seeded No. 3 Maryland at 5 p.m. The game will be broadcast live and for free on ACC Select.

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