Top-Seeded Virginia Plays in ACC Tournament Semifinals on Friday

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Nov. 5, 2014

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia field hockey team (12-7, 4-2 ACC), the top seed in the 2014 Atlantic Coast Conference Field Hockey Championships, will take on fourth-seeded Wake Forest (12-6, 3-3 ACC) in the tournament semifinals on Friday, Nov. 7 at 1 p.m. at Duke’s Jack Katz Stadium in Durham, N.C.

Fans will be able to watch all six games of the ACC Field Hockey Championship as they will be streamed live online on ESPN3 and available on the WatchESPN mobile application. Links for the live streaming and live stats for the Virginia games are posted on VirginiaSports.com.

The Cavaliers, who tied for the regular-season title with North Carolina, enter the ACC Championship as the No. 1 seed for the first time since 1998 and the fourth-overall time in program history. Virginia has made six trips to the ACC Championship game, most recently in 2009, but has never won the conference tournament.

Virginia is the lone squad in the seven-team tournament to receive a bye in the first round. Wake Forest defeated fifth-seeded Louisville, 2-1, in the opening game of the tournament to advance to the semifinal game against the Cavaliers. Virginia fell 4-3 to Wake Forest during the regular-season.

The winner of the ACC Tournament will earn the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The field of 19 teams, which includes 11 automatic qualifiers and eight at-large bids, will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 9 at 10 p.m. when the NCAA selection streams live online on NCAA.com. Virginia has earned an at-large berth in seven of the last eight seasons, advancing to the NCAA semifinals in 2009 and 2010.

After putting together a nine-game win streak that was capped by its Oct. 3 upset victory at No. 1 North Carolina, Virginia has gone 2-5 in its last seven games, and have dropped three-straight games heading into the tournament. The Cavaliers had a bye-week last week and have not played a game since their 2-1 loss at Boston University on Oct. 26.

For the second week in a row, Virginia is No. 13 in the NFHCA Coaches Poll. Virginia spent seven of nine weeks this season ranked in the top 10, including three weeks ranked at No. 3 (Sept. 23- Oct. 7).

Midfielder Tara Vittese (Cherry Hill, N.J.), the first-ever Virginia freshman to earn preseason All-ACC honors, was voted to the All-ACC first team this week. Vittese leads the ACC in points (51), points per game (2.68), goals (17), shots (80) and shots per game (4.21) as well as being tied for first in assists (17) and ranking second in goals per game (0.89) and assists per game (0.89). Her 51 points are 18 more than Syracuse’s Lieke Visser, who ranks second in the conference and her 17 goals are four more than the next closest ACC player. Nationally, Vittese ranks in the top-10 in points per game (4th), assists per game (7th) and goals per game (8th).

Vittese, who is vying to become Virginia’s fifth ACC Rookie of the Year, has already set the Virginia freshman record for assists in a season and is one point shy of tying the rookie mark in the points category as well. Vittese has scored a goal in six of the last seven games with the game in which Virginia was shut out against Old Dominion being the exception.

Sophomore striker Caleigh Foust (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) earned her first-career All-ACC honor when she was named to the second team. Foust is tied for second in the ACC with 13 goals. Foust scored three game-winning goals, all coming in overtime victories over Louisville, Rutgers and Albany. Foust scored two of Virginia’s three goals at Boston College two weeks ago.

Senior Kelsey LeBlanc (Haverford, Pa.) also was named to the second team, her first career All-ACC accolade. LeBlanc, who has played as a defensive midfielder in every game this season, scored her lone goal of the year in the victory at No. 1 North Carolina. Single-session tickets for the ACC Tournament are available for $5 for adults and $3 for youth, and all-session tickets are $10 for adults and $6 for youth. Students from an ACC school can enter for free with valid student identification.