Checking in on Virginia’s fall sports teams at the midway point

Fall may have officially started Sunday morning, but the fall sports season has been underway in Charlottesville for more than a month. Between women’s soccer and field hockey establishing themselves as ACC contenders and volleyball putting together their best start in 20 years, there are plenty of storylines surrounding Virginia’s athletic programs.

With so much to discuss, three Cavalier Daily sports staffers are here to give you the highlights, plus a few ideas about what to watch around Grounds during the second half of the season.

Which Virginia fall sports team has been the biggest surprise?

Michael Liebermann, Senior Associate: I expected good things out of women’s soccer. But I sure did not expect this. The first few weeks of the season astonished me, frankly — the 8-0-0 start, the seemingly inexorable ascension to No. 2 in the national polls — especially after the disappointment of last season, which culminated in the program missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 30 years and the ACC Tournament for the first time ever. This year’s team seems entirely different, even though the roster is really quite similar. Consecutive losses to Wake Forest and No. 16 Notre Dame placed a slight damper on the parade, ending the winning streak and dropping Virginia to No. 19. But this has still been a staggering start for a program that looked to be floundering at the end of last season.

Emory Huffman, Staff Writer: Undoubtedly volleyball. Non-conference play concluded Sept. 18 with Virginia’s record sitting at 10-1. Yes, ACC play looms large, but I’m impressed by the fight this team has shown so far. After a tough loss in straight sets against Coastal Carolina to start the Cavalier Classic in Charlottesville, the Cavaliers won the rematch 3-2 to avenge their only loss this season. Since a 2-12 campaign in 2020-21, Virginia volleyball has steadily trended upwards — the Cavaliers will enter ACC play with serious momentum, which could be a harbinger of their first relevant season in many years. 

Sam Chun, Staff Writer: Though I was more optimistic than the voters who picked Virginia football to finish 16th in the ACC, I would be shocked if you told me a month ago that the Cavaliers would be 3-1 through four games. After losing five games by one possession last season, Virginia exorcized its demons against Wake Forest Sept. 7 when it erased a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Coach Tony Elliott and his bunch will face tougher opponents than the Demon Deacons as the ACC season gets going, but that just gives them even more of an opportunity to prove they belong.

Which Cavalier athlete has impressed you the most at the midway point?

ML: Junior defender Nick Dang has — to employ the eye-rolling pun the men’s soccer team keeps using on social media — played some pretty dang good soccer this year. The center back is the defense’s anchor, an almost gallant presence back there — Coach George Gelnovatch has called him “a warrior.” Dang came somewhat out of nowhere, too. He arrived from Lipscomb in the spring and, all of a sudden, in the first game of the season, there he was, the linchpin of the back line. Oh, and something else? He leads the team in goals. Pretty Dang good.

EH: It’s Tyler Neville for me. Virginia hasn’t emphasized the tight end position in recent seasons, but Elliott is certainly thankful to have Neville, the graduate transfer from Harvard. After a slow start, he has nine receptions through the Cavaliers’ last three matchups, including a pair of touchdowns against Wake Forest. With that performance, Neville became the first Virginia tight end since 2007 to score two touchdowns in a game — look for his role to increase as the season progresses. 

SC: Maggie Cagle. The junior forward was Virginia women’s soccer’s leading scorer last season and has picked up right where she left off, tallying five goals through ten games. Two of those came during a 2-1 road win over No. 3 Penn State in August, when Cagle willed the No. 21 Cavaliers back from a 1-0 halftime deficit with a dazzling second-half display. Every team wants a player they can turn to in crunch time, and Cagle looks the part with her three game-winning goals, which are tied for second-most in the ACC. There is a lot of soccer still to be played, but the Cavalier catalyst has made an early case for ACC Player of the Year. 

What is one game Virginia fans must watch in the second half of the season?

ML: This is almost too easy. The second-ranked men’s soccer team in the country, towing all the intrigue of conference expansion, is coming to town Friday. At Klöckner Stadium, at 7:30 p.m., No. 2 Stanford will confront Virginia. It is a titanic tilt for a couple reasons. There is the historical momentousness, the sense that this is the beginning of a semi-annual series between two of the sport’s most decorated programs. There is the novelty of the clash, the teams not having played since 2016. There is the simple fact that one of the nation’s top-ranked teams is taking the field. It all combines to make this one of the most tantalizing games of the fall season, across all sports.

EH: Virginia football takes on No. 17 Clemson Oct. 19 in Death Valley, one of the most intimidating places to play in the nation. The Cavaliers’ road date with the Tigers has no real competition as the most challenging matchup on Virginia’s schedule. The atmosphere, as always, will be electric, and if the Cavaliers can get some momentum heading into South Carolina, a blowout might not be as inevitable as it seems. 

SC: Women’s soccer will face Clemson Oct. 25 at Klöckner Stadium in the Cavaliers’ home finale of the regular season. While the Tigers have fallen out of the top 25, they entered the year as the preseason No. 5 team in the country and will be fighting for an ACC Tournament bid come October. Oh, and did I mention it’s a Sabre Rewards Game? Each student in attendance will get five Sabre Points towards the men’s basketball ticket lottery. All signs point to packing Klöckner Stadium to watch two of the country’s premier teams duel in some mid-fall soccer under the lights.