COLLEGE WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Virginia Wesleyan (32-2), playing its first NCAA Division III championship tournament home match ever, dominated John Jay of New York 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-16) in the last match of Thursday’s four at TowneBank Arena in Virginia Beach.
Brianna Clay had nine kills, Old Dominion Athletic Conference Player of the Year Hannah Smith had eight kills, Niya Nash had 26 assists and Skylar Rivers made 11 digs for the Marlins, who were ranked 15th in this week’s coaches’ poll.
They will play at about 7 p.m. Friday in the round of 32 against No. 16 Berry (25-7), which won 3-0 (25-19, 30-28, 25-16) over ODAC Tournament champion Washington and Lee (23-10).
Earlier in the day, Christopher Newport earned an NCAA first-round victory for the fourth year in a row. The Captains won 3-1 (25-16, 27-25, 24-26, 25-18) over Cortland of New York at TowneBank Arena.
Senior Region Player of the Year Alyssa Dozier had a career-high 27 kills and two blocks, Simara Alexander had 13 kills and three blocks, Fielding Croft had 53 assists, Avery Hanley had 24 digs and Maddie Hanes made 18 digs for CNU, which won its ninth consecutive match.
Samantha Dorn had 10 kills, giving her 1,005 for her career and making her the 13th CNU player to reach 1,000. Croft, with 1,004 assists this season, became the third CNU freshman to reach 1,000.
The Red Dragons, who won the City University of New York Athletic Conference, finished 24-8.
The Captains (25-7) advanced to Friday’s 4:30 p.m. round-of-32 match against No. 10 Juniata (28-5), the three-time defending national champion, which ousted Grove City 3-0 (25-15, 25-23, 28-26) in a clash of Pennsylvania teams behind Audrey Muth’s 13 kills and seven digs. Juniata won 3-1 over CNU on Sept. 19.
At other venues in the first round, No. 7 Colby beat Marymount 3-0 (25-14, 25-12, 25-21), No. 10 Hope ousted Southern Virginia 3-1 (25-21, 20-25, 26-24, 25-22), and Lynchburg lost 3-2 (23-25, 28-26, 15-25, 25-21, 15-10) to William Smith.
NSU falls in MEAC tourney
Second-seeded Howard ousted seventh-seeded Norfolk State 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-20) in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference quarterfinal in Baltimore. The Spartans finished 5-24, while Howard (17-10) gained a semifinal berth.
NSU’s Gabrielle Gilbert had 10 kills, while Jasmine Mataira had 15 assists and eight digs. Rya McKinnon led the Bison with 11 kills.
COLLEGE WOMEN’S SOCCER
Shutout puts top-seeded UVA in NCAA’s final 16
Virginia, one of the NCAA Tournament’s four No. 1 seeds, shut out Penn State 2-0 at Klockner Stadium to advance to the round of 16.
UVA (14-3-4) advanced to a 2 p.m. Sunday game in Charlottesville against Washington.
Maggie Cagle scored in the 33rd minute by rebounding Jill Flammia’s shot. Lia Godfrey doubled the lead from assists by Tatum Galvin and Ella Carter in the 68th minute.
The Nittany Lions, seeded eighth in their quadrant of the 64-team bracket, finished 10-8-4.
Earlier at Klockner Stadium, Alex Buck scored 8:01 into overtime to lift Washington over Arkansas 1-0. The fourth-seeded Huskies outshot the fifth-seeded Razorbacks 17-11.
COLLEGE FIELD HOCKEY
CNU’s Kerr makes Senior Team on Final Four’s eve
CNU goaltender Lily Kerr was one of 60 players to make the National Field Hockey Coaches Association National Collegiate Senior Team in Division III. She was the 25th Captain all-time to do so. She leads the NCAA with a 0.34 goals-against average and is second with an 88 save percentage.
The top-ranked Captains (19-0) play No. 6 Tufts at noon Friday in the first NCAA Division III semifinal in Hartford, Connecticut.In Division I, Virginia defender Lauren Kenah and VCU midfielder Morena Macera were among 38 Senior Team honorees.
COLLEGE TENNIS
Cavs knock off NCAA men’s doubles top seeds
A Virginia Cavaliers tandem knocked off the top-seeded pair in the NCAA doubles championship bracket at the USTA National Campus, near Orlando, Florida.
Dylan Dietrich and Mans Dahlberg knocked off top-seeded Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) of Mississippi State on Thursday. Those two Cavaliers will face Ohio State’s Aidan Kim and Bryce Nakashima in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Both UVA players who had won their first two matches in the singles bracket lost in Thursday’s round of 16. Dietrich fell 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 to Wake Forest’s Luca Pow, and Keegan Rice lost 7-5, 7-5 to Jovanovic.
In the women’s doubles round of 16, UVA’s Annabelle Xu and Martina Genis Salas joined their male counterparts Dietrich, Rice and Dahlberg in gaining All-American status. They did so by edging Southern California’s Krisha Mahendran and Jana Hossam Salah 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (10-4) to advance to the quarterfinals.
UVA’s Melodie Collard and Vivian Yang, though, lost 6-4, 6-4 to NC State’s Victoria Osuigwe and Gabriella Broadfoot.
COLLEGE MEN’S LACROSSE
UVA to play eight home games
Virginia announced a schedule featuring eight home games. Seven of them will be at Klöckner Stadium, starting with Colgate on Feb. 8. The Cavaliers’ one game at Scott Stadium will be against Utah on March 21, alongside the UVA women’s lacrosse game against Syracuse.
Virginia’s road slate starts with a Feb. 14 game at Richmond.
OBITUARY
Former JMU men’s soccer coach dies
Robert “Bob” Vanderwarker, a former head coach for James Madison in men’s soccer, died Monday in Harrisonburg. He was 89.
Vanderwarker took over the reins in 1970, the program’s third season. Across 16 seasons as head coach, his teams compiled a record of 127-102-19 as they brought the JMU men’s athletic program its first championship trophy, its first All-America player and its first NCAA postseason tournament bid.
HORSE RACING
Virginia Derby tickets selling briskly
In just 10 days, the Colonial Downs Jockey Club, grandstand boxes and trackside tent have sold out for the March 14 Virginia Derby in New Kent County, while very limited tickets remain in the apron boxes, grandstand seats and high-limit tables.
The winning horse will qualify for the Kentucky Derby. There are a limited number of $5 general-admission tickets, with free admission for children 5 and younger.
