Monday Motivation: Hoos pick up wins in slow holiday week

I hope everyone in ‘Hooville is having a wonderful holiday season! Not a lot of action the past two weeks (sorry, work called last weekend), but there are a few wins worth highlighting! Let’s get to 14 days worth of action!

Rapid Fire

-This just makes me happy. Current Wahoo (and gold medal winner) Leah Smith at the Steelers-Ravens game with former Hoo Canaan Severin (injured reserve for the Steelers). I’m going to assume the power of the Cavaliers pushed the Steelers to victory.

-Virginia Soccer alum Curt Onalfo is following in the footsteps of former Virginia Head Coach (and now USMNT Head Coach) Bruce Arena by becoming the Head Coach of the LA Galaxy. Congrats, Curt!

-The post-season accolades keep rolling in for Virginia Football players Quin Blanding (who is returning to UVA!), Nick Conte, and Micah Kiser.

-Virginia Field Hockey superstar Tara Vittese was named the NFHCA National Player of the Year, the second straight year the third year has won the award. Vittese finished with a team leading 15 goals and 11 assists for the season.

-No. 24 Wrestling defeated George Mason 27-10 in the “Rumble on the River”. The Hoos won eight of 10 matches on the day and picked up bonus points in four of the first six to ensure the victory. Next up, the Hoos will participate in the Southern Scuffle on January 1.

-Virginia Tennis player Thai-Son Kwiatkowski won his first pro singles title, taking the championship at the Mayaguez $10,000 Pro Futures Tournament. Congrats!

-The Men’s Basketball team pulled off a couple wins post-exam, pre-holiday break, defeating the outmatched Robert Morris 79-39 and nabbing a HUGE 56-52 road win at Cal.

Against RMU, Kyle Guy and Devon Hall led the Hoos with 13 points apiece as Isaiah Wilkins and Ty Jerome each dished out six assists.

At Haas Pavilion, where the Bears had won 27 straight, the Hoos emerged victorious behind 17 points from Guy and 14 points from California native London Perrantes. Nine out of Virginia’s first 11 games have resulted in Pack Line Pledges, meaning the Hoos have held opponents under 55 points.

Next up, the Hoos head to No.6 Louisville for their first ACC showdown. Game is at 7pm on ESPN2.

-Last Sunday, Chris Long finally became a division champion when the Patriots clinched the top spot. Congrats, Chris!

Mom of the Week (besides my mom...she’s always Mom of the Week)

Shoutout to Rebecca Berlin for the best explanation as to why Santa couldn’t deliver a Malcolm Brogdon jersey to her son on time:

Wahoo of the Week

It has been a helluva couple weeks for our dude Malcolm Brogdon. First, UVA announced they’d be retiring Brogdon’s number. Then, he went bonkers dunking on ERRYBODY (including LeBron James). To cap it all off, he had a career high 17 points (on 7-for-7 shooting) against the Wizards.

Team of the Week

Women’s Basketball earned three wins over the past two weeks. First, the Hoos picked up a dominating 76-39 win over the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) to exit the exam break. Breyana Mason and Felicia Aiyeotan each had 16 points to lead the Hoos as Virginia used a 22-0 Cavalanche spanning the third and fourth quarters to pull away.

Virginia then played at Georgia, emerging with a 66-43 victory behind Jocelyn Willoughby’s 13 point, 10 rebound double-double.

Against University of Maryland Eastern Shore, the ladies won their fourth straight with a 60-50 final score at JPJ. J’Kyra Brown led Virginia with 14 points.

Next up, the Hoos host UMBC at 7pm at JPJ in the Cavalier Classic. Go Hoos!