Cavalier Corner is the publication just for UVa sports fans!
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AUGUST 2018 19 BY GREG WATERS B EING THE YOUNGEST IN THE family is never easy. You get hand-me-downs, and when your older sisters are nationally recog- nized field hockey stars you're always get- ting compared to them on that scale. Tara Vittese came to Charlottesville in 2014 following older sisters Michelle and Carissa. Michelle played at Virginia from 2008-10 and in 2012, following a redshirt season in 2011 to participate with the U.S. National Team. She competed at the 2012 London Olympics, playing in all six games, and claimed a gold medal at the 2011 Pan Amer- ican Games. She was named the 2012 U.S. Field Hockey National Player of the Year. While at UVA the oldest Vittese sister was a three-time All-ACC honoree and a three- time first-team All-American. Carissa was an outstanding defensive player for Virginia from 2010-13, earning All-ACC honors in 2013 plus Longstreth/ National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I All-South Region recognition in 2012 and 2013. That was a lot for Tara — who began her field hockey career in fourth grade — to live up to, but she quickly showed she could. "When I would play with them, there was always this intensity between the three of us because we are really competitive people," she said. "I actually got to play with Michelle and Carissa in a club tournament. I might have been 10 years old, and Michelle was 16. "I messed up and Michelle and Carissa both yelled at me! I never screamed at them any louder! I was so upset. I was nervous playing with older players, girls that were six years older than me, and I had no idea what I was doing. I was still learning the game at that time. My dad was so happy that I stuck up for myself." Tara not only stuck up for herself, she made a name for herself during a record- setting career at Virginia. In 2018, Vittese received the IMP Award as UVA's top female athlete while garnering her third straight Division I National Player of the Year honor. She became the first field hockey player in the history of the sport to be named the Division I National Player of the Year three times in her career. And she is only the second Virginia athlete to be a three-time National Player of the Year in any sport, joining basketball Hall of Famer Ralph Sampson with that distinction. Vittese is also Virginia's first two-time ACC Player of the Year (earning her second FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR TARA VITTESE Vittese finished her career as a four-time first-team All-American, a three-time Division I National Player of the Year and a two-time ACC Player of Year. PHOTO COURTESY UVA MAKING HER MARK Tara Vittese Continued Her Sisters' Legacy Of Field Hockey Success At Virginia