Cavalier Corner is the publication just for UVa sports fans!
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WINTER 2024-25 11 cavalier sports Jans Croon • Field Hockey The fourth-year back from San Diego was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year Nov. 4. She also earned a spot the All-ACC first team. Croon, who is the first Cavalier to be named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year since it was introduced in 2004, helped anchor a backline defense that logged 5 shutouts this season. She was also an of- fensive asset, scoring 4 goals and adding 4 assists. Zoey Dood • Volleyball The first-year setter from Grandville, Mich., was named to the 2024 ACC All- Freshman Team Dec. 2. She is the 23rd player in program history to earn that honor and the first Cavalier to be named to the team since Brooklyn Borum in 2021. Dood saw action in all 31 matches with one start in 2024 and ranked second on the squad with 385 assists. She also collected 65 kills and 16 service aces. Jonas Sanker • Football The fourth-year safety from Charlot- tesville was named first-team All-ACC for the second consecutive season Dec. 3, following a vote by 54 media members and each of the league's 17 head coaches. Sanker started in all 12 games and finished the regular season as the ACC's leader in solo tackles (65) and fifth in tackles per game (8.2). In addition to his 98 total tack- les, he led all UVA players this season with 8.5 tackles for loss. Gretchen Walsh • Swimming The fourth-year from Nashville, Tenn., began the season with a record-breaking performance Oct. 18. She set a world re- cord in the 100-meter individual medley, posting a 55.98 to shatter the previous mark of 56.51 that was set in 2017. Walsh won the 100-meter backstroke (54.89) and the 50-meter freestyle (23.10) in American record times, and also broke the American record in the 50-meter backstroke (25.37) with her leadoff leg of the 200-meter medley relay. HOO'S HOT Recognizing the "Who's Hoo" in UVA athletics — Cavalier student-athletes, past, present and future who are making news around the world of sports. Photo by Matt Riley/courtesy UVA No. 96 Is the ranking for UVA women's basketball signee Gabby White in the espnW HoopGurlz Top 100. The 5-foot-10 guard from Chapel Hill, N.C., signed with the Cavaliers in mid-November. "Gabby is an extremely high-character kid who is serious about her craft," UVA head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton said. "She is a big, athletic guard who can get downhill and create. She rebounds and competes on the defensive end at an elite level and has a high basketball IQ as she is a coach's kid. Her selfless spirit and work ethic on and off the court will make her transition to UVA seamless." 129 Career receptions for UVA fourth-year wide receiver MALACHI FIELDS, who was tabbed as a third-team All-ACC selection, at the conclu- sion of the 2024 sea- son, tied for 10th on the school's all-time list with Perry Jones (2009-12) and Joe Reed (2016-19). Fields' 1,849 career yards receiving are the ninth most in UVA history. " He won Virginia's lone national title, and that's significant for any coach. That national title run not only gave Virginia a fresh slate on the basketball court, it changed the perception of the entire university. The Cavs became more than the 1-seed that lost to 16-seed UMBC in 2018. "There are multiple coaches in this game with long careers who won a single national title (Tom Izzo, Jim Boeheim, John Calipari) that elevated their legacies. Bennett will similarly go down as a legend, and it's not a wild concept to envision Virginia memorializing his contributions with a statue or another gesture. He's that important to the program's history." — Myron Medcalf of ESPN on former UVA men's basketball head coach Tony Bennett after he announced his retirement " NBA scouts who have been through Virginia's practices this offseason have said they are intrigued by Virginia's talent. With last season's leading scorer Isaac McKneely back, plus a number of key transfer additions — like TJ Power (Duke), Elijah Saunders (San Diego State) and Dai Dai Ames (Kansas State) — the Cavaliers have a realistic chance to qualify for the Big Dance." — Sam Vecenie of The Athletic