Cavalier Corner is the publication just for UVa sports fans!
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/876470
cavalier sports OCTOBER 2017 11 MICAH KISER • Football After posting a game-high 15 tackles (seven solo), two sacks and a fumble recovery in Virginia's 38-18 win over Connecticut Sept. 16, the fourth-year from Baltimore was named the National Defensive Player of the Week by The Walter Camp Football Foundation. He is the third Cavalier to win the honor in its history, while the two quarterback take- downs moved Kiser into 10th place all time at Virginia with 19 in his career. He logged a team-best 36 stops and five sacks through the first three games. Only two players in the land had more sacks as of Sept. 17. PIEN DICKE • Field Hockey The rookie from the Neth- erlands was in the starting lineup for her collegiate de- but, but that wasn't all she did — she kept pace with the nation's best player, fourth-year team- mate Tara Vittese, and opened with a hat trick (three goals) in her first game, an 11-1 win over Fairfield Aug. 25. She tallied another hat trick Sept. 10 in the 6-1 win over Michigan State and ranked sec- ond on the team in several categories after the first eight contests, including goals (10), points (23), shots on goal (24), and game- winning markers (two). The Dutch Junior National Team member ranked third nationally with 2.88 points per game through Sept. 17 and was one of just three players — along with Vittese — to have tallied double-digit goals. PHOEBE MCCLERNON • Women's Soccer The No. 8 Cavaliers fell just short of becom- ing the first team to hand a loss to No. 1 UCLA, losing 2-1 in front of 3,064 fans at Klöckner Stadium Sept. 7. The second-year defender made sure UVA got the job done three days later in Charlottesville in a 3-2 victory over No. 5 Penn State, putting home the deciding marker on a free kick from 45 yards out in the 62nd minute. It was the West Chester, Pa., native's first career point and couldn't have come at a better time. 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. Redshirt third-year Joe Spaziani is a study in perseverance. Spaziani was a three-sport athlete at Hingham (Mass.) High, where he played basketball, baseball and football. He completed his interscholastic foot- ball career after passing for 2,220 yards and 15 touchdowns while also rushing for 920 yards and 14 scores. But three games into his senior sea- son, he fractured his leg and spent the rest of that year on the sidelines. Fast-forward and Spaziani wound up wearing a Virginia football uniform as a walk-on in 2014 before being awarded a scholarship this past August during fall camp. He now performs double duty, serv- ing as a backup quarterback and the Cavaliers' long snapper on extra points attempts, field goals and punts. Spaziani grew up in a football family. His father, Frank, played the sport for Penn State. After working as an assistant coach at UVA, Frank Spaziani became the head coach at Boston College and now is the defensive coordinator at New Mexico State. The primary challenge facing student-athletes today is: Being able to find the balance between academics and athletics so they can be successful in both. Why I chose UVA: The commitment to athletics that I could see and the aca- demic prestige the university has. What I like the most about football: How team-oriented the sport is. It's such a team game, but each individual position is a lot different. The highlight of my athletic career: My favorite athletic moment is mak- ing my first start against Wake Forest last year. It was the first time I actually played in a foot- ball game since my senior year in high school. That was pretty remarkable. The most important thing I've learned from football: No mat- ter how good or bad things are going you have to be all in if you want to be successful over a long period of time. You never can get complacent. My dream vacation would be: I want to play golf at Augusta National. My post-college ambition is: Be a college football head coach. — Mike Scandura What Is Your Favorite … … TV show: "Pardon the Interruption" … movie: "Friday Night Lights" … actor and actress? Tom Harvey and Jennifer Lawrence … place in Charlottesville: Tip Top Diner … musician/band? Drake … pro sports team? Any Boston sports team … food? Pancakes, bacon and eggs … UVA class? Astronomy … sport (other than football)? Golf … person in history? Tom Brady … pregame ritual? Hanging out in a hotel room watching College Game Day before we head to the stadium Spaziani, a former walk-on who was awarded a scholarship in August, serves as Virginia's long snapper on extra points attempts, field goals and punts. PHOTO COURTESY UVA getting to know Redshirt Third-Year Football Player Joe Spaziani