Hokies, Cavaliers land transfers on defense

Hawaii cornerback transfer Caleb Brown has committed to Virginia Tech, his agency Quality Control Sports said, according to CBS Sports reporter Matt Zenitz. The 6-foot-1, 160-pounder broke up 14 passes in the last two years.

Virginia gained a commitment from Tennessee Tech transfer defensive end Daniel Rickert, who accumulated 16 sacks and 25.5 tackles for loss over the past two seasons. Last season, Rickert was playing for an FCS team guided by former Old Dominion coach Bobby Wilder.

Report: Virginia Tech acquires German 7-footer

Center Antonio Dorn of Germany has committed to Virginia Tech, agents Milan Nikolic and Cüneyt Üngör told ESPN. The 7-footer is averaging 9.1 points and 4.5 rebounds in 18 minutes per game in the German second division. He will turn 22 in May.

Howard sweeps NSU, clinches MEAC title

Howard clinched the outright Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular-season championship with a 10-2 Game 1 victory at Norfolk State in a doubleheader, and the Bison then completed a sweep with a 7-3 triumph.

In Game 2, the Bison (25-17, 19-1) broke a 3-3 stalemate with a four-run seventh against NSU (21-20, 14-6). Senior Kenna Higa, a Hawaiian who played her first three seasons for NSU, was 3 for 4 with two runs and four RBIs in that game for Howard, and Sidney Fletcher was 3 for 4 with three RBIs. Both of them hit two-run doubles in the seventh.

Losing pitcher Kailey Bryant homered, tripled and drove in two runs for the Spartans. Lauren Sheehan’s first-run homer brought in the other run.

Hampton falls to N.C. A&T

Lauren Hardy pitched a six-hitter as North Carolina A&T (11-35, 3-20 Coastal Athletic Association) evened its series at Hampton (15-30, 5-18) with a 9-1 victory.

The Aggies scored once in each of the first three innings, then surged for a six-run sixth. Carmynn Bonner scored the Pirates’ run in the sixth, doubling and eventually coming home on Jasmine Venson’s groundout, but the eight-run rule still ended the game one inning early.

Ava Lester (2-4) took the loss.

No. 7 VWU sweeps Sweet Briar

Virginia Wesleyan (36-3-1, 21-1 Old Dominion Athletic Conference), ranked seventh in Division III, pitched a combined five-inning no-hitter in Game 1 as it swept host Sweet Briar 10-0, 13-0. In the opener, Lauren Bible (20-1) pitched the first three innings, and Abigail Jones threw the last two. Both struck out three, and Bible walked one.

The Marlins stole eight bases. Julia Piotrowski, Laci Campbell, Morgan Tucker and Joslyn Woodard drove in two runs apiece.

In Game 2, a six-run first inning set the tone. Hannah Hearl and Julia Piotrowski combined on a two-hitter over five innings.

Haley Sadler was 3 for 3 with two runs and two RBIs, Tucker was 3 for 3 with a run and an RBI, Samantha Deitsch and Olivia Knight drove in two runs each, and pinch hitter Brooke Powell provided a three-run homer. The last-place Vixens fell to 16-24, 3-19.

Friday, No. 15 Stanford (34-9, 12-7 ACC) scored twice in the bottom of the seventh for a 4-3 victory over No. 25 Virginia (34-15, 13-9). The Cardinal scored the tying run on Emily Jones’ RBI double, and she scored the winning run on a two-out error.
UVA’s Macee Eaton was 2 for 2 with a two-run homer.

No. 25 UVA stops No. 15 Stanford

No. 25 Virginia had 13 hits, including two home runs, as the Cavaliers (35-15, 14-9 ACC) won 9-4 at No. 15 Stanford (34-10, 12-8) to square their series at a victory apiece.

Jade Hylton set a UVA single-season record with her 16th home run. Kelly Ayer’s three-run home run in the fourth put UVA on top to stay, 5-3.

No. 14 Hokies shut out Cal

No. 14 Virginia Tech (39-7, 17-3 ACC) secured a series win over California (31-18, 7-13) with a 9-0 victory in Berkeley.

Cori McMillan launched her nation-leading 25th home run of the season, while Michelle Chatfield hit her third home run of the weekend.

Emma Lemley pitched a shutout with 10 strikeouts.

CNU’s contest at No. 9 Salisbury postponed

Christopher Newport’s game at No. 9 Salisbury was postponed until 2 p.m. Sunday because of rain in Saturday’s forecast.

ODU returns to Sun Belt final

Top-seeded Old Dominion breezed past fifth-seeded James Madison 4-0 to return to the Sun Belt Tournament final at Rome Tennis Center in Georgia.

Seeking their third consecutive Sun Belt tourney title, the 46th-ranked Monarchs will face Marshall for the trophy and an automatic NCAA Tournament berth at 1 p.m. Sunday. The Thundering Herd, ranked 72nd nationally but seeded just sixth in the tourney, ousted seventh-seeded Troy 4-1.

Lidiia Rasskouskaia, Ulyana Romanova and Marina Markina won in straight sets on lines 3, 4 and 6 for ODU after the Monarchs dominated in doubles.

W&M returns to CAA final

Three-time defending champion William & Mary (14-5) shut out third-seeded Delaware 4-0 to advance to the Coastal Athletic Association Tournament final on Elon’s courts.

The second-seeded Tribe will bid for its 30th title in the tourney’s 40-year history when it faces top-seeded Elon (18-5) at 10 a.m. Sunday. W&M lost 4-3 to the Phoenix on April 19.

Against the Blue Hens, No. 6 Mira Kernagis, No. 5 Francesca Davis and No. 1 Hedda Gurholt won in singles to put W&M in its 10th consecutive CAA final.

Bridgewater ousts VWU from ODAC tourney

Paige Mayers scored six goals as sixth-seeded Bridgewater (10-8), playing at home, won 11-4 against seventh-seeded Virginia Wesleyan (9-9) in the ODAC Tournament’s first round. Madison Pfister scored twice for the Marlins.

Both teams were 5-5 in the conference regular season. VWU went ahead 2-0 in the first quarter, but Bridgewater’s defense was stingy thereafter.

No. 9 W&L edges CNU

No. 9 Washington and Lee (14-4) rallied past Christopher Newport 12-11 in Newport News as Hannah Van Son scored the tying goal with 2:46 to go and the winning goal on a free-position shot with 11 seconds remaining.

For the Captains (7-10), Faith O’Connor scored four goals and Drew Stanley three.

NSU 4×400 relay sets school record

Donovan Terry, Tafari Bishop, Vincent Bond Jr. and Kendrick Winfield set a Norfolk State 4×400-meter relay record of 3 minutes, 5.07 seconds.

UVA wins ACC stroke-play medal

For the first time, Virginia won the stroke play competition at the ACC championship event. The Cavaliers beat second-place North Carolina by eight strokes in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and will advance to match play Sunday as the top seeds.

The Cavaliers will take on Georgia Tech in a quarterfinal at 8:30 a.m. Sunday, with the winner moving on to the semifinal to face the winner of Clemson and SMU. The afternoon semifinal will begin at approximately 2:30 p.m.

Four Cavaliers finished in the individual top 10 – Ben James and Bryan Lee (tied for sixth, 6 under par), and Josh Duangmanee and Deven Patel (tied for ninth, 5 under).

As a team, Virginia shot an 18-under 846. Virginia Tech was 15th (last place) at 892.

Notre Dame’s Jacob Modleski birdied the 54th hole to edge Florida State’s Tyler Weaver by a stroke for the individual title. Modleski was 9 under for the tournament and shot 69 in the final round.

Former ODU star upends world No. 20

Former Old Dominion star Yuliia Starodubtseva, a 25-year-old from Ukraine, advanced to the Madrid Open’s round of 16 on clay with a 2-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-0 victory over Liudmila Samsonova, the world’s No. 20 player.

Starodubtseva, ranked 99th, overcame a 3-1 deficit in the second set. She next will face one of tennis’ rising stars, seventh-ranked Mirra Andreeva.