BLACKSBURG – The Virginia Tech women's soccer team, who will open the 2019 campaign in just over two weeks, was one of seven Atlantic Coast Conference programs to be ranked in the United Soccer Coaches' Preseason Top 25 poll, the organization announced last night.
The Hokies check in at No. 25, after ending the 2018 season at No. 21. The other six ACC teams in the poll all appear on the Hokies' 2019 schedule, including No. 1 Florida State, No. 8 Duke and No. 23 Wake Forest, who all will be facing Tech in Blacksburg this fall. CLICK HERE to see the entire Top 25.
"It's a nice honor to be recognized at this point in the season, but it's really early," said Tech head coach Charles "Chugger" Adair. "It's nice to be acknowledged, but we have a lot of work to do. We have to make sure we prove that we should be in the rankings and that we can put together a successful season. It's very early."
The team reported on Monday and has been training for a couple days. Adair's early thoughts … "It was a great day, Monday. We had a good team meeting. It was seamless relationship-wise. The team has already gelled a little bit from the summer and from our time together in Costa Rica. We're getting into the work. It's been a couple of days now of getting into some pretty hard work, and the kids are buying into that and pushing through that. We've got a lot of decisions to be made as far as our play and who is going to play what positions and roles. It's still early, but the student-athletes have done a good job of buying in so far."
The Hokies will hold a scrimmage this Saturday at Thompson Field against Marshall with kickoff set for 5 p.m. Adair talked about the approach he'll take with that … "We're going to try to figure out a couple of different systems as well as who fits in what system and how they fit best. We're also going to try and work on giving kids some opportunities who have shown some growth and development and deserve that chance. We're also going to try and phase the new kids into the group and establish a rhythm and a tactical side of our game.
"I've been pleased so far with the work the kids have put in and I look forward to us continuing to move forward with the group."
Tech opens the regular season with a home weekend against Liberty (Thursday, Aug. 22, 7 p.m.) and Cincinnati (Sunday, Aug. 25, 1 p.m.).
The ONLY way to see Tech matches this season – other than in-person – is on the ACC Network. CLICK HERE to see if your provider is currently slated to carry the network.