In her second season at Virginia Tech, attacker Hannah Mardiney is ready to step up in more ways than one.
Mardiney, a transfer from Florida, scored five goals and registered two assists in her first five games, filling a leadership role on and off the field.
Although Mardiney is currently a critical piece in the Hokies' puzzle, lacrosse wasn't always her sport of choice. Growing up, soccer was her favorite sport into her teenage years. She loved the United States women's national team and played both sports, soccer in the fall and lacrosse in the spring.
"I always pictured lacrosse as my second sport," Mardiney said. "I definitely, as a kid, really fell in love with soccer and that was all I wanted to do."
Along with soccer, Mardiney began playing lacrosse around four or five years old. Baltimore, which is roughly 15 miles from her hometown, is a major lacrosse area, so many in the area played the sport. Interestingly, when she began competing, she played with boys. At the young age, there is no contact, making little difference in the rules, as opposed to in college.
"I'm not sure how that ended up happening," Mardiney said. "My dad just signed me up and it happened to be that way. I don't even think he meant to."
Whether she intended to play with boys or not, Mardiney had success early. College lacrosse recruiting began earlier than soccer, so when Mardiney began that process, she knew she would stick with lacrosse.
The recruiting process brought Mardiney to the University of Florida, where she played for three seasons. After suffering an injury during her junior year, she entered the transfer portal and arrived at Virginia Tech in 2021.
When deciding where to transfer, Virginia Tech's robust facilities and strong fan base appealed to Mardiney. She loved the culture of the school and how the university rallies around its teams.
"I didn't want to go somewhere that didn't have a big football team," she said. "I really enjoyed that part of Florida, and I knew in my next school that I didn't want to go somewhere that didn't have that, because I think that's a really fun thing for college."
Mardiney connected with Blacksburg and the surrounding area, and knew Virginia Tech was where she wanted to go as soon as she toured.
"When I visited here, I kind of instantly fell in love with it," she said. "I knew, in comparison to the other schools I looked at, that this was where I wanted to spend my last two years of college."
Head coach Kristen Skiera arrived at Virginia Tech in the same season as Mardiney. As Mardiney evaluated potential transfer destinations, she waited to see who Virginia Tech would hire. When she learned it was Skiera, Mardiney had an unexpected connection.
Mardiney's club lacrosse coach, Scott Robinson, coincidentally coached Skiera in basketball, at Mt. Hebron High School in the early 2000s. As soon as Virginia Tech announced Skiera as its head coach in June 2021, Robinson pushed Mardiney to consider joining the Hokies.
Skiera and Mardiney, when they first talked on the phone, had an instant connection and immediately felt comfortable with each other.
"As soon as I connected with Coach Skiera, I knew right away that she was someone I wanted to play for," Mardiney said.
Because Mardiney came in with a new coach, she didn't have to adjust to a new system that everyone on the team was already accustomed to. Instead, the entire team had to adjust to Skiera, which made the transition more comfortable.
"I think the transition was pretty seamless and I feel like they have made my transition here pretty great," Mardiney said. "I have no complaints; it was pretty much a breeze."
Skiera has decades of lacrosse experience, from her playing days at Duke, to coaching Army through the transition to a varsity sport, and now coaching at Virginia Tech. At Duke from 2004 to 2007, Skiera was a two time All-American and won four regular season ACC championships, along with an ACC tournament title. She graduated as Duke's career leader in assists, ranked second in points, and tied for fourth in career goals.
"She just gets it," Mardiney said.
Mardiney emphasized that Skiera and the rest of the coaching staff are great people, along with being great coaches.
"I know that if I ever need anything post-college, they would definitely be one of the first people I would call," she said.
In 2022, Mardiney's first season at Virginia Tech, she scored 16 goals and had seven assists, totaling 23 points. She played in all 18 games and started in 16 of them. She had three goals and three assists on Feb. 19, 2022 against VCU, totaling six points. For her, it was good to have a new start.
"It was almost refreshing [to be able to] get out there and have another opportunity," Mardiney said.
This year, Mardiney is a team captain. She transitioned into a leadership role, as someone with five years of college lacrosse experience under her belt. She takes her off the field role, which includes looking out for underclassmen, as seriously as her on the field role.
"Trying to build people up and give them the confidence to succeed this year has been my number one priority, especially for the younger kids to make sure they feel comfortable," Mardiney said.
While Mardiney was an upperclassman last year, she was still new to the program and tried to avoid overstepping. This year, she feels more confident and can bring her knowledge and experience to those who need it.
"I think it's really important for the upperclassmen to feed confidence into your teammates, and I think that is something I bring to the table," she said.
With less than a third of the season in the books, Mardiney is off to a hot start. Competing against a challenging ACC that contained six teams ranked in the preseason top 25, Mardiney is ready to take it on.
"I think it really does come down to us," she said. "But I am optimistic, because I do know we have that in us, and I think that with all these opportunities coming up, it's gonna come out eventually and I am excited for that."