Virginia Tech shortstop Rachel Castine has been named the ACC Player of the Week, the league announced Tuesday morning. The junior earns the award for the first time in her career after leading the Hokies at the plate last week.
Castine led Tech offensively over the five games played, hitting a .583 batting average with 13 RBIs and four home runs, two of those being grand slams. The junior individually recorded more RBIs than any other team in the tournament. Belmont had eight RBIs, Illinois recorded 10, and Auburn put up 12.
In last week’s opener win against Illinois, Castine went 2-for-2 with a grand slam, the Hokies’ first home run of the season. She then hit her second grand slam of the day to put the Hokies up 8-1 in the extra inning victory against No. 20 Auburn.
Castine also produced pivotal home runs during the Saturday rematch against Auburn and the weekend finale against Illinois, as both home runs helped the Hokies come from behind. She rounded out her career-weekend with a total of seven hits and a 1.667 slugging percentage.
ACC kickoff
For the first time in the history of the event, the Atlantic Coast Conference will conduct the annual ACC Football Kickoff with four full days of interviews, July 22-25, at the Hilton Charlotte Uptown in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACC Network will provide live coverage for all four days.
With the addition of three new members in the University of California (Cal), Southern Methodist University (SMU), and Stanford, the breakdown of all 17 schools will consist of three schools on Monday, July 22, five schools each on Tuesday and Wednesday, July 23-24, and four schools on Thursday, July 25.
Women’s tourney tickets
Single-session tickets for the 2024 Ally ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament, to be held March 6-10 at Greensboro Coliseum, are now on sale.
Individual session ticket prices start at $10 for reserved seating and $7 for general admission seating (for select sessions). Additional reserved seating is now available for all sessions, which starts at $99.
A nation-best nine ACC teams are ranked in the top 40 of the NCAA NET rankings, headlined by five teams in the top 25. In the latest Associated Press (AP) Poll, five ACC teams are in the Top 25, beginning with NC State at No. 6. Virginia Tech is No. 12, Notre Dame is No. 16, Louisville is No. 18 and Syracuse is No. 19. Duke and North Carolina are receiving votes.
The 2024 Ally ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament will mark the 47th edition of the nation’s longest running women’s basketball conference championship. It will mark the 24th time in the last 25 years the Greensboro Coliseum has hosted the event.
Nine different ACC institutions have combined for 23 trips to the Women’s Final Four, with 2023 ACC Tournament Champion Virginia Tech making its first-ever appearance a season ago. ACC teams have made five trips to the Final Four in the last five seasons. Over those five seasons, 40 teams have earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament, the most among all conferences. Since 2014, the ACC has combined for 119 NCAA Tournament wins, the next closest conference has just 105.
Lady Hokies 12th
The Virginia Tech women’s basketball team is ranked 12th in the AP Poll the organization announced Monday afternoon.
The Hokies are 20-4 (11-2) on the season following another 2-0 week which featured a fourth consecutive victory over NC State and an 11-point win against Boston College in front of a sellout crowd. Overall, the Hokies have won seven in a row and are in solo first place in the ACC standings with five games remaining.
ACC honors Kitley
Virginia Tech center Elizabeth Kitley earned ACC Player of the Week honors the conference announced Monday afternoon. For the graduate student, it is her fourth time winning the award this season and 13th time in her illustrious career.
Kitley recorded two 20-point double-doubles this week as the Hokies ran their winning streak to seven games. In the second game of the season sweep of NC State she led all scorers with 25 points on 50% shooting while securing 13 rebounds as the Hokies became the first team to win at Reynolds Coliseum since they won there last season. Sunday, she put up 24 and 15, going 9-14 from the field.
She became the all-time leader in ACC history with her 73rd career double-double against the Wolfpack and then added to that total against the Eagles.
Staff report
