Sarah Murrell comes in from ODU and should slot in as an instant-impact starter. I'd think that she steps up as Tech's second/third scorer now that Grace New has graduated. ** Edited by thomash05 at 1/11/2026, 11:58:13 PM

VT will finish in the bottom third. This year Florida State joins the party, so my best guess right now is VT will battle it out with Pitt, Louisville, and FSU for the bottom four spots. FSU should be the clear favorite to finish in the cellar. I don’t believe VT signed a top class and they lack speed and playmakers. Skiera has been underwhelming in her tenure and have to believe this may be a make or break year for her. Again, I am going to hope for the best and hope VT can finish in the top 6-7 in the ACC, which may get them back into the NCAA tournament.

Tech's women's lacrosse facilities easily rank in the bottom third of the ACC. Clemson has a top notch facility, FSU's new facility is really nice. UNC, UVA, BC...have quality facilites. Skiera doesn't attack the transfer portal as hard as most of the ACC and top 40 WLAX programs. I have no clue what kind of NIL money Skiera has to work with but I'm guessing it doesn't compare to the Top 30-40 WLAX programs. Recruiting has slightly improved but Skiera has lost her top players to better programs, notably UNC. As for 2026, I agree that Tech likely finishes in the bottom third. FSU and Pitt are on the road,so those games aren't gimmes. Tech opens up at Mercer, a team capable of beating us. A win there would be in the right direction. I pretty much see the same non-conference teams (JMU, Elon, High Point, Mercer, VCU, Queens) on the schedule. At best, I expect a .500 overall record and maybe 2-3 wins in the ACC. As for Skiera, I kind of agree that this may be "A make or break year" for her, but Whit Babcock will keep her as long as she has a 7-9, 8-8, 9-7 type overall record. Babcock personally likes Skiera and realizes he's not funding her program to succeed in the ACC. His focus is on football and men's basketball. The only way I see Skiera getting fired is if she goes 0-8 in conference and has a losing non-conference record. I feel that Skiera will have a slightly better team this spring than she has last season.

VTs wlax facilities will not excite anyone and having toured other facilities had me walking away extremely disappointed. One could easily get the feeling VT doesn’t care about the program. Skiera is not going to win any popularity contests with players. Not saying being a “player coach” is necessary but this is not Skiera. She does not seem to be a great recruiter and cannot develop talent. She’s had some great athletes come through that she was just not able to get the most out of. Her teams tend to lack a toughness or grit, conditioning, and discipline, which is surprising given Skiera’s background with Army. Speed has been missing under her watch. I have a different take. At the ACC level I want my 11 fastest and most athletic and gritty players on the field. I will coach them up to be great lacrosse players. They say you can’t coach speed. I agree with OLH, VT could finish 9-8 or 8-9. To get on the positive side they will need to avenge the High Point loss from last year. Florida State will be an interesting game - I really don’t know what to make of FSU but as a new program it should be a VT win. VT has always had the luxury of catching Pitt early in the season and pulling those games out. Pitt tends to get better as the season goes on and plays the better teams in the ACC tough. This may be the year the ball bounces Pitts way when the Hokies play at Pitt. Maybe Skiera and VT are good for one another. VT doesn’t have to put in a lot to the program and Skiera is okay with this. Maybe things will change if Whit does leave as some have suggested. But right now with the state of the program VT will be relegated to the bottom third of the ACC which will not get them back to the NCAAs. I miss the days when VT actually beat BC. Almost sad how polar opposite these two programs are now. ** Edited by WhoDatVT at 1/10/2026, 5:53:38 AM ** Edited by WhoDatVT at 1/10/2026, 8:51:29 AM

Toughness and grit are natural are at Army. A coach at Army doesn't have to develop those traits in their players. Not the same at other schools. All Army players are on scholarship. It's a big advantage for building a deep roster in non-revenue sports with big rosters, such as track and swimming. Does it also help with lacrosse?