ELON, N.C. – Coming off a big season-opening victory, Elon University women's lacrosse heads to Virginia to take on the No. 13/14 Cavaliers at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 11, at Klöckner Stadium. The game will air on ACC Network Extra. 

LAST TIME OUT
Elon earned a 15-5 victory on Saturday, Feb. 4, in the season opener over Campbell at Rudd Field. The Phoenix had nine goal scorers in the game with Stephanie Asher leading the team with five and Sloane Kessler adding three. In the cage, Rachel Ramirez made 10 saves to earn the victory. The Phoenix scored five goals in the first 4:27 of game action and held Campbell to just one second-half goal in the convincing win.

SERIES HISTORY
Elon and Virginia have not met to date on the lacrosse field. Saturday's game marks the 10th game against a nationally-ranked team with the Phoenix owning a record 1-8 record against ranked foes. The one win came last season on Feb. 25, a 7-6 victory on the road over No. 10 Duke. 

SCOUTING THE CAVALIERS
Saturday's game against Elon marks the season opener for the Cavaliers. Virginia enters the season ranked No. 13 in the Cascade/Inside Lacrosse Media poll and No. 14 in the IWLCA Coaches poll. A year ago, UVA went 9-9 with a 3-4 record in ACC play and went to the NCAA Tournament but lost a 12-10 decision to Johns Hopkins. 

AWARD WINNER
With her team-leading five goals and game-high four draw controls, Stephanie Asher was named CAA Player of the Week on Tuesday, Feb. 7. It marked the second Player of the Week award of her career.

PRESEASON HONORS
Two Phoenix earned preseason All-CAA honors on Jan. 20 with Stephanie Asher and Rachel Ramirez being named to the All-CAA team and Sloane Kessler and Alexis Zadjura earning honorable mentions. In the preseason poll, Elon was selected to finish third behind Towson and James Madison. The third-place selection is the highest Elon has been in a preseason poll in the program's brief history.

LOOKING BACK AT 2016
Elon posted its first winning season and first 10-win season in 2016 with an overall 10-7 record and 3-3 mark in the CAA. One of those victories was Elon's 7-6 win at No. 10 Duke, the program's first win over an ACC team and first win over a ranked opponent. At season's end, the Phoenix finished No. 29 in the NCAA RPI. Elon was second in the CAA with 15.2 ground balls, 23.4 shots and just 10.9 turnovers per game in 2016 and Stephanie Asher was third in the conference with 2.2 goals per contest and fourth in assists with 1.2 per outing. Rachel Ramirez finished tops in the CAA with 3.06 ground balls a game, a total of 52 on the season. 

HEAD COACH JOSH HEXTER
The 2017 campaign marks the fourth season at the helm of the program for head coach Josh Hexter after being hired in April 2012 to start and lead the Phoenix lacrosse program from the ground up. Named Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year in 2014, Hexter has amassed 99 wins in his career at Elon and Bridgewater State with a 27-24 record in 51 games at Elon. Over the course of his first three seasons, he has coached two conference freshmen of the year and a total of 12 all-conference players. 

UP NEXT
The Phoenix will start a four-game homestand on Wednesday, Feb. 15, with a 6 p.m. matchup against Winthrop at Rudd Field. Elon and Winthrop have never met. Wednesday's game is set to be the season opener for the Eagles.