Virginia Tech News: 1 week until season-opener, Adair milestone & more

We are officially one week away from the Virginia Tech football team kicking off the 2023 season at home at Lane Stadium on Sept. 2 at 8 p.m. against Old Dominion. Second-year coach Brent Pry is hoping to improve on last season’s 3-8 record and in the big picture, it’s going to be hard for the Hokies to not be able to pass the three-win total.

In this edition of Virginia Tech News, Pry makes some announcements this week, a milestone for a Hokies soccer coach, and more.

Pry names 2023 football captains

On Wednesday, Pry announced that senior tight end Nick Gallo was going to be out for an unknown amount of time with an injury, but one day later, he announced who his captains are going to be for this season.

Defensive lineman Norwell Pollard, safety Nasir Peoples, defensive lineman Josh Fuga, quarterback Grant Wells, offensive lineman Kaden Moore, punter Peter Moore, and Gallo are the 2023 captains. Kaden Moore and Peter Moore are both juniors, while the other captains are seniors.

https://twitter.com/HokiesFB/status/1694850826055942407

Getting off to a good start is going to be key for the Hokies if they want to become Bowl-eligible by winning at least six games. The future is bright in terms of recruiting, but right now Pry just cares about the present which kicks off next Saturday night.

Chuggar Adair nets milestone win

Virginia Tech women’s soccer coach Chuggar Adair recorded his 150th career victory in Thursday’s 3-0 non-conference shutout of James Madison. At the helm since 2011, Adair has turned the Hokies into a perennial NCAA Tournament team, reaching the single-elimination tournament in nine of his first 11 seasons in Blacksburg.

https://twitter.com/HokiesWSoccer/status/1695160571149136040

This season Tech is off to a 2-0-1 start with wins over Butler and James Madison, while settling for a tie with Indiana last weekend. Virginia Tech travels to Washington, D.C. Sunday to play Georgetown in another non-conference battle.

Men’s soccer drops season-opener

After struggling through a 3-14-1 season in 2022 on the pitch, the Virginia Tech men’s soccer team was hoping to start the 2023 season on a positive note, but that did not happen in a 4-1 loss to UCLA at the 2023 Fairfield by Marriott Invitational.

Ethan Ballek scored the lone Hokies goal in the second half, but they were hurt by a goal from the Bruins in the 44th minute off a corner kick right before halftime that seized the momentum. Tech returns to action Sunday at noon against Duquesne University.