Scouting High Point

The Panthers enter the midweek game at 1-1 on the year. They opened the season with an 11-6 win over American at home, but later traveled to then-No. 8 Florida and fell 18-7 to the Gators. Blacksburg will be the second stop on a four-game road swing for the Panthers.

MacKenzie Carroll is leading the Panthers in scoring so far this season with four goals, while Alec Perry has tallied five points through the team’s first two games by way of three goals and two assists.

Christie Dougherty has paced High Point’s defensive efforts early in the year with four ground balls and three caused turnovers. Julia Burns has been the Panthers’ go-to in cage so far, starting both of the team’s games, allowing 10.31 goals and making 14 saves, good for a .412 save percentage.

High Point finished last season with a 10-9 record, 6-1 in the Big South. The Panthers won their conference tournament and made their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance, but were bounced in the first round.

Hokie Notes

-- Redshirt senior Julia Heaps set a career high with five goals and seven points in the season opener at James Madison.

-- The Hokies return six starters from last season, including five of the team’s top seven scorers from a year ago.

-- Tech finished the 2013 season at 8-8 and has yet to suffer a losing season since head coach Megan Burker took over in 2011.

-- Seniors Julia Heaps, Kelly Naslonski, Lindsay Roche and Becca Niles will captain the Hokies this season.

-- Tech welcomes 10 freshmen this season, as well as two new assistant coaches.

-- In this week’s polls, seven of Tech’s opponents are rankednationally, with another receiving votes.

-- Junior Meg Bartley returns for the Hokies this year after leading the ACC in draw controls last season and ranking in the top 20 in the nation.

-- The Hokies had six players named to the All-ACC Academic team last year, three of which are on the 2014 roster (Macera, Naslonski, Will).

Record Watch

Junior Meg Bartley has already broken into the all-time top 10, and is tied for fifth place with 117 career draws. She has also made her second notch on the single-seasons draw list, ranking second with 69 last year.

Redshirt senior Julia Heaps is on the brim of cracking into the top-10 at Tech as she has 32 career assists, needing just three more to crack the list.

Junior Megan Will’s 42 goals last season landed her on the single-season scoring list, ranking seventh. She is on pace to break into the all-time scoring list this season. She has 73 goals so far.