Julie Myers: DirectorThe 2022 season marks the 27th season that Julie Myers has served as the head coach of the Virginia women's lacrosse team. In each of her 22 seasons at the helm of the Cavaliers, Myers has guided her team to the NCAA Tournament --a feat matched by no other Division I coach in the same period.
The numbers are staggering. Myers holds a 29-21 record in the NCAA tournament, which ranks third all-time in tournament victories and games coached. She is fourth in semifinal appearances and eighth in win percentage. With Virginia's national championship victory in 2004, Myers became the first person in women's lacrosse history at the NCAA Division I level to win a title as a player and a head coach. Her trip to the title game in 2005 was her third consecutive trip, an achievement reached by only five other coaches in NCAA women's lacrosse history. In addition, the Cavaliers have reached the finals of the NCAA championships eight times and have played in the title game of the ACC Tournament in nine of the 19 years it has been contested. It is a remarkable consistency matched by no other Division I coach in the country. The Cavaliers have also been ranked in the IWLCA Coaches' Poll all but four weeks during Myers' tenure. Myers' win over Virginia Tech on April 15, 2005, was her 146th career win, giving her more wins than any other women's lacrosse coach at the University of Virginia. In 2008, Myers brought her career wins total to 200, making her the fourth active coach and sixth coach all-time to reach that milestone. Myers eclipsed another milestone by becoming just the fourth coach in women's lacrosse history to reach 300 career wins in 2017. A proven winner, Myers enters her 23rd year at Virginia with three NCAA titles; one as a player (1991), one as an assistant coach (1993) and one as a head coach (2004). In 1996, she became the first rookie coach to take her squad to the title game and also became the first person to compete for the championship both as a player and as a head coach. |
Brittany Dipper: AssistantBrittany Dipper was named an assistant coach in July 2022. Dipper joins the Cavaliers after spending three seasons at Boston University, including the 2022 season as the associate head coach.
Dipper aided BU to its best season since 2011 with an 11-7 record during the 2019 campaign, which included a 6-3 mark in Patriot League games. Primarily working with the defense, Dipper helped to coach Tonianne Magnelli to IWLCA All-Northeast honors while four Terriers were named to the All-Patriot League Team. Dipper arrived in Boston after spending the previous four years at Elon, including serving the 2017 season as associate head coach. During her four seasons at Elon, Dipper aided the Phoenix to a 35-33 record, highlighted by a program-best 13-7 mark in 2017 as Elon made its first NCAA Tournament in just its fourth season as a varsity sport. Additionally, the 2017 squad defeated three ranked opponents and reached the finals of the CAA Championship. Dipper oversaw 12 All-CAA selections and helped Elon reach the conference tournament in each of the last three seasons. A native of Clarksboro, N.J., Dipper started her coaching career at Stetson, where she served as an assistant coach for two seasons before being named as the interim head coach for her final three months with the Hatters. While at Stetson, she saw the Hatters make back-to-back appearances in the Atlantic Sun Championship semifinals. She also worked closely with goalkeeper Caili Guilday during the 2014 season, who led the nation with 11.67 saves per game. Prior to her coaching career, Dipper was a standout goalie at Maryland where she played an integral role in guiding the Terrapins to the 2010 national championship. While at College Park, she was a two-time first team All-America selection and was named the IWLCA National Goalie of the Year in 2011 after leading the nation in goals against average (6.54), save percentage (.522), and made a career-best 141 saves. With the Terrapins, Dipper aided Maryland to four straight ACC titles while being named to the All-ACC Tournament team all four years of her career. She posted a career mark of 75-8 in between the pipes and also won a national championship competing on Maryland’s field hockey team her freshmen year in 2008. Dipper graduated from Maryland in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in family science. |
Ally Kennedy: AssistantAlly Kennedy joined the Virginia women’s lacrosse staff as an assistant coach in September of 2022.
Kennedy spent the 2021 season as a graduate assistant coach at Stony Brook and also worked as an assistant coach for the Long Island Yellow Jackets, a top club lacrosse team. Kennedy joins the Cavaliers after representing Team USA at the 2022 World Lacrosse Women’s World Championship, playing in all eight games with 11 goals and one assist. During the first five games, Kennedy had three separate hat tricks. Kennedy was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 Athletes Unlimited draft. She finished her first professional season 16th overall in points scored. During her rookie season in the Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse league, Kennedy finished with 1,302 leaderboard points, posting seven games with at least 100 points. She tied for eighth overall in most goals scored, with 22. As a student-athlete, she was a four-time All-American and 2021 IWLCA Midfielder of the Year at Stony Brook. Kennedy finished her career ranked third all-time in goals (266), ninth in assists (63), fourth in points (329), second in ground balls (180), second in caused turnovers (343) and 10th in caused turnovers (59). Kennedy was named a Tewaaraton Award nominee and Honda Award finalist in 2021. She led Stony Brook to the NCAA quarterfinals in each of her five seasons and again as a graduate assistant coach. After setting an American East Tournament record with 12 goals in two games in the postseason, she was also awarded America East Tournament Most Outstanding Player. During the 2018 season, Kennedy led the Seawolves to the program’s first ever No. 1 national ranking, after winning their sixth straight American East title. Kennedy graduated from Stony Brook in 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in business management. |