Fairfax Station Native Shines for UVA Soccer

When Erica Hollenberg was in kindergarten, her older sister Eva asked their mother Kelly, "Why didn't you sign me up for a sport?"

"She was in third grade and I was in kindergarten and my mom asked her what she wanted to play. She said soccer," Fairfax Station native Erica Hollenberg said during a break in her schedule as a starting forward for the University of Virginia women's soccer team.  "As soon as she started playing, I wanted to play. Being the little sister I always wanted to do what she does."

Hollenberg, a junior, has a goal and eights assists this season for the nationally ranked Cavaliers, who are 12-3-2 this season and currently No. 6 in the latest NCAA poll. Erica broke into the starting lineup with 12 games remaining in her sophomore season and has no plans of giving it up anytime soon.

Even before arriving at Virginia in 2009, Erica was focused about her soccer career. She played two seasons for South County Secondary School before opting out after her sophomore season to play club soccer. The level of competition for club soccer involves traveling to compete against other club teams and college showcases to highlight the best talent in the sport. While most club players may play high school to get the chance to spend time with high school friends, Hollenberg was cautious about taking care of herself to stay in peak physical condition.

"I didn't want to have too much on my plate and have known a lot of people that go hurt doing too much soccer, going from high school practice to club practice every single day," Hollenberg says. "It was club that really prepared me for what college soccer and the competition level.

"I think for a lot of people part of the high school atmosphere is playing with friends, but for me I was more serious and already did have a lot of good friends on my club team, so it was about what my body could handle. I just choose the competitive nature of club."

That was just one decision which paid off for her. The McLean Freedom, her club squad at the U17 level, won a national championship in 2007. Her club experience is also what steered her toward Virginia.

"I had always looked at soccer in the ACC with so many good teams and one of the assistants on my club team my freshman year suggested that UVa would be a perfect fit for me both soccer-wise and school-wise," Erica says. "It's so close to home and that was definitely one of the top schools on my list. It's almost exactly two hours from home."

Which makes it nice for her parents. Erica says her parents are at every single home game, and can usually be seen on the sidelines for UVa's road schedule as well.

But as a child, Erica was making smart decisions regarding her soccer career.

"When I was little, I played sweeper for a year and I absolutely hated it," Erica says. "I like getting into the attack, assisting and scoring. I'm not big on defending and things that come with that."

Hollenberg says adjusting to college soccer didn't come easily. She played eight games as a freshman while adjusting to the level of competition, scoring her first college goal in a NCAA tournament game against Penn State.

"When you start college, you are playing with people who are two and three years older than you," Hollenberg says. "I'm only 5-foot-1 and a lot of the players are bigger than me, stronger than me and I had focused a lot on getting faster and being able to use my skills to my advantage."

Off the field, the junior recently declared as a sociology major but is still unsure about her future plans. On the field however, she is hoping to help the Cavaliers over the hump they've stumbled with since her arrival on campus. UVA has been eliminted in the third round of the last two seasons in the NCAA Tournament and ousted in the quarterfinals both times in the ACC Tournament.

This season, Erica has high hopes for a long tournament run in both events.

"We've played the top teams in the country so we know we can handle any team that's ahead of us," Hollenberg says. "We're focused on ACCs, trying to get a few home games for the NCAA Tournament to be in a place that we don't have to travel and then trying to get past the Sweet 16, which we haven't done the last few years.

"Obviously winning the NCAA championship would be awesome."