University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heel and U.S National Team head coach Jenny Levy
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Women's Lacrosse Welcomes Three Top Transfers
August 11, 2021 | Women's Lacrosse
CHAPEL HILL—The University of North Carolina women's lacrosse team has added transfers Andie Aldave, Olivia Dirks and Sam Geiersbach to the Tar Heel team for the 2021-22 academic year, head coach Jenny Levy announced on Wednesday.
All three are decorated players who should aid the Tar Heels' effort to reach the NCAA Tournament final four for the 10th time in the last 13 years in 2022.
Dirks has three years of eligibility remaining, while Aldave and Geiersbach have one each.
"We are excited to welcome Andie, Olivia and Sam into our program," Carolina head coach Jenny Levy says. "They will be great fits with our team culture and style of play. I cannot wait to see each of them start to build relationships and chemistry both on and off the field with our returning team.
"We had such a good experience with graduate students Kerrigan Miller and Katie Bourque last year," Levy adds. "They added experience and maturity to our program both on and off the field. We look forward to getting Andie and Sam acclimated to our program in all ways; I know they will thrive in our environment. Both bring high IQs, skills and competitive fire, Andie to the middle of our field and Sam on the offensive end.
"Olivia comes in as an undergraduate with three years to train as a Tar Heel midfielder," says Levy. "With her energy and aggressive style of play, she is a great fit for our program. She has spent the summer getting to know and playing lacrosse with many of our players, most recently at the US 6's events in July."
Aldave starred in the midfield for four seasons at Notre Dame (2018-21), twice setting the school record for single-season draw controls while earning first-team All-America honors. She was a team captain for the Fighting Irish as a senior in 2021, starting all 18 games and leading the squad with 82 draw controls. She also posted 18 goals and 27 points along with 14 ground balls and five caused turnovers in '21.
Aldave earned first-team All-America accolades from Inside Lacrosse in 2020, finishing second on the Notre Dame team with 17 goals and 23 points while breaking the school record for career draw controls as just a junior.
Dirks, a midfielder, earned second-team All-America honors from Inside Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse magazine as a sophomore at Penn State in 2021. She was the 2021 Big Ten Midfielder of the Year and first-team All-Big Ten after tallying 31 goals, 12 assists, 25 ground balls, 78 draw controls and 18 caused turnovers in 13 games with the Nittany Lions in '21.
Dirks led the Big Ten and was 19th nationally with 6.0 draw controls per game and fifth in the Big Ten with 1.38 caused turnovers per contest. She was a Tewaaraton Award nominee and first-team All-Region West/Midwest by the IWLCA for her efforts.
Geiersbach was a two-time member of the Tewaaraton Award watch list as an attacker at the University of Richmond. As a redshirt senior in 2021, she started all 10 Spider games on attack and finished second on the team with 42 points on 23 goals and 19 assists. She also added 11 ground balls and five caused turnovers.
In seven games in the Covid-shortened 2020 season, Geiersbach led Richmond with 45 points and 23 assists and was second on the team with 22 goals. She was the 2019 Atlantic 10 Tournament MVP and the 2017 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year. In her 58-game career (all starts) with the Spiders, she recorded 260 points on 162 goals and 98 assists, adding 87 ground balls and scoring 14 game-winning goals.
"Overall, we are looking forward to an exciting year in 2022," Levy says. "We return a great group of talented, hard-working and passionate players who we absolutely loved coaching last year. Our veteran leadership is very strong and will help us welcome in the new freshmen and transfers. We cannot wait to start building our team!"
The 2022 Tar Heels will return eight of 12 starters and five of the top six scorers from their 2021 team that went 20-1, won its fifth consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament semifinals.
The returnees include ACC Attacker of the Year Jamie Ortega, ACC Midfielder of the Year Ally Mastroianni, National Goalkeeper of the Year Taylor Moreno, three-time first-team All-America defender Emma Trenchard.
All three are decorated players who should aid the Tar Heels' effort to reach the NCAA Tournament final four for the 10th time in the last 13 years in 2022.
Dirks has three years of eligibility remaining, while Aldave and Geiersbach have one each.
"We are excited to welcome Andie, Olivia and Sam into our program," Carolina head coach Jenny Levy says. "They will be great fits with our team culture and style of play. I cannot wait to see each of them start to build relationships and chemistry both on and off the field with our returning team.
"We had such a good experience with graduate students Kerrigan Miller and Katie Bourque last year," Levy adds. "They added experience and maturity to our program both on and off the field. We look forward to getting Andie and Sam acclimated to our program in all ways; I know they will thrive in our environment. Both bring high IQs, skills and competitive fire, Andie to the middle of our field and Sam on the offensive end.
"Olivia comes in as an undergraduate with three years to train as a Tar Heel midfielder," says Levy. "With her energy and aggressive style of play, she is a great fit for our program. She has spent the summer getting to know and playing lacrosse with many of our players, most recently at the US 6's events in July."
Aldave starred in the midfield for four seasons at Notre Dame (2018-21), twice setting the school record for single-season draw controls while earning first-team All-America honors. She was a team captain for the Fighting Irish as a senior in 2021, starting all 18 games and leading the squad with 82 draw controls. She also posted 18 goals and 27 points along with 14 ground balls and five caused turnovers in '21.
Aldave earned first-team All-America accolades from Inside Lacrosse in 2020, finishing second on the Notre Dame team with 17 goals and 23 points while breaking the school record for career draw controls as just a junior.
Dirks, a midfielder, earned second-team All-America honors from Inside Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse magazine as a sophomore at Penn State in 2021. She was the 2021 Big Ten Midfielder of the Year and first-team All-Big Ten after tallying 31 goals, 12 assists, 25 ground balls, 78 draw controls and 18 caused turnovers in 13 games with the Nittany Lions in '21.
Dirks led the Big Ten and was 19th nationally with 6.0 draw controls per game and fifth in the Big Ten with 1.38 caused turnovers per contest. She was a Tewaaraton Award nominee and first-team All-Region West/Midwest by the IWLCA for her efforts.
Geiersbach was a two-time member of the Tewaaraton Award watch list as an attacker at the University of Richmond. As a redshirt senior in 2021, she started all 10 Spider games on attack and finished second on the team with 42 points on 23 goals and 19 assists. She also added 11 ground balls and five caused turnovers.
In seven games in the Covid-shortened 2020 season, Geiersbach led Richmond with 45 points and 23 assists and was second on the team with 22 goals. She was the 2019 Atlantic 10 Tournament MVP and the 2017 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year. In her 58-game career (all starts) with the Spiders, she recorded 260 points on 162 goals and 98 assists, adding 87 ground balls and scoring 14 game-winning goals.
"Overall, we are looking forward to an exciting year in 2022," Levy says. "We return a great group of talented, hard-working and passionate players who we absolutely loved coaching last year. Our veteran leadership is very strong and will help us welcome in the new freshmen and transfers. We cannot wait to start building our team!"
The 2022 Tar Heels will return eight of 12 starters and five of the top six scorers from their 2021 team that went 20-1, won its fifth consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament semifinals.
The returnees include ACC Attacker of the Year Jamie Ortega, ACC Midfielder of the Year Ally Mastroianni, National Goalkeeper of the Year Taylor Moreno, three-time first-team All-America defender Emma Trenchard.
Players Mentioned
Midfielder
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Midfielder
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Midfielder
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Goalkeeper
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Attacker
/ Women's Lacrosse
Defender
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