Second-year Haley Carpenter and the 12th-ranked Virginia field hockey team begin postseason play this week in the ACC Tournament. The Cavaliers earned the No. 4 seed and will play fifth-seeded Duke (14-4, 2-3) in the first round at 1 p.m. Thursday in Durham, N.C. First and second round games of the event will be shown live on ACC Select. Fans can watch free at www.ACCSelect.com. The championship will be a tape-delay broadcast on RSN.

Question: How big was the win over Duke last weekend?
Carpenter: Last week was clutch. We needed the win for NCAAs. But it was a fun game. We needed another win and everyone was really happy.

Question: And now you play them again in the first round of the ACC Tournament.
Carpenter: It’s going to be challenging. It’s hard to beat a team twice in the same season, not to mention two games in a row. Hopefully we will come out as strong as we did last time and play that way the whole game.

Question: How did you get started playing field hockey and what do you love about it?
Carpenter: I think the summer after fifth grade. My mom put me in a summer camp and my sister played. Sometimes I really don’t feel like going to practice, but there are other days where I think, ‘I love field hockey.’ I forget sometimes how much I love it. It is fun to be on a team, especially in college.

Question: How would you describe the team chemistry this season?
Carpenter: It’s super. I think we all really like each other and always want to hang out together. You can never get us to stop talking. We just all get along really well and that is fun.

Question: What do you like to do for fun?
Carpenter. Watch movies with Shelly (Edmonds). She is my roommate. We roomed together last year too. She is the best roommate ever. She is my only roommate ever, but I think she will be the best.

Question: Where did your nickname Pebbles come from?
Carpenter: Spicey (assistant coach Chris Spice). He gave it to be last year because I always wore my hair in a big bun on top of my head. There are some pretty good nicknames on the team. I think I have the best one. I like Reggie (Traci Ragukas) and Tinkerbell (Boyd Vicars). I dressed as Pebbles for Halloween last year. I even put a real dog bone in my hair.

Question: What is your major?
Carpenter: Econ. I like it because it involves a little bit of math, and it’s not about memorization of words and concepts. I get it.

Question: What has been your favorite class?
Carpenter: Calculus 121 last fall. I like math and I had already taken calc in high school so it wasn’t hard. Once you get it, you get it. You can do it over and over again and don’t have to keep reading.