Victoria and Troy Meyer are trivia teammates, and she attended his ToC games

JEOPARDY! viewers have scored a last-minute frontrunner in the show’s new Invitational Tournament in Victoria Groce.

The one-day champ and star of The Chase trounced Dhruv Gaur and Ben Ingram on Friday without any Daily Doubles, as fans predicted she could be the next big name.

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Victoria Groce, best known for being on The Chase, chased down her opponentsCredit: Jeopardy!

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Fans called her a ‘threat’ in the JIT event as others bowed down, ‘I’m definitely a believer’Credit: Jeopardy!
The JIT features 27 game show greats fighting for $100,000 and a slot in May’s Jeopardy Masters.

With just one quarterfinal left on Monday, Victoria, who last appeared on Jeopardy! in 2005, lived up to the hype.

After the Jeopardy! round, she led with $7,600, Dhruv had $5,200 after finding the first Daily Double, and former ToC winner Ben had $-200.

In the Double Jeopardy! round, Victoria went on a tear, nabbing most of the clues without the help of crucial Daily Doubles.

Druhv doubled up on one while Ben missed the remaining one, which prevented an all-out runaway from Victoria.

She stormed into Final Jeopardy with $22,800, Dhruv had $14,400 and Ben had $5800.

Ken Jennings remarked, “She played quite a game- The Queen so far,” referencing her nickname on the ABC sister show.

The deciding clue under “U.S.S.R.I.P.” read, “Of the 15 countries formed by the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, this one is alphabetically last.”

Victoria and Ben were correct with “Uzbekistan,” she added $6,001 to advance to the semifinals with a dominant $28,801.

‘TOURNAMENT THREAT!’

“I’m very impressed with Victoria’s performance today! That being said, I am a little sad because I was really rooting for Ben,” one fan wrote on Reddit.

“I’m definitely a believer in Victoria now,” wrote another. “She demonstrated that she’s a much-improved player since her initial appearance 19 years ago.

“Against the likes of Matt, Larissa and Andrew it’s tough to say if she’s the favorite, but she can certainly pull it off if she turns in another performance like this.”

A third wrote, “Being a fan of The Chase, I knew Victoria was a damn good quizzer, but I wasn’t sure how she’d fare on Jeopardy considering I never saw her original appearance. Safe to say, even without hitting a Daily Double, she still racked up an impressive score.”

A fourth observed, “Victoria joins Larissa, Matt, and Amy in accruing a $20,000+ Coryat thus far in this tournament. She was super impressive today!”

Another wrote, “If Victoria kept her mistakes down, she’d be a force,” adding, “Ben was uncharacteristically off today.”

And a fifth said, “Victoria proving she’s going to be a threat in these games. Before seeing the semi-final matchups, I like Larissa Matt and Victoria as the final 3.”

WINNING FRIENDSHIP

Victoria is a quiz expert hailing from Georgia but now living in Pittsburgh with her husband and daughter.

Prior to her involvement on The Chase, she made a splash back in 2005 on Jeopardy! knocking down David Madden’s 19-day streak at a young age.

Victoria lost one game later and hasn’t returned since, leaving fans speculating about whether the “Giant Killer” truly got to fulfill her Jeopardy! potential.

Since Madden also won his JIT match a rematch 20 years later is quite possible.

“I had absolutely no inkling that anything might be in the future and I was very, very OK with that,” she told TribLive about JIT.

“I just viewed it as his cool thing that’s part of my life story. I never felt any bitterness or that I deserved to come back.”

After Jeopardy!, Victoria took a break from quizzing when her daughter was born and didn’t hone her skills for years.

She finally returned to trivia in 2014 and in 2021, Groce was named World Quizzer of the Year. She also played on the winning team for the 2021-2022 Quizzing World Cup.

Interestingly enough, her teammate was Troy Meyer, the breakout star and third-placer in the 2024 Tournament of Champions.

She sat in the studio audience for his games and even helped him train for the ToC.

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Victoria (right) is a close friend and longtime trivia teammate with Troy Meyer (left)Credit: Geeks Who Drink

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Troy was the breakout star of the 2024 Tournament of Champions, similarly roaring in out of nowhereCredit: Jeopardy
“I knew what the studio would look like. I knew what the timings would be, what happens when,” she told the outlet. “It was good to have had that experience right beforehand.”

Troy is the highest-ranked player in the invite-only trivia club LearnedLeague- which inspired Victoria to return to quizzing.

She joined The Chase for Season 3 replacing Mark “The Beast” Labbett.

She also said on her long-awaited Jeopardy! return, “It was 20 years ago so the buzzer felt like I was trying to do it for the first time.”

“I had a blast,” she added. “I think it’ll be pretty obvious watching that I was very much enjoying myself.”

WHAT IS: THE JIT?

The JIT is a brand-new tournament airing from March 20 until early April.

Unlike other tournaments this season, JIT opens the floodgates to iconic older champions who fans haven’t seen in decades.

The three-week JIT sees past greats – some recent ones, and yes, contestants-turned-Chasers – back at the buzzer.

There will be nine quarterfinal games, three semifinals, and a best-of-four final.

This means the legendary player who notches two final games wins the title.

The now-annual throwdown will decide one of the six spots in Masters, with the first three going to last season’s finalists – Matt Amodio, winner James, and Mattea Roach.

The other Master’s slots go to Yogesh Raut for winning the 2024 Tournament of Champions and a still-unannounced Producer’s Pick.

After JIT, regular episodes resume for the first time this season either between April 8 and April 10.

WHO IS: WINNING SO FAR?

Here are the other contestants who have won their first matches and are now semifinalists:

Andrew He won the premiere after getting knocked out of Masters Season 1.

Larissa Kelly, who won last Friday’s match and previously won the 2019 All-Star Games and was the 2009 ToC runner-up.

Matt Jackson, who returned for a big win after winning 13 games in 2015.

Amy Schneider who had a big runaway win on Monday night after also getting knocked out of Masters Season 1.

David Madden after a hotly-contested Daily Double cost Arthur Chu the game.

Jennifer Quail and Sam Kavanaugh who both mounted shocking come-from-behind victories.

Jeopardy! airs at 7 pm ET on ABC, where fans can catch all the JIT action.

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Victoria’s only Jeopardy! win was against 19-day champ David Madden in 2005 – now they’re both JIT semifinalists, so a rematch is on the boardCredit: Jeopardy!

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She lived up to her title as ‘The Queen’ on ABC’s The Chase and then someCredit: ABC

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Ken Jennings even had to remark, ‘She played quite a game- The Queen so far’