Top-Ranked Cavaliers Rally For 4-3 Win at Illinois
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 01/26/2008

URBANA, Ill. – The top-ranked Virginia men’s tennis team won its 2008 road debut in dramatic fashion, defeating No. 8 Illinois 4-3 Friday night in front of 1,231 fans at the Atkins Tennis Center. The Cavaliers rallied from losing the doubles point and from a 3-1 deficit in the dual match to stave off the Fighting Illini’s upset bid.

“Our overall effort was great tonight,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “The guys hung tough against a great Illinois team in a tremendous atmosphere for college tennis. It was just an exciting match. It also showed us things we need to work on to continue to improve as a team. We now have to get ready for another strong opponent on the road as we head to Notre Dame on Sunday.”

The Cavaliers (2-0) fell behind early as the Illini (1-1) won the doubles point. The No. 36 ranked Illinois duo of Ryan Rowe and Billy Heiser defeated No. 25 Houston Barrick (Brentwood, Tenn.) and Dominic Inglot (London, England) 8-4 at No. 2 doubles. The Cavalier drew even as No. 17 ranked Ted Angelinos (Athens, Greece) and Lee Singer (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) topped Waylon Chin and Marc Spicijaric 8-4 at No. 3 doubles. With the opening point on the line, the Illinois team of Ruben Gonzales and Brandon Davis upset No. 1 ranked Somdev Devvarman (Chennai, India) and Treat Huey (Alexandria, Va.) 9-7, handing the Cavalier duo their first loss of the season.

In singles, Virginia drew even in the match as Sanam Singh (Chandigarh, India) topped Chin 6-4, 6-1 at No. 5 singles. Illnois retook the lead, 2-1, as Gonzales defeated Huey 6-3, 6-2 at the No. 2 position. That lead was extended to 3-1 as Spicijaric downed Michael Shabaz (Fairfax, Va.) 6-4, 6-4 at No. 4 singles. Devvarman topped Rowe 6-3, 6-4 at the No. 1 position, to make the score 3-2. The win also extended Devvarman’s dual match winning streak to 12 matches.

To win the match, the Cavaliers needed to win the final two matches on the courts, both of which they lost the first set. At No. 3 singles, Inglot lost the opening set to Heiser 6-4, but answered to win the second set 7-5. In the third set, Inglot fell behind by a break as Heiser took a 5-3 lead. However, the Cavalier would rally to win three consecutive games and forced a third-set tiebreaker. Inglot won the tiebreaker and evened the dual match at 3-3.

At No. 6 singles, Angelinos fell behind to Davis, losing the first set, 6-3, and trailed 5-4 in the second set. With Davis serving for the match, he took a 40-30 lead for a match point. Angelinos drew him towards the net and hit a passing shot to fight off the match point that could have clinched the dual match for Illinois. Angelinos broke Davis’ serve in the game to even the set at 5-5 and eventually won a second set tiebreaker to draw even in the match. With the momentum from his rally in the second set, Angelinos took the final set 6-2 to clinch the match for Virginia.

“I just kept believing that I could win the match,” said Angelinos. “I had to keep fighting. We were down on some other courts and I knew the team needed my win. The guys did a great job of supporting each other and this was a huge win for us. This type of win says a lot about our team and hopefully is a sign of good things to come.”

With the victory, the Cavaliers snapped Fighting Illini’s 15-match winning streak at the Atkins Tennis Center. The win was also Virginia’s first ever win at Illinois. In their last trip to Illinois two years ago, the Cavaliers, also ranked No. 1 at the time, were upset 5-2 by Illinois.

The Cavaliers continue their road trip Sunday as they visit No. 12 Notre Dame. Match time is noon.


 

Timely reversals
Cavaliers, Hokies making necessary moves to get wrestling programs on top
Saturday, Jan 26, 2008 - 12:07 AM

VIRGINIA TECH VS. VIRGINIA
College wrestling
Tomorrow:1 p.m. at Deep Run High School

By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

On the eve of the last year's Rumble on the River, Kevin Dresser and Steve Garland bluntly assessed their respective teams. Dresser: "Overall as a team, we're not very good."

Garland: "We haven't done what we wanted to do."

And now?

"The expression, 'What a difference a year makes,' comes to mind," said Garland, who's in his second season as wrestling coach at his alma mater, the University of Virginia. "I may be laying it on thick, but I really believe this is a different program."

The same is true in Blacksburg, according to Virginia Tech's second-year coach.

"There's no question we're better than we were last year," Dresser said.

Area wrestling fans can see for themselves tomorrow at Deep Run High School, where the sixth annual Rumble on the River matches the Cavaliers and the Hokies. This ACC dual meet starts at 1 p.m., and the cost is $6, or $5 with a canned donation for the Central Virginia Foodbank. Proceeds will be benefit youth and high school wrestlers in the area.

A year ago, at St. Christopher's, Virginia won its annual clash with Tech 25-9. Dresser gives the Wahoos the edge tomorrow, too.

"They're probably a little bit older and a little more experienced than we are," he said.

Both schools have committed to wrestling the full allotment of 9.9 scholarships -- the NCAA limit, and neither lacks ambition. But progress at Tech has been slower than at U.Va., in part because of the loss of freshman Cody Gardner, who in December gave up wrestling.

Gardner, a heavyweight, was considered the nation's No. 1 recruit coming out of Christiansburg High last year.

"Cody obviously was a disappointment," Dresser said. "He wasn't able to adjust to the Division I lifestyle."

Four other members of the Hokies' touted freshman class are redshirting this season, and Dresser has no seniors in his starting lineup. His top wrestler might be sophomore Eric Decker, who's moved from 165 to 174 pounds.

"I think the big difference between Virginia Tech this year and last year is, our guys are working a lot harder and everybody's on board in the practice room," Dresser said. "The exciting thing is, we got 26 guys on our roster coming to practice every day believing what we say. That will pay off in time. Bottom line, we just need time."

Tech (0-1, 4-4) hosts ACC rival North Carolina this afternoon. U.Va. opened its conference schedule last night with an 18-13 win over UNC in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers are 14-3 overall and already have set a school record for dual-meet wins in a season.

Garland gave his wrestlers Monday off. Virtually every one showed up to work out anyway.

"That wouldn't have happened last year," Garland said. "The attitude on the team has changed. It's a complete and total commitment to every aspect of the program. . . . These guys, they really enjoy what we're doing. They believe in what we're doing. We're a family now, and it's definitely showing."

Like Tech, U.Va. starts no seniors. The Cavaliers' leader, junior Rocco Caponi, is ranked in the top 10 nationally at 184 pounds. He's a defending ACC champion who embraced the new coaching staff's philosophy in 2006-07.

"He bought in, because he wants to win," Garland said.

U.Va. and Tech aren't the only state schools pursuing national prominence in wrestling. In the latest coaches' poll, Old Dominion is ranked No. 22. U.Va. was one of four schools that also received votes.

"I think we all hope and feel that we're going to have top-20 teams in the future," Dresser said.

Garland agreed.

"Old Dominion's bringing in more good kids, we're bringing in more good kids and you know Dresser's bringing in more good kids," he said.

"Two years, three years down the road, that's when it's going to be special. I honestly think all three of us could be in the top 15. Then, we'll have something to talk about."

 

Displaced Angelinos finds new home
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
January 26, 2008

When Ted Angelinos talks about being a member of the No. 1-ranked Virginia tennis team, his face lights up. He looks like a 10-year-old who just received a Wii and Guitar Hero for Christmas.

Angelinos’ happiness is understandable. It wasn’t long ago that the Virginia senior didn’t have a team to call his own.

In August of 2005, Angelinos was at home in Greece and preparing for his junior year at Tulane, looking forward to his best season of tennis.

But just before Angelinos was set to return to New Orleans, he received a call from his coach telling him to stay put. Hurricane Katrina was about to happen.

“Luckily,” said the 23-year-old Angelinos, “I just missed it.”

A short time later, Angelinos - who was born and raised in Athens - returned to school at Texas A&M, which was accepting evacuee students.

“At the time, there was a lot of uncertainty,” Angelinos said. “It was a unique experience. There was not much we could do. It was very hard to practice that year and to keep up with the tennis. It was just a difficult experience.”

Angelinos figured he would be able to ride the semester out in College Station and then return to Tulane with his teammates.

“We thought we would go back and everything would be normal,” Angelinos said, “but before we went back for Christmas, they announced they were cutting a number of programs.”

One of them was men’s tennis. Suddenly, Angelinos - who had been playing the sport his entire life - didn’t have a team.

“We had no time to transfer or look for other alternatives,” Angelinos said. “It was a tough situation to be in.”

Angelinos returned home to Greece and wound up sitting out an entire season. Eventually, a few options unfolded. Several schools in Texas and California showed interest in him before he was courted by Virginia.

UVa coach Brian Boland says recruiting Angelinos was a no-brainer.

“He’s a great athlete and somebody who had some experience,” Boland said. “Tulane had an excellent program.

“Teddy’s been an absolute thrill to coach. He’s an unbelievably great person and he’s improved a great deal over his time here at Virginia.”

Angelinos, playing at No. 4 singles, won the clinching match in the season-opener against William & Mary last weekend. This weekend, Virginia is on the road against Illinois and Notre Dame.

One of the first things you notice about Angelinos on the court - other than the fact the curly-haired 6-foot-3, 182-pounder is a dead ringer for former NBA player Rony Seikaly (who also hails from Greece) - are his walloping groundstrokes.

“He hits a huge forehand,” Boland said. “It’s extremely heavy and he can cover the court really well. He’s improved his depth on his backhand - and his passing shot on that side has come a long ways. And, he has a pretty big serve.

“All of those aspects have gotten better. He’s been a much more complete player.”

Last spring, as a junior, Angelinos made an unexpected impact at the ACC Tournament. Filling in for the injured Lee Singer at No. 6 singles, Angelinos - who hopes to pursue a pro career after he graduates in the spring - won all three of his matches in dominating fashion en route to being named tournament MVP.

Although he plays what many deem to be an individual sport, Angelinos seems all about helping Virginia attain its main goal - winning a national championship.

“I just want to work as hard as I can, help the team any way I can, and hopefully good things will come,” said Angelinos, who keeps in touch with many of his former teammates from Tulane. “The guys on the team are great and the coaching staff is excellent.

“I’m just fortunate to be part of such a nice group of people. It makes everything a lot easier. It’s a good feeling.”

 

Report: Fitzgerald to leave
Hermitage coach says U.Va. standout plans to graduate
Saturday, Jan 26, 2008 - 12:05 AM Updated: 12:55 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Speculation has swirled for the past week that football standout Jeffrey Fitzgerald's departure from the University of Virginia is imminent.

The volume rose yesterday after the Charlottesville Daily Progress, citing unidentified sources, reported that the former Hermitage High star had informed his U.Va. teammates that he'd be leaving the football program "for unspecified reasons."

In an e-mail to The Times-Dispatch last night, Fitzgerald said the report "is not necessarily true . . . However, I choose not to comment on it until things are definite."

The Daily Progress gave no timetable for Fitzgerald's departure, and his status remains unclear. Sources close to the program have told The Times-Dispatch that Fitzgerald, a two-year starter at defensive end, has academic issues that might keep him from suiting up again for the Cavaliers.

Hermitage football coach Patrick Kane yesterday called the Daily Progress report "inaccurate." Kane, who is close to the family, said he spoke yesterday to Fitzgerald's mother, Sheila, about the report.

Kane said that Fitzgerald, who was a redshirt sophomore in 2007, remains enrolled at and still plans to graduate from U.Va.

"He's definitely in class, and he's definitely still a part of the team, just like any player on the team," Kane said. "Nothing's changed."

U.Va. officials declined to comment on the Daily Progress report, though a university source confirmed that Fitzgerald is still enrolled in classes. Coach Al Groh, who was recruiting out of town yesterday, did not return a message.

Fitzgerald, who has two seasons of eligibility remaining, teamed with senior All-American Chris Long in 2007 to give Virginia perhaps the ACC's finest set of defensive ends.

In the Gator Bowl, Fitzgerald capped a stellar season by making eight tackles, including a sack, and breaking up a pass against Texas Tech.

For his career, Fitzgerald has recorded 12 sacks, intercepted four passes and scored two touchdowns. If he plays for Virginia in 2008, Fitzgerald is expected to be an all-ACC candidate.


 

Fitzgerald remains at Virginia
By Melinda Waldrop | Daily Press
2:39 PM EST, January 25, 2008
 

Jeffrey Fitzgerald's high school coach disputes a report that Fitzgerald is leaving the University of Virginia's football team.

Citing multiple unidentified sources, the Charlottesville Daily Progress reported Friday that Fitzgerald, a rising junior defensive end and the Cavaliers' No. 4 tackler last season, had informed his teammates that he was leaving the program for personal reasons.

"He hasn't decided to leave the university," said Patrick Kane, who coached Fitzgerald at Richmond's Hermitage High and added that he has spoken with Fitzgerald since the report surfaced. "It's inaccurate. He's in classes and everything, just like normal. He's enrolled. I've had a million calls (since the report)."

Fitzgerald, who played opposite unanimous All-American end Chris Long, had 73 tackles and two interceptions in 2007. He also started as a redshirt freshman in 2006.

The Cavs' depth behind Fitzgerald and Long, who is expected to be a top pick in April's NFL draft, has apparently suffered with the departure of former defensive coordinator Mike London, who left U.Va. to become the head coach at Richmond.

Ugochukwu Uzodinma, a 6-foot-4, 245-pound defensive end from Dunbar High in Washington, D.C., reneged on a verbal commitment to Virginia after London left.

"Mike London just wore too many hats," Dunbar coach Craig Jefferies told CavsCorner.com. "He was Ugo's lead recruiter, would have been his position coach, and on top of everything, he was his friend."

Uzodinma reportedly will sign with Illinois next month.

 

Fitzgerald still enrolled at UVa
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
January 26, 2008

Jeffrey Fitzgerald is still enrolled at the University of Virginia and remains a member of the football team, his high school coach Patrick Kane said, despite a report saying that the defensive end was leaving the football program.
Citing multiple unnamed sources, the (Charlottesville) Daily Progress reported late Thursday night that Fitzgerald, a rising junior who was the Cavaliers' fourth-leading tackler last season, told his teammates he was leaving the team for unspecified reasons.

Not so, according to Kane, Fitzgerald's coach at Hermitage High in Richmond.

"He's still on the team. He's going to classes. He's a student," said the coach, who spoke with his former player Friday after the report came out. "Everything's normal."

Virginia athletic department spokesman Jim Daves said in an e-mail that Fitzgerald is still enrolled at UVa but said nothing about his status with the team.

The Cavaliers are counting on Fitzgerald to lessen the impact of the departure of All-American defensive end Chris Long. As a redshirt sophomore playing on the opposite side of Long in UVa's 3-4 defense, the 6-foot-3, 279-pound Fitzgerald made 73 tackles and had seven sacks.

In two years, he has 128 tackles, 12 sacks, four interceptions and two defensive touchdowns.

This twist is the latest in what has been a tumultuous month for the Cavaliers, who had four players - including starting quarterback Jameel Sewell and cornerback Chris Cook - not admitted this semester for academic reasons.

UVa also lost defensive coordinator Mike London, who became the head coach at his alma mater, Richmond.

Sewell was Fitzgerald's teammate at Hermitage under Kane, who said the quarterback's first option would be to stay at Virginia.

Academic suspensions at UVa typically last for two semesters, though Kane said "that is still under question."

If it is a yearlong suspension, Sewell, who was a redshirt sophomore last season, could sit out a year and try to return for his senior season with the Cavaliers in 2009.

He could also transfer to an FCS school (formerly Division I-AA) and play immediately (provided his academics are in order) because he has more than one year of eligibility remaining.

"He's working hard toward doing what he needs to do to get back in good graces academically with the school," Kane said. "He plans on graduating from UVa, so he's doing what he needs to do to get it straight."


 

Stability in advising another edge for Hokies
Loss of Fitzgerald would be huge for Cavaliers
By Doug Doughty

One of the duties of a beat reporter, either spoken or unspoken, is to monitor websites devoted to the teams he or she covers.

As a result, somewhat regularly I’ll visit the sabre.com or rivals.com, particularly during times of crisis.

One of those occasions followed the announcement Jan. 17 that four UVa football players were not enrolled in school, most notably Jameel Sewell, the Cavaliers’ starting quarterback in their last 22 games.

As I might have imagined, many of the UVa posters chose to invoke the name of archrival Virginia Tech, complaining that the Hokies never seem to have any academic casualties.

That’s not entirely true, as one might guess. Roland Minor, projected to start in the secondary for the Hokies this past season, did not meet NCAA eligibility requirements this season. (He could have returned to school but not play).

Many supporters will argue the academic merits of their respective schools but, on one point, there can be little debate.

As reported in The Roanoke Times last week, Virginia football has had five different academic coordinators in five years.

At Virginia Tech, where two coordinators are directly responsible for football, Colin Howlett is in his 11th year as an advisor to the football team and Sarah Armstrong is in her fifth.

Armstrong works with the freshmen and Howlett handles the upperclassmen.

Chris Helms, director of student-athlete academic support systems, is in his ninth year overseeing the entire academic support system.

It’s called continuity. Plain and simple, Tech has it. Virginia does not.

If there’s one area where Virginia might want to emulate the Hokies, this is it.

When I wrote about the five academic coordinators in five years, I knew that didn’t sound good. I’ve since spoken to a coach who explained why it’s a problem.

“When you’ve got new people all the time, they don’t know the deans,” he told me. “They don’t know the professors. They don’t know what courses to take. They don’t know what courses not to take.

“Sometimes, they don’t even know where the buildings are. For instance, you would try to take classes back-to-back on opposite sides of campus.”

“The best people for these positions are former student-athletes, but these jobs are seen as steppingstone positions. Academic advising is not seen as a destination.”

Perhaps, if the pay were better, it could be. When Virginia needed a strength coach for football, it went after the No. 2 strength coach at Florida, which had just won the national championship.

By the way, I hear good things about Adrien Harraway, elevated to head academic advisor by UVa last summer, but it does not appear as if the Cavaliers conducted a nationwide search for that position.

If academic support people aren’t paid at the same level as strength coaches, then maybe it’s time to reconsider priorities. We always hear about student-athletes flunking out of school, and not just at Virginia, but is anybody ever dismissed for failing to do a 30th repetition at 225 pounds?

I’m not here to say that Tech’s academic advisors are making a fortune, but they probably feel like they’re making a difference and that everybody is on the same page. Head coach Frank Beamer meets weekly with Howlett and Armstrong, and the assistant football coaches do their part.

My research indicates that head coach Al Groh isn’t the problem at Virginia, although, at $1.96 million per year, he needs to be part of the solution. The biggest problem, I’m told, is the disconnect between the academic side of campus and the football program.

“Jocular” John Casteen, the UVa president, loves Groh enough to have given him the big contract, but how much support Groh has outside the president’s office, I don’t know.

I’m not sure a football coach should be cozying up to deans and professors, but somebody needs to bridge that gap.

There’s little Virginia can do right now to match the stability that Tech has in its academic-advising team, but, if your football coach is making nearly $2 million, then it’s inexcusable to be low-balling the academic advisors.

IF THE “JOCULAR” JOHN reference is over people heads, it comes from a piece that USA Today wrote about the Virginia-Virginia Tech football game Nov. 24 in Charlottesville.

“The chief theoreticians behind the modern athletics rivalry are sports writers and people who sell T-shirts,” Casteen wrote in an e-mail to USA Today. “Among persons with less obvious motives and with more important things on their minds, this athletics rivalry is more jocular than serious.”

Does he really believe that? If so, Casteen is as clueless as he is condescending.

Casteen and Tech president Charles Steger (“The University of Virginia, by most measures, and I would concur, is the finest public university in the nation,” he wrote) are full of respect for each other, but I don’t think a majority of their fans feel that way.

As Tech fan Scott Newman was quoted in the USA Today article: “UVa reached out [after April 16]. Everyone here appreciates that. But what we want now is normalcy. And what could be more normal at Virginia Tech than hating Virginia.”

VIRGINIA TECH CONTINUES to pursue a half-dozen or more uncommitted football players for the class of 2008, including Leon Mackey, a 6-foot-4, 275-pound defensive end from Newark, Del., who was on the way to Blacksburg on Friday from Hargrave Military Academy.

Mackey already has visited Florida State, North Carolina and N.C. State.

The Hokies are continuing to recruit 6-6, 215-pound Beaufort, S.C., defensive end Devin Taylor; Lakeland, Fla., wide receiver T.J. Lawrence; Fayetteville, N.C., tight end Dwayne Allen, and in-state prospects Marcus Davis, Randall Dunn and Joe Jones.

AS OF 1 P.M. FRIDAY, there’s been no word out of Virginia on the status of defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald, said to be leaving UVa according to sources cited by Daily Progress reporter Jay Jenkins in an Internet piece.

It has been common knowledge for more than a week that UVa was at risk of losing Fitzgerald, but he is involved in a delicate situation that nobody will discuss on the record. As long as Fitzgerald was enrolled in school – and he may still be enrolled – most reporters were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

That’s not to blame Jenkins because Fitzgerald’s status has gotten considerable play on rivals.com and thesabre.com, although, clearly some posts were being eliminated as soon as they went up. The issue wasn’t going to go away.

What can be said is that the loss of Fitzgerald under any circumstances would only add fuel to a combustible situation at UVa, which already has lost one underclassman to the NFL Draft (Branden Albert), four underclassmen to academics and at least one recruit (Ugo Uzodinma) to defensive coordinator Mike London’s departure for Richmond.

Consider this: Fitzgerald has been better in his first two seasons than former defensive linemate and 2007 ACC defensive player of the year Chris Long was over the same period.