U.Va. pays the price for slow starts at N.C. State
N.C. STATE 72, VIRGINIA 67
Thursday:Miami at Virginia, 8 p.m.
By Jeff White
Published: February 22, 2009

RALEIGH, N.C. -- For long stretches of yesterday's ACC men's basketball game at the RBC Center, Virginia soundly outplayed N.C. State. But U.Va. couldn't overcome its wretched starts in each half.

After falling behind by 18 points, the Cavaliers trailed by only four at halftime. Inexplicably, though, Virginia came out flat again and found itself down 17 points midway through the second half.

U.Va. eventually staged another impressive comeback, but the Wolfpack went 4 of 4 from the line in the final 7 seconds to secure a 72-67 victory before a relieved crowd of 16,353.

"When we came in the locker room, we thought we'd learned from our mistakes from the first half by digging ourselves such a big hole," said junior guard Calvin Baker (13 points). "But we came out in the second half and did the exact same thing."

It was a three-point game when U.Va.'s Sylven Landesberg went to the line for a one-and-one with 3.5 seconds left. Had he made the first, Landesberg might have intentionally missed the second to try to set up a game-tying follow shot. The 6-6 freshman's first free throw bounced away, however, and Courtney Fells sealed the win for State by hitting two foul shots.

"Coming into this game, we had a lot of momentum building up, and this was definitely a winnable game, so it hurts a lot," said Landesberg, who led Virginia with 16 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals.

U..Va. entered on a two-game winning streak and had played well for much of its losses to No. 3 North Carolina (Feb. 7) and No. 25 Florida State (Feb. 10). In each of those games, Cavaliers coach Dave Leitao had started an unorthodox lineup that included 6-5 Solomon Tat at power forward, mainly because the Cavaliers' fourth-year coach liked the fire with which that group played.

For whatever reason, that passion was conspicuously absent early in each half yesterday. In the first eight minutes of the first, the Wahoos scored two points. In the first eight minutes of the second, they scored six.

"I think it was team-wide," Leitao said. "I don't think that group as a unit came out with the same kind of energy that we've had recently, but then guys came off the bench and didn't give us energy boosts, either."

Senior Mamadi Diane was an exception. A team captain who has started 75 times in his college career, Diane hadn't played since Feb. 4, when he started against Boston College.

He entered yesterday's game at the 12:20 mark of the first half and played five unremarkable minutes. In the second half, Diane looked like the sweet-shooting swingman who'd scored 26 points against Maryland as a sophomore and 20 (twice) against Boston College as a junior.

With 9:40 to play and U.Va. down 52-37, Diane checked in for sophomore guard Jeff Jones (nine points). Eighty seconds later, Diane converted an acrobatic reverse layup to make it 52-43. By game's end, he'd made 5 of 6 shots and scored 11 points -- his highest total since U.Va.'s second game of the season.

"He's always ready, he's always prepared to go," Jones said. "And he proved that today."

Diane's baseline jump shot pulled U.Va. to 68-65. Two free throws by Landesberg with 8.7 seconds to play made it 68-67, but Virginia got no closer.

Of Virginia's five 3-pointers -- one of which was Diane's first since Jan. 6 -- four came in the final six minutes. The Pack made five treys in the first half and three in the second, and most came from reserves who didn't figure prominently in U.Va.'s scouting report.

C.J. Williams, who came in averaging 3.3 points, was 4 of 6 from beyond the arc. He finished with 16 points. Dennis Horner, a 6-9 junior, was 3 of 5 from 3-point range. He finished with 12 points.

 

Slow starts mar Cavs
Virginia opens each half with shooting slumps and can't overcome N.C. State in the end.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

RALEIGH, N.C. -- So much for the feel-good -- but offensively challenged -- lineup that the Virginia men's basketball team has been using at the start of each half.

It was a complete bust Saturday.

The Cavaliers overcame huge deficits in both halves but fell short to North Carolina State, 72-67, at the RBC Center.

Virginia (9-14, 3-9 ACC) got as close as 68-67 on a pair of Sylven Landesberg free throws with 8.7 seconds remaining, but the Wolfpack's Courtney Fells closed out the scoring by going 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.

The Wolfpack (15-10, 4-7) had led 65-52 following a layup by freshman C.J. Williams with 3:32 left.

"I don't think it was specifically the starting lineup," UVa coach Dave Leitao said. "Obviously, I've got to examine that because we didn't do what we needed to do, [but] there were a number of other guys that weren't locked in."

Virginia had been getting off to better starts in recent games, one reason that it came to Raleigh on a two-game winning streak.

Previously, the Cavaliers had fallen behind by 15 points or more in the first half of five games.

"I thought that was past us," Landesberg said. "We haven't done that in a while."

On Saturday, they trailed 24-6 after the first 1112 minutes.

Virginia failed to score on its first nine possessions, committing turnovers on five of them, but got as close as 31-29 before the half ended 33-29.

The second half was a carbon copy. After going 1-for-11 from the field to start the first half, the Cavaliers went 1-for-9 to open the second half and quickly found themselves trailing 50-33 with 13:24 left.

It would be a while before Virginia made a serious dent in State's lead. The Cavaliers couldn't make enough defensive stops, but they did score 32 points in the final 10:14.

They got their lift from an unlikely source, senior forward and co-captain Mamadi Diane, who had not played in the previous three games.

Diane, who had played five minutes without scoring in the first half, came off the bench with 9:40 remaining and scored 11 points the rest of the way.

Diane made five of six shots from the field and, on his lone miss, Landesberg got the rebound and fed Diane for a 3-pointer. It was the first time Diane had scored in double figures since the second game of the season.

Leitao said Diane had been practicing with increased energy in recent weeks, "being in the middle of everything -- defensively, offensively, rebounding -- and just being a better version of himself."

Diane said he has dedicated himself to giving all of himself in practice, although nobody has ever questioned his work ethic.

"It's a situation where my senior year hasn't gone as planned," he said. "It might be easy for some guys to maybe fall off or fade away, but it's been opposite for me, to where I've been working harder than ever."

State focused its defensive attention on Landesberg, who at times found himself covered by Fells in a box-and-one set-up. Landesberg made only four of 14 shots from the field but finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists -- team highs in all three categories.

The Wolfpack's scoring leader for the season, Brandon Costner, failed to score in 22 minutes. But, the Wolfpack got a combined seven 3-pointers and 28 points from two reserves, Williams and 6-9 senior Dennis Horner.

Williams, averaging 3.3 points per game, had eight of his team-high 16 points in the last five minutes.

Still, the Cavaliers had scored on nine straight possessions when Landesberg stepped to the free-throw line for a one-and-one with 3.5 seconds left and UVa down 70-67.

"I was thinking I was going to make two free throws," said Landesberg, who entered the game shooting 82.9 percent from the line.

That wasn't necessarily Leitao's plan.

"I was going to give him the final instructions after the first one went in," Leitao said.

If the first had gone and UVa had cut the deficit to two, Landesberg possibly could have missed the second shot intentionally,

"But it never came to that," Leitao said.

Landesberg's rimmed out, State grabbed the rebound and UVa prepared for a four-hour bus ride, full of regrets.

 

Late wake-up call sinks Cavs
Virginia rallies from a 24-6 early deficit and a flat start, but comes up short against N.C. State.
By NEIL AMATO/Correspondent
February 22, 2009

RALEIGH, N.C. - — Maybe the next time Virginia has an early-afternoon road game, the wake-up call will come a smidge earlier. The next time the Cavaliers have a two-game winning streak in the ACC — and who can be certain when that will be? — maybe they will remember the work it took to post that number, the work it takes, with victories so scarce in 2009.

The Cavaliers felt it Saturday, before the opening tip at the RBC Center: They didn't have the required energy. They were coming off victories over Clemson and Virginia Tech, their first conference wins since December, but the layup line was lacking the buzz that consistent teams generate, especially on the road.

It's tough to say this one was lost in the layup line, but it's easy to say N.C. State defeated the Cavaliers with extended scoring runs at the start of each half. Despite its own shortcomings, the Wolfpack won 72-67, dropping the Cavaliers to 3-9 in the league.

"I could tell when we first started warming up that we didn't have any energy," guard Calvin Baker said. "Our bodies were lackadaisical; everything we were doing was lackadaisical. We have to mature from this. We have to learn that success isn't easy. We could have won two straight, and we easily could have won a third, but we didn't handle our business."

"We're usually more hyped. We talk more," freshman Sylvan Landesberg said. "Today was a little flat."

Virginia was equally flat after tipoff, falling behind 24-6. The Cavaliers cut that lead to two and trailed 33-29 at halftime, thanks to sloppy ballhandling by the Wolfpack (10 turnovers in each half). Yet, N.C. State bolted out to a 50-35 lead in the first seven minutes of the second half, a 17-4 run that seemed to sink the Cavaliers (9-14).

The lead remained in double digits for the next four minutes or so. That's about the time a forgotten player nearly helped pull off what would have been a comeback to remember for Virginia. In the final 8:20, Mamadi Diane scored 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting.

Diane, who hadn't scored in double figures since Nov. 19 and hadn't appeared in the Cavaliers' previous four games, helped take the scoring pressure off Landesberg (16 points, eight rebounds, six assists). Methodically, Virginia sliced into the lead, getting consecutive 3-pointers by Landesberg, five points in eight seconds from Newport News' Baker and then a 12-foot baseline jumper from Diane. That flurry helped turn a head-to-the-exits, 13-point lead with 31/2 minutes to go into an uh-oh game: 68-65 with 47 seconds left.

The Wolfpack (15-10, 5-7 ACC) was in familiar territory. Counting Saturday, N.C. State led by at least 17 points, and nearly lost, four times since Jan. 27 in ACC play.

So it was no wonder Wolfpack fans were all atwitter; the Wolfpack players, however, kept it together, even when reserve Dennis Horner missed two free throws with 16.7 seconds left. The Cavaliers never got to attempt a tying 3-pointer; N.C. State fouled Landesberg before he could do so. He hit two free throws with 8.7 seconds remaining, and the lead was 68-67.

However, Courtney Fells, assigned to shadow Landesberg, then came up with the game-sealing plays: two free throws with 7.2 seconds left; a foul of Landesberg, who missed the front end; and two more free throws, for the 72-67 margin.

"We held on," N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe said.

Virginia held its composure to stay in the game, but even with Diane's appearance, it wasn't enough to make the trip back to Charlottesville a happy one.

"You know, I've never ever, ever met a loss that didn't sting really bad," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said. "This is the same way."

 

Fells keeps Wolfpack from falling to Virginia
A.J. Carr - Staff Writer

RALEIGH -- Even though N.C. State led by 18 points in the first half, even though it was ahead by 17 in the second half, doubts lingered until Courtney Fell's victory shout of "ballgame" with two seconds left.

Like every baseball team, the Wolfpack's basketball team needed a closer Saturday at the RBC Center, somebody to finish, and Fells was there in the moments that mattered most.

After Virginia had cut the State lead to 68-67, the unflappable senior converted four free throws and grabbed a rebound in the last seven seconds, preserving a 72-67 victory that kept the Pack on a postseason track.

"We knew we had to win this game,'' said Fells, whose team moved to 15-10 overall, 5-7 in the ACC, and boosted its psyche.

During those riveting last seconds, Fells also had a little chit-chat with Cavalier freshman standout Sylven Landesberg, the man he guarded most of the afternoon.

"He said something like, 'You are gonna miss those free throws,' " recalled Fells. "I said: 'No, I'm not going to miss' " -- and later explained in a postgame interview: " I KNEW I was going to make 'em."

Landesberg said he couldn't remember his comment, only that he was trying to make his chief adversary clank the shots. The Cavs star does remember Fells sticking to him like another tattoo, however.

State opened with a triangle-and-two defense, with Fells front-guarding Landesberg and Javier Gonzalez chasing Jeff Jones, another sharp Cavs shooter. Coach Sidney Lowe later judiciously mixed his defenses but seldom allowed Fells to venture far from Landesberg.

Though the precocious Virginia freshman finished with 16 points -- two below his season average -- he rarely got clear looks at the basket on a 4-for-14 shooting day.

"He's lean and athletic; it was hard to get an open look ... he was a nuisance,'' said Landesberg, who ranked Fells "up there" with the best defenders he has faced.

Fells labeled Landesberg a "great player" and went with him everywhere but to the locker room at halftime while "sticking to the game plan."

To win State needed that glue-like defense and clutch touch from Fells, who also scored nine points. They also beckoned for help from the bench as Lowe reached into his ready reserve system.

On a day when leading scorer Brandon Costner went scoreless and injured his right elbow, subs C.J. Williams (16 points) and Dennis Horner (12) answered the call. So did starters Tracy Smith (13) and Ben McCauley (10 points, 10 rebounds).

In the last 4:22, Williams, a sturdy freshman with a boxer's build, scored eight points, with six coming on two timely 3s.

"You want to shoot the big shots," he said, smiling. "Every time I caught a pass, I felt I could shoot the ball." And he added, "We are learning how to win."

The Pack shot out to a quick 24-6 lead, then "got careless" and saw Virginia narrow the margin to 33-29 at the break. A similar pattern unfolded in the second period, with State going on a 17-4 surge to build a 52-35 advantage before the redoubtable Cavs launched another rally.

That's why, even in the midst of fast starts, finishing remains a concern.

"Our guys who provide us energy didn't come out today with that same energy," said a disappointed UVa coach Dave Leitao. "We were playing uphill most of the game."

Yet the Cavs made it nerve-wrackingly close for State and the Pack fans in a crowd of 16,353. Twice, with his team leading by three, the Pack wisely fouled Landesberg to prevent him from getting off a 3-point shot.

Finally, with State ahead 70-67, Landesberg missed at the line. Fells went up high, grabbed the rebound, yelled "Ballgame!," flashed the "W" sign, and sank two final free throws. That's what a closer does.

"We needed to seal the game, and he did it," Lowe said, who also likes his Wolfpack's state of mind entering the stretch run.

 

Cavs come up short in Raleigh
By Whitey Reid
Published: February 22, 2009

RALEIGH, N.C. — One of the reasons why Virginia coach Dave Leitao has gone with a starting lineup featuring the offensively challenged Solomon Tat, the inexperienced Assane Sene and the occasionally

erratic Calvin Baker is the “energy” that they usually bring.

Until Saturday’s game at N.C. State, Leitao liked the tone that the three players had helped set in consecutive wins over Clemson and Virginia Tech.

Well, save for freshman Sylven Landesberg, Leitao may want to his reassess the unit that started the Cavaliers’ 72-67 loss in front of a crowd of 16,353 at the RBC Center.

Virginia started Saturday’s matinee by scoring just one basket in the first six minutes and getting behind by 18 points. When the second half began, the Wahoos, featuring the same lineup, fell victim to a 17-4 N.C. State spurt.

Between the pair of Wolfpack runs, Virginia played decent ball, cutting a 17-point second-half deficit all the way down to one.

But decent isn’t good enough to win on the road in the ACC.

A couple of clutch free throws by senior Courtney Fells with six seconds left helped N.C. State snap Virginia’s modest two-game winning streak.

“I don’t think that the group, as a unit, came out with the same kind of energy that we’ve had recently,” Leitao admitted, “but then guys came off the bench and didn’t give us energy boosts, either.

“So it wasn’t specifically just the starting lineup, but obviously I’ll have to examine that because we didn’t do what we needed to. But at the same point in time there were a lot of others guys who weren’t locked in.”

Landesberg led the team in scoring for the seventh time in the last eight games. After getting off to a slow start, he finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Senior Mamadi Diane, who hadn’t played in the team’s last four games, had 11 points, including a jumper with 48 seconds left that cut N.C. State’s lead to three.

A pair of Landesberg free throws cut the deficit to one point with 8.7 seconds, but Virginia was forced to foul Fells, who answered with two free throws.

Leading by three, N.C. State — not wanting to surrender a game-tying 3-pointer — intentionally fouled Landesberg on UVa’s next possession. The freshman missed the first free throw, effectively ending the game.

“We’re obviously disappointed,” Leitao said. “Guys in the locker room are disappointed. We had opportunities to win today and did not.”

In the first half, Virginia committed five turnovers and missed five of its first six shots within the first six minutes.

“We got back to digging ourselves in holes,” Leitao said, “specifically in the first half [and] for some of the same reasons we thought we had got rid of — in terms of energy and attention to detail.”

The Cavaliers (9-14, 3-9 ACC) did an atrocious job of defending the 3-point line. N.C. State, behind Dennis Horner and C.J. Williams (two treys each), stormed out to a 24-8 lead.

However, Virginia, using a full-court press, slowly chipped away at the deficit.

A Jamil Tucker layup off an inbounds pass from Calvin Baker pulled UVa to within a deuce before State guard Farnold Degand hit a driving layup at the buzzer for a 33-29 lead at the break.

It seemed as if Virginia went into the locker room with most of the momentum. However, that wasn’t necessarily the case, according to Leitao.

“What worried me was all the time that we had spent in the first half getting down — or specifically coming back — I didn’t see a mindset change by either team,” Leitao said. “So, although we came back, there were still come changes that we needed to make in order to forge ahead. I thought it cost us again in the second half — coming out with the same mindset, which really wasn’t assertive and paying attention to detail as we needed to.”

A sweet baseline drive and dish from Fells to McCauley underneath quickly pushed the deficit to 11. Later, as Virginia struggled to score, McCauley scored on a putback of his own shot to increase the bulge to 17.

UVa, behind Diane, mounted another comeback. The senior co-captain scored seven of his points in just over a minute to bite into the margin — but it wasn’t enough.

“We’ve done that a lot this year — where we get down and then we fight back,” Baker said. “Today, I just felt like we gave the game away. We didn’t come out with the same enthusiasm that we had been playing with over the last couple of weeks.

“We have to grow up from that. We have to learn that success is hard work and you have to be ready every day. Playing in this league, you can’t take any days off — and I feel like that’s what we did.”

Dunks

Virginia hosts Miami Thursday night. … Mike Scott had just one rebound in 23 minutes. … sophomore Mustapha Farrakhan played for the first time in three games. He didn’t score in two minutes of action. … Landesberg and Fells were exchanging a lot of trash talk in the game’s final seconds as they shot free throws. “The competitors in us came out,” Landesberg said. “I just tried to make him miss some free throws. It was back and forth.”

 

Virginia’s forgotten man puts on a show
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: February 22, 2009
RALEIGH, N.C.

Sportswriters aren’t supposed to pull for players they cover. We’re supposed to be unbiased, uncaring. We’re supposed to be the Switzerland of the sports world — neutral.

In the home stretch of Virginia’s duel with N.C. State on Saturday afternoon, ethics momentarily went out the window each time Cavalier senior Mamadi Diane put up a shot.

Anyone who has followed the career of the kid from DeMatha Catholic couldn’t help feeling good for Diane. He was fighting his way out of a horrible funk that had kept him on the bench for the last four games heading into this old tobacco town.

No one wanted to see it end like this for the guy with a quick smile and a work ethic that would make even Sean Singletary jealous. Diane, affectionately tagged “Mo” by his teammates, deserved better than a bitter finish to his senior year.

High expectations

Having suffered a broken bone in his foot late last season, he played through it, underwent off-season surgery, rehab and entered the 2008-09 campaign as tri-captain and with big expectations. Coach Dave Leitao hoped that Diane would be the guy to take up some of the scoring slack and leadership from Singletary’s departure.

Even though the 6-foot-5 Diane had to work his way back into playing shape after the operation, he provided a spark in Virginia’s first two games back in November. He scored 14 points in the win over VMI and 13 in the next win against South Florida.

Everything looked rosy.

Then the inconsistency that had plagued him throughout his career at Virginia reared its ugly head as his production took a dramatic plunge. He would not score in double figures again until Saturday’s second-half outburst against the Wolfpack, when he dropped in 11 points in seven and a half minutes as the Cavaliers nearly pulled off the comeback.

A blast from the past

Mo looked like his old self. He hit 5 of 6 field goal attempts, made his first

3-pointer since the Brown game on Jan. 6, and showed confidence in his shot.

Teammates and coaches had to be delighted to see the old Mo. While it may be too late to salvage any postseason hopes for this squad, they could at least go out in a blaze of glory and learn valuable lessons that could help them next season. Diane could be a big part of that finish.

Following the game, Diane was almost embarrassed at the media attention he received.

He didn’t really want to talk about his tribulations, but did anyway because that’s the kind of guy he is.

“For a while now, I’ve been feeling great, so I don’t think [the performance] was a surprise to me or any of my teammates,” Diane said. “That’s the way I’ve been playing in practice.”

Translating that from practice to games was Leitao’s job and he was sensitive to the situation. He hasn’t dwelled on the issue, but did invite the youngster up to his office for a chat a couple of weeks ago.

“Obviously, we’ve talked about it,” Leitao said. “It’s not an easy thing for anybody, particularly a senior who has contributed as much as he had. It was something that had to be coped with physically. For anybody, whether a freshman or senior, you’ve got to find your way out of adversity sometimes.”

Easier said than done.

Diane had seen or at least heard of this sort of thing happening to seniors before and he didn’t want to be a case sample of disappearing during what was supposed to be his most glorious time in college.

“With my senior year not going as planned, I could see how it would be easy for some guys to falter or fade away,” he said in front of his locker. “But it has been the opposite for me. I’ve been working harder than ever.”

So, he did what he has always done. He lived in the gym, he listened to his coach’s advice, and took encouragement from his family and teammates. But mostly, he worked and never caved in to the temptation of letting his game collapse.

He didn’t need an appointment with Bob Rotella or Dr. Phil. Instead, his therapy was the practice court.

“Basketball has always been fun for me, always been a dream, always been a passion and something I love,” Diane said. “So, it wasn’t hard for me to stay in the gym. That’s fun for me.”

Family members have called him more than ever, just to make sure he was OK and that he wasn’t giving up. During his toughest time as a player, that meant so much to him.

“Mo has met a ton of adversity this year and how you handle it kind of defines your person,” Leitao said. “That’s my biggest challenge — to make sure how he has to deal with it because it’s a life issue. He’s going to face adversity many more times in his life, and this just happens to be something he cares desperately about. We talked about it, but I want his actions to speak for him.”

Leitao encouraged Diane to hang tough because how he dealt with all this would likely have an impact on the entire team. It wasn’t all about production, but leadership. That’s why he is a captain.

Diane has been through a lot during his UVa career, winning seasons, losing seasons, highs and lows, comebacks and blowouts, the NCAA, the NIT, the CBI, and maybe nothing this time around. But he’s seen a lot. That experience is valuable.

“When you have an inexperienced team, as we do, those story-telling things are critically important as well as the physical things you do on the court, helping the team grow up, helping them move forward, and understanding situations, understanding me, understanding coaching,” Leitao said.

That’s why no one was surprised when Diane and fellow captains Calvin Baker and Tunji Soroye called a team meeting prior to the Clemson game more than a week ago. Diane did most of the talking and he told the team how he had been part of teams refusing to give up, battling for whatever they could obtain.

“One of the things I said to the team was to find some things that motivate them, whether it might be knocking a top team off the pedestal, or going out there and learning how to win for next year, just find something to motivate them and finish out the year that way,” Diane said.

The Cavs proceeded to go out and knock off 12th-ranked Clemson, then stop a three-game losing streak to rival Virginia Tech before Saturday’s 72-67 loss at N.C. State, where the Cavs have lost nine of the last 11 against UVa.

“Even though [Diane] wasn’t playing then, he wasn’t talking about his playing time (in the meeting),” Baker said. “He was just talking about the team getting better. For him to be just so unselfish the way he is — there’s not a lot of players like Mo.”

For the record, his 11 points gave him 963 for his career, leaving him 37 shy of becoming the 42nd Cavalier to reach basketball’s Holy Grail of 1,000 career points, with five games to go.

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Diane said as he cracked a grin. “That would definitely be good to get.”

Cheers to Mo Diane. May he finish with a flourish. Ethics be damned.

 

Cavs sweep twin bill from Bison
By Jay Jenkins
Published: February 22, 2009

One nearly frozen fan at Davenport Field drew a chuckle from those sitting nearby on Saturday.

“What has gotten into these guys?” he quipped.

The one-liner came after Virginia catcher Franco Valdes planted a fastball in the pine trees beyond the left-center field wall. Another homer, the fourth for the team in three games, was belted in the second game by third baseman Steven Proscia.

The long balls sparked Virginia to a sweep over Bucknell in the season’s first doubleheader. After winning the opener 7-0, the Cavaliers mounted a mid-game rally to win the nightcap 6-1.

The power display has been a rather significant change — last season, Virginia (3-0) connected on just 25 home runs in 62 games.

“Everybody, 1 through 9, is capable of hitting the ball over the fence,” said Proscia, who also homered on Friday in the season opener. “I am seeing the ball really well and it is easy to go up there and be relaxed when you have a great pitcher on the mound.”

The pitching was flawless for a second straight day.

Danny Hultzen, a rookie, teamed up with two relievers to throw the team’s second shutout, matching the total from the 2008 campaign. The southpaw worked six innings, scattering six singles and striking out five batters.

“I was excited for him to go out there and get his first start. I thought he pitched great,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said. “He really competed and he had control of the ball with his pitches. He showed today what he is capable of doing.

“Sometimes in that first start of somebody’s collegiate career they can be a little unsure of themselves, but from the first pitch to his last he was completely sure about what he was doing.”

Hultzen (1-0) also drew rave reviews from the coaching staff for failing to walk a Bucknell batter.

“Not walking anybody is good, but I was just out there trying to hit my spots,” Hultzen said. “I felt good. There was a little bit of that nervous excitement just being out there for the first time in the regular season, but I felt pretty good.”

In the opener, Proscia and Valdes registered three hits. Rookie Scott Silverstein also slapped a two-run single to left-center to plate a pair of runs in the fourth inning.

After allowing Bucknell its first run of the series in the first inning of the second game in the twinbill, left-handed pitcher Neal Davis settled into a groove, allowing just two hits and a walk over six innings.

The lone run allowed by Davis was unearned, leaving Virginia’s earned run average at 0.00.

Davis received all the run support he needed in the fourth inning as Virginia scored all six of its runs. The biggest blast was the three-run homer from Proscia off Bucknell starter Sean Driscoll (0-1).

“I got a nice pitch out over the plate,” Proscia said. “He actually hung a slider a little bit and I was able to get a good piece of it and hit it hard.”

O’Connor added: “We talked a lot about him before the season and he can have some really special days. He is a strong, physical kid. He has really made an adjustment from the fall to the preseason in that he is seeing pitches well and laying off pitches that he can’t hit. That is a sign of a hitter that it is starting to develop.

“He has good power and even when he hits a line drive he hits it hard. He is performing well in that fifth spot in the order.”

Rookie catcher John Hicks, who started the season opener, finished with three hits, including the first double of his career, as he earned the nod.

For the day, Virginia’s catching tandem combined to go 6 for 8 at the plate with two runs and two RBI.

The two teams will close out the series today at 1 p.m. O’Connor said he would start LHP Jeff Lorick. The junior went 3-3 last year with a 6.27 ERA.
 

Baseball Sweeps DH with Bucknell
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 02/21/2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia baseball team swept a doubleheader with Bucknell Saturday afternoon at Davenport Field, winning the first game, 7-0, and taking the nightcap, 6-1. UVa pitchers continued to shine, allowing just 10 hits in the doubleheader with only two Bison baserunners advancing past second base.

Combined with the 12-0 win Friday, it marked Virginia’s first consecutive shutouts since the Cavaliers recorded three straight shutouts over Coppin State (12-0) and Bucknell (2-0, 3-0) in 2007.

Game 1
In the opener, Virginia pitchers Danny Hultzen (Fr., Bethesda, Md.), Will Roberts (Fr., Richmond, Va.) and Kevin Arico (So., Flemington, N.J.) combined to blank the Bison on seven hits, while catcher Franco Valdes (Jr., Miami, Fla.) and third baseman Steven Proscia (Fr., Suffern, N.Y.) each had three hits at the plate.

Valdes finished with three hits including two singles and a home run while driving in two runs. Proscia hit two singles and a double in four appearances at the plate.

Hultzen earned his first career win with six innings of scoreless baseball, allowing only six hits while striking out five. Roberts and Arico finished the game, combining for six strikeouts (three each) in three innings. Roberts pitched the seventh and eighth innings before Arico struck out the side in the ninth to finish matters.

Trey Frahler took the loss for the Bison after starting and pitching 4.1 innings while allowing five runs (four earned) on nine hits and two walks.

The teams battled through three scoreless innings before the Cavaliers tallied three runs in the fourth inning. After Dan Grovatt (So., Tabernacle, N.J.) and Proscia reached to start the inning, Scott Silverstein (Fr., Olney, Md.) singled to left-center to give UVa a 2-0 lead. One batter later, Valdes plated Silverstein with a single to right.

Virginia tacked on two runs in the fifth inning on back-to-back RBI singles by Grovatt and Proscia. In the sixth, UVa added a pair of runs on a Valdes solo home run and a Daniel Hart wild pitch to score Jarrett Parker (So., Stafford, Va.).

Game 2
In the second game, Proscia hit a three-run home run to support starting pitcher Neal Davis (Jr., Baltimore, Md.), who went six solid innings and did not allow an earned run in earning the victory. He surrendered just two hits and a walk while striking out two.

UVa scored in just one inning, but made its six-run fourth inning stand up for the win.

Robert Poutier (Sr., Yorktown, Va.) and Tyler Wilson (So., Midlothian, Va.) combined to shut the Bison out over the final three frames. Davis, Poutier and Wilson combined to hold the Bison to three hits. Bucknell’s Sean Driscoll took the loss after giving up six earned runs, seven hits and two walks in 3.2 innings.

John Hicks (Fr., Sandy Hook, Va.) had three hits for Virginia, while Tyler Cannon (Jr., Pigeon Forge, Tenn.) racked up two hits and Parker had two RBI.

Bucknell broke an 18-inning scoring drought against Virginia by breaking through in the first inning on an RBI triple by Andy Brouse.

After going hitless through the first three innings, Virginia erupted in the fourth inning with seven hits and six runs while sending 11 batters to the plate. Proscia hit a three-run home run early in the inning, while Jared King (Fr., Radford, Va.) added an RBI single and Parker had a two-run single. The long ball was Proscia's second in as many days.

After the Cavaliers’ outburst, the pitching staff made it hold up by retiring 15 of the final 17 batters and not allowing a baserunner past second base.

The teams finish the four-game series at 1 p.m. Sunday.


 

Billings’ School Record Sends Virginia Past Stony Brook 20-10
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 02/21/2009

STONY BROOK, NY—Attackman Garrett Billings tied a school record with eight goals to lead Virginia to a 20-10 win over Stony Brook before 2861 fans at LaValle Stadium for the Cavaliers’ third win to start the season.

Billings tied the record set by Butch McCleary vs. Navy in 1958 and Doug Knight against Syracuse in 1996. Billings added three assists for a career-high 11 points, tied for third in school history. Billings also became the 11th player in school history to score 100 career goals; he now has 101.

The senior from Western Canada got the Cavaliers off to a quick start with two goals in the opening five minutes as Virginia built a 5-0 lead late in the opening quarter. Freshman Kyle Belton scored with 2.9 seconds left in the quarter for the Seawolves’ first goal.

Billings notched three consecutive goals in the second quarter as the Cavaliers scored the first five goals of the quarter to build a 10-1 advantage. Rhamel Bratton, who also set a career high with three goals, and Steve Giannone followed Billings’ triple.

Midfielder Brian Carroll scored two of his three goals to open the second half as Virginia’s lead grew to 12-3 at the 12:29 mark of the third quarter.

The teams traded goals for most of the remainder of the contest before the Cavaliers closed with a 4-1 run to double up the Seawolves.

The Cavalier attack of Billings, Danny Glading and freshman Steele Stanwick was particularly effective, combining for 10 goals and 11 assists. Stanwick, playing in just the third game of his career, finished with two goals and four assists.

Virginia’s close defense of Matt Kelly, Ryan Nizolek and Ken Clausen provided a formidable wall for goalie Adam Ghitelman, who made 10 saves in his first game near his home on Long Island. Kelly, in particular, did a good job of shutting down Stony Brook’s leading scorer Jordan McBride, allowing only one fourth-quarter goal.

Sophomore midfielder Chris Clements and freshman attackman Matt Kugler scored the first goals of their careers as head coach Dom Starsia used 37 players.

Virginia returns home to Klöckner Stadium Tuesday against Mount St. Mary’s. The game is scheduled to faceoff at 7 pm.

Virginia 5-5-6-4—20 record: 3-0
Stony Brook 1-2-4-3—10 record: 0-1
att—2861

Scoring (G-A)— V: Garrett Billings 8-3, Rhamel Bratton 3-0, Brian Carroll 3-0, Steele Stanwick 2-4, Steve Giannone 1-2, Shamel Bratton 1-0, Chris Clements 1-0, Matt Kugler 1-0, Danny Glading 0-4, Nick Elsmo 0-1, Gavin Gill 0-1, Mike Thompson 0-1. SB: Robbie Campbell 2-2, Kyle Belton 2-0, Timmy Trenkle 2-0, Tom Compitello 1-1, Jordan McBride 1-0, Chris Scott 1-0, Timmy Trenkle 1-0, Jack Hewitt 0-1.

Goalie Summary—V: Adam Ghitelman 52:18 mins., 10 saves, 9 goals allowed; Mark Wade 6:34, 2 svs., 1 GA; Rob Eimer 1:08, 0 svs., 0 GA. SB: Charlie Paar 59:45 mins., 15 saves, 19 goals allowed; Rob Camposa 0:15, 0 svs., 1 goal allowed.

Shots: V—62, SB—26
Ground Balls: V—53, SB—27
Clearing: V—18x24, SB—18x26
Faceoffs: V—18, SB—13
Penalties: V—3-2:00, SB—3-3:00
EMO: V—1x2, SB—0x3

 

Virginia Wins Second Consecutive ACC Title
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 02/21/2009

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Virginia women's swimming and diving team won its second consecutive and seventh overall Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Saturday in College Park, Md. The Cavaliers finished with 848 points, marking the second straight year the team scored 800 or more points. Junior Mei Christensen was tabbed the meet's most valuable swimmer after winning both the 100 and 200 backstroke events and being a member of four championship relays. The event was being held at the Eppley Recreation Center Natatorium.

Virginia claimed all five relays at the championships, including the 400 freestyle relay title on Saturday. The team of Christensen, Kristen Wallace, Kristen Moores and Megan Evo finished with an NCAA B time of 3:15.22, setting a conference, school and meet record by more than three seconds. That same quartet held the previous record (3:18.61), which they set at the UVa Invitational in December.

"The most exciting thing for me is the fact that we were able to win every relay," Virginia head coach Mark Bernardino said. "They were extremely close relays for the most part but to me a relay represents 'team.' It defines how members of a team care about one another and respect each other. Those are special moments."


Christensen broke her own record set this morning in the prelims of the 200 backstroke, taking first-place honors. Christensen touched with an NCAA A time of 1:52.22, besting her prelim time of 1:53.05 to set a conference, school and meet record. The crown was the second individual title for Christensen, who also won the 100 backstroke on Friday. Teammate Lauren Smart finished fifth overall (1:55.82), Erika Stewart was sixth (1:56.87) and Amanda Faulkner was eighth (1:57.70). All three of those times were NCAA B standards.

"The MVP award is a great honor but I share it with the whole team, especially the captains," Christensen said. "They have led this team to victory. We have been training for this every day since the meet last year. I am so happy we can share this with our coaches and our families."

After setting the ACC record in the preliminaries, Megan Evo placed second in the 200 butterfly (1:56.69, B) and was followed by teammate Liz Shaw (1:57.33, B), who finished fourth. Claire Crippen also swam in the finals of the event and finished eighth overall (2:00.28). Freshman Joanna Thomas competed in the consolation final and was 10th with a time of 2:00.31.

Senior Kristen Wallace earned a spot on the medal stand with a third-place finish in the 100 freestyle, touching at 49.53, an NCAA B mark. Teammate Kristen Moores followed in fourth with a time of 49.58, another B standard.

Katherine McDonnell also recorded a third-place finish in the 200 breaststroke, finishing with a mark of 2:13.68, while teammate Ellie Freeman placed fourth (2L13.11). Both were NCAA B marks.

In the 1650 freestyle, junior Jen Narum led the Cavaliers with the fifth-place finish, clocking a B time of 16:06.85. Jenna Harris placed seventh (16:19.16, B), Katya Bachrouche was ninth (16:31.6) and Anne Summer Myers finished 10th (16:32.78).

In the meet, 15 of the 18 event conference records fell, Virginia was responsible for 10 of those ACC records.


This year marks the third time Virginia has won back-to-back championships in the program's history. The Cavaliers also did it in 1998 and '99 and 2003 and '04. Christensen was the first UVa swimmer to be named most valuable since Brielle White, also a backstroker, earned the honor in 2006.

"You set goals as a team at the beginning of the year," Bernardino said. "We started working toward this championship the day last year's championship was over. This group wanted to join a few other Virginia teams who have gone back-to-back. Needless to say, it is very difficult to win championships; to win two in a row is very special. We really hope to maintain this momentum and do a great job at the NCAA meet this year."

ACC Select is providing live video streaming of the championships, which can be archived. There is no charge to watch the webcasts. Live results from the championships are available by clicking here.

Final Team Scores

1. Virginia 848

2. North Carolina 602.5

3. Virginia Tech 451

4. Florida State 398.5

5. Maryland 332

6. Duke 307

7. Clemson 302

8. Miami 219

9. NC State 166

9. Georgia Tech 166

11. Boston College 64


 

Men’s Tennis Sweeps Boise State and Boston College
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 02/21/2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE – The No. 1 Virginia men’s tennis team remained undefeated on the season (14-0) with a pair of wins Saturday at the Boyd Tinsley Courts at the Boar’s Head Sports Club. The Cavaliers topped No. 29 Boise State 5-2 in the afternoon and Boston College 7-0 in the nightcap.

Virginia opened the match by sweeping the doubles point. Houston Barrick (Brentwood, Tenn.) and Sanam Singh (Chandigarh, India) won at No. 1 and Drew Courtney (Clifton, Va.) and Lee Singer (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) won at No. 3 to clinch the opening point. Michael Shabaz (Fairfax, Va.) and Dominic Inglot (London, England) won in a tiebreaker at No. 2 doubles to complete the sweep.

In singles, the Cavaliers took a 2-0 lead with Courtney’s win at No. 6 singles. Boise State cut the lead to 2-1 as Clancy Shields won at the No. 1 position. Steven Eelkman Rooda (Amersfoort, The Netherlands) won at No. 5 singles and Barrick won at No. 4 to clinch the win for Virginia. Singh added a superbreaker win at No. 2 over No. 57 Kean Feeder to make the final score 5-2.

Against Boston College, the Cavaliers swept the doubles matches and the singles matches. Singh and Barrick added their second win of the day, as did Courtney and Singer. Inglot and Eelkman Rooda teamed for the first time this season and won at the No. 2 position. In singles, Singh, Barrick, Eelkman Rooda and Courtney all won their second match of the day, while Singer and David Nguyen (Columbia, Md.) also added singles wins.

With the victories, the Cavaliers extended their school record home win streak to 39 matches. The win over Boston College was Virginia’s 33rd consecutive win over an ACC opponent (regular season and tournament), also extending a school record.

No. 1 Virginia 5, No. 29 Boise State 2

Doubles
1. #2 Singh/Barrick (UVa) def. Feeder/Meredith (BSU) 8-3
2. #10 Inglot/Shabaz (UVa) def. C.Shields/Sarapanich (BSU) 7-6(3)
3. Singer/Courtney (UVa) def. B.Shields/Solomon (BSU) 8-6

Singles
1. #62 Clancy Shields (BSU) def. #6 Dominic Inglot (UVa) 6-4, 6-3
2. #17 Sanam Singh (UVa) def. #57 Kean Feeder (BSU) 1-6, 7-6(6), 10-5
3. James Meredith (BSU) def. #12 Michael Shabaz (UVa) 4-6 6-3, 6-4
4. #81 Houston Barrick (UVa) def. Cristian Hodel (BSU) 6-4, 6-4
5. Steven Eelkman Rooda (UVa) def. Stanley Sarapanich (BSU) 6-4, 6-4
6. Drew Courtney (UVa) def. Matt Solomon (BSU) 6-1, 6-3

Order of Finish
Doubles: 1,3,2
Singles: 6,1,5,4,3,2

No. 1 Virginia 7, Boston College 0

Doubles
1. #3 Singh/Barrick (UVa) def. Nolan/Kreutzer (BC) 8-5
2. Inglot/Eelkman Rooda (UVa) def. Garber/Skinner (BC) 8-2
3. Singer/Courtney (UVa) def. Muppidi/Davison (BC) 8-2

Singles
1. #17 Sanam Singh (UVa) def. Thomas Nolan (BC) 6-1, 6-1
2. #81 Houston Barrick (UVa) def. Erik Kreutzer (BC) 6-1, 6-3
3. Steven Eelkman Rooda (UVa) def. Akash Muppidi (BC) 6-2, 4-6, 10-5
4. David Nguyen (UVa) def. Alex Skinner (BC) 6-1, 7-6(4)
5. Drew Courtney (UVa) def. Adam Davison (BC) 6-2, 6-0
6. #73 Lee Singer (UVa) def. Brian Locklear (BC) 6-0, 6-1

Order of Finish
Doubles: 3,2,1
Singles: 5,6,1,2,4,3

 

Littles’ UVa tenure: Rarely easy, always rewarding
By Jay Jenkins
Published: February 22, 2009

It was quite common around the University of Virginia four years ago to spot one member of the school’s women’s basketball program donning a baseball cap.

Often crooked, the hat is a fitting reminder of the progression that senior Lyndra Littles made in life and with basketball for coach Debbie Ryan.

“I had to change her shot,” Ryan proclaimed. “I said, ‘Lyndra, do you normally shoot the ball that way?’ She said, ‘No, why?’

“I said, ‘Because you have the doggone hat on.’ She said, ‘Maybe I will take my hat off and learn to shoot the right way.’

“Seriously, that is what I dealt with. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

Today, Littles will wrap up a stellar career at Virginia with her final home game as the No. 23 Cavaliers (20-7, 6-5 ACC) host Boston College (18-8, 6-5) in a battle for fifth place in the league standings.

For her career, the Washington, D.C., native has scored 1,769 points and grabbed 836 rebounds. She ranks fifth all-time in scoring — trailing only Dawn Staley, Heather Burge, Wendy Palmer and Tammi Reiss — and sits sixth in rebounding.

The storied career has not come without dramatic twists and turns in the classroom. In fact, Littles was certified by the NCAA during the first semester this season, missing the first nine games.

Since her return, Littles has made her impact felt. No player in the conference has scored more points in league games than the 6-foot-1 forward.

Two of those points will be remembered for a long time. With 3.8 seconds left on Thursday against Miami, Littles hit a leaning jumper as she glared at her defender, who was falling down.

The shot banked in to force overtime, where the Cavaliers dominated, due in no small part to a 3-pointer from Littles.

“She called it,” Virginia guard Monica Wright said with a grin. “I am joking.”

Littles joked about the shot, too.

“If it goes in, you can’t complain,” she said. “If I had missed it [Coach Ryan] probably would have screamed, ‘You’re off balance. You’re not looking at the basket.’”

The win snapped a two-game losing streak, the program’s longest of the season.

“There was no way we were going to lose that game,” Littles said. “We needed it for our confidence and we needed it to put us on a little run before the last three games of the season.”

With only three regular-season games remaining and the program still jockeying for position for the ACC and NCAA tournaments, Littles has unfinished business to attend to.

“I don’t look at it as I am running out of time. I still have plenty of time,” she said. “This team still has plenty of time to do a lot of things.”

With her improved play and the added ability to connect on shots with a higher percentage from the perimeter, Littles is viewed as a potential first-round draft pick in the upcoming WNBA draft.

“If I run out of time,” Littles said, “I will just begin a new chapter in life.”
 

U.Va. aide feels bond to crucial '757'
RECRUITING - Norm Wood
Inside Recruiting
February 22, 2009

Latrell Scott's education in Peninsula District football began in the mid-1990s. He got his first few peeks by creeping out from under the watchful eye of former Hampton University football coach Joe Taylor.

Those days are long gone. Now, as the University of Virginia's new wide-receivers coach and lead recruiter in Hampton Roads, Scott has an open invite into the offices of high school football coaches on the Peninsula and on the Southside.

Scott, a 33-year-old Richmond native, played tight end at Hampton University from '94-97 and earned All-America honors after his senior season. During his years at HU, he couldn't help but notice what a couple of recognizable quarterbacks were doing at Hampton High and Warwick High.

"I know the type of ball they play (in the Peninsula District)," said Scott, who graduated from Lee-Davis High in Mechanicsville. "When I was in college, we would sneak out and watch Ronald Curry and Mike Vick play. We know the level of competition down there. We know those are the type of kids we need at U.Va."

Scott, who arrived at U.Va. in December after spending last season as the receivers coach at the University of Tennessee, started to build some connections in the Hampton Roads area in 1999. That's when he got his first assistant coaching job, at Fork Union Military Academy.

He continued to develop them as the wide-receivers coach at Virginia Military Institute from '02 to '04, and when he held duties as receivers coach, assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator at Richmond from '05 to '07.

On Dec. 19, he sat in a hotel room in Charlottesville after interviewing with U.Va. coach Al Groh. That night, Scott watched Richmond win the Football Championship Subdivision national title.

"I sat in that hotel room and watched those kids and I was just as proud as if I was still there," said Scott, who added that he recruited Richmond linebacker Darius McMillan when McMillan was at Phoebus.

Last season, he recruited the state of Virginia for former Volunteers coach Phillip Fulmer. Scott was responsible for getting commitments from quarterback Tajh Boyd of Phoebus High and linebacker Jerod Askew of Oscar Smith High in Chesapeake. But Boyd and new Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin agreed it was in Boyd's best interest to de-commit, and Boyd ultimately wound up at Clemson.

While he was at Tennessee, Scott also recruited Morgan Moses, a student at Meadowbrook High in Richmond who was considered by most recruiting analysts to be one of the nation's top five offensive tackles. Obviously, Scott developed a solid relationship with Moses, because he signed a letter of intent with U.Va. after Scott joined the Cavaliers' staff and continued to pursue Moses.

"I approach recruiting from an honest standpoint," said Scott, who added he played AAU basketball in the early '90s for the Richmond Metro and competed against former Bethel High players Allen Iverson and Tony Rutland and Hampton High player Damon Bacote. "I'm brutally honest with (recruits). ... I'm not in the business of being a bad person to good kids."

Scott has his work cut out for him in Hampton Roads, where players often talk about the 757 area code. Bob Pruett, who was U.Va.'s defensive coordinator last season and who retired earlier this month, got six signees this month out of the Hampton Roads area, including Phoebus safety LoVante Battle and Lafayette High defensive end Will Hill. That's more signees from Hampton Roads than U.Va. had in the previous two years combined.

"We're very enthused that Latrell can carry the momentum that Bob Pruett got going for us down there," Groh said.

Groh said he's still finalizing recruiting territories for his staff, which will include four new assistant coaches. In addition to Scott, three other coaches are set with their recruiting responsibilities.

Defensive-backs coach and assistant special-teams coordinator Anthony Poindexter works Washington, D.C., and the Beltway area. Running-backs coach Wayne Lineburg is in southwest Virginia. Tight-ends coach and recruiting coordinator Bob Price spends his time in the Shenandoah Valley and eastern Pennsylvania.

With his history in the area, Scott feels like he already has developed a bond to Hampton Roads. It's about to get a lot more intense.

"That area means a lot to me," Scott said. "There's no pressure on me at all (in Hampton Roads). It's pretty simple. In order for Virginia to be successful, you've got to be able to recruit Tidewater."


 

Cavaliers Dominate Loyola, 19-8
McCulloch and Weymouth notch four goals each

BALTIMORE, Md. The No. 4 Virginia womens lacrosse team continued its offensive dominance Saturday afternoon, defeating Loyola College, 19-8, at Diane Geppi-Aikens Field in Baltimore, Md.
Senior All-Americans Ashley McCulloch and Blair Weymouth led the way again. McCulloch tallied four goals and three assists, while Weymouth had four goals and two assists. Junior Kaitlin Duff had three goals and two assists, while winning a career-high six draw controls. Freshman Julie Gardner contributed three goals, while classmates Josie Owen and Caroline Cochran, redshirt freshman Ainsley Baker, and juniors Marye Kellermann and Caity Whiteley each added one score. Freshman Bailey Fogarty contributed an assist.
McCulloch backed a wide Cavalier shot and dished it ahead to Gardner who found the back of the net just 24 seconds into play to open scoring. Loyola responded with a goal from Abby Rehfuss at 24:07 to even the score at 1-1.
Duff then sparked a four-goal run for Virginia with a score at 23:40. McCulloch notched her first goal of the game at 23:14, and then dished a pass to Weymouth, whose score at 22:03 forced the Greyhounds to call a timeout. Whiteley capped off the run, finishing a feed from Duff, at 19:35 to push the Cavaliers ahead 5-1.
A goal from Loyolas Grace Gavin at 18:14 halted the streak, but Weymouth fired off back-to-back goals for Virginia, giving the Cavaliers a 7-2 advantage. Owen and Fogarty teamed for the Cavaliers next score, but Loyola would find the net for two-consecutive goals within a minute of each other to force the Cavaliers to call a timeout, at 8-4.
Gardner, Weymouth and McCulloch each tallied scores out of the break and senior goalkeeper Sara Hairfield stopped a shot in the final seconds of the opening half to keep the score at 11-4 heading into the intermission.
Out of the break, McCulloch and Duff each contributed two of the first five goals scored and redshirt junior Lauren Benner, in goal for the Cavaliers, blocked a wide open Greyhound shot to maintain Virginias 15-5 lead with 20 minutes remaining.
Gardner tallied another score for Virginia, while Baker and Cochran each tallied their first collegiate goals in that remaining time.
Defensively, Duff caused a game-high four turnovers, while sophomore Liz Downs, Gardner and Weymouth each collected three ground balls. Senior Katie Shannon won three draw controls.
In the cage, Benner stopped six shots, while Hairfield collected two saves.
Up next for Virginia (2-0, 1-0 ACC) is a home game against Richmond. Game time is slated for 7 p.m. on Wednesday in Kl��er Stadium.