Tigers top Cavs in series finale
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
April 23, 2007

CLEMSON, S.C. - Sean Doolittle had his bat in his hand, but the 2006 ACC Player of the Year was left watching helplessly in the on-deck circle.

Having already scored one run in the ninth and with two runners on and one out, Virginia senior Brandon Marsh grounded into a game-ending double play that secured a 2-1 win for Clemson at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, which made Doolittle a hard-luck loser.

The win not only helped the Tigers (26-13, 10-8 ACC) salvage the final game in the three-game set, but also gave Clemson its first victory over Virginia (34-9, 13-7 ACC) in two years.

“Since I was pitching today, I would have liked to atone for that [with one more at-bat], but we battled in that last inning,” Doolittle said. “I just feel like if we played with that intensity for the whole game maybe it would have been different.”

Virginia, which registered only three hits in the game, struggled to get on track against Clemson starter Ryan Hinson. Despite walking five Cavaliers, Hinson (4-1) gave up only one hit - a double to Patrick Wingfield in the seventh - and worked 6.1 innings.

Clemson reliever Alan Farina, who got out of the jam in the seventh unscathed, recorded the final eight outs for the Tigers to earn his first save of the season.

In total, Hinson and Farina stranded 10 Virginia runners and helped the Tigers avoid a sweep at home for the first time since 2002.

“Clemson has a very good pitching staff and we just didn’t execute when we had chances,” said Virginia coach Brian O’Connor. “What our team needs to learn, and you can’t go into a series looking to sweep it, but you have to take advantage of the opportunity. We need to prove to ourselves that we can sweep a series when the opportunity presents itself.

“That is what it is going to take at the end of the year in an NCAA Regional.”

Virginia’s offensive struggles spoiled a stellar start from Doolittle. The southpaw allowed only one first-inning run as he pitched six strong innings.

After giving up an RBI single to Clemson’s Andy D’Alessio in the opening frame, Doolittle (6-3) said he tried to buy his offense time to get to Hinson.

“It is always tough when the offense struggles, but when that happens, you really have to bear down on the mound,” said Doolittle, who threw 111 pitches. “The guys on your side are counting on you to keep it close. Regardless of what the opposing pitcher is doing, you have to do your job to keep your offense in it.

“We had some good swings on [Hinson], but he did a good job of attacking the plate.”

Clemson kept its one-run lead until the eighth inning when third baseman Marquez Smith launched a pitch from Virginia reliever Jake Rule over the left-field wall.

That run proved costly in the ninth.

After Farina fanned Wingfield to open the final frame, Tyler Cannon and Tim Henry drew back-to-back walks and Greg Miclat laced a run-scoring single into right field.

Marsh, however, ended the rally when he hit a hard grounder to short on a 2-0 pitch from Farina.

“That is an example of how we didn’t execute,” O’Connor said. “We have done a really good job of hitting with runners in scoring position all year, but our guys are not making $5 million a year and they are going to make mistakes. But if you want to be a championship ball club, you have to do those things when they count.”

Virginia, which fell out of first place in the Coastal Division after UNC topped Florida State on Sunday, returns to action on Wednesday when it plays host to James Madison at 7 p.m. at Davenport Field.

 

Virginia Men's Tennis Wins ACC Championship With 5-0 Victory Over North Carolina
Angelinos named Tournament MVP

April 22, 2007

CARY, N.C. - The Virginia men's tennis team won its third ACC Tournament in four seasons, topping No. 6 North Carolina 5-0 Sunday in the final of the 2007 ACC Tournament at the Cary Tennis Center. The Cavaliers (26-3) have now won 16 consecutive matches against ACC opponents, dating back to last season.

"I am so proud of this team," said Virginia head coach Brian Boland, "The ACC is one of, if not the best conference in the country. To win three of these in four years says a lot about our team. I feel great about where the program is and how much we have improved over the past few years. This weekend gives us a lot of momentum heading into the NCAA Tournament."

In doubles, the Cavaliers took an early advantage as Somdev Devvarman (Chennai, India) and Treat Huey (Alexandria, Va.) cruised to an 8-0 win over Lenny Gullan and David Stone at No. 1 doubles. The Tar Heels drew even as Sebastian Guejman and Stefan Hardy topped Houston Barrick (Brentwood, Tenn.) and Dominic Inglot (London, England) 8-6 at the No. 2 position. With the doubles point resting in the balance, the team of Lee Singer (Laguna Niguel, Calif,) and Ted Angelinos (Athens, Greece) defeated Chris Kearney and Taylor Fogleman 8-6 at No. 3 to give Virginia a 1-0 lead.

"The doubles point was extremely important to give us the momentum," Boland said. "Our No. 3 team had some struggles earlier in the tournament, but we stuck with them and they came up big for us today."

In singles, the score quickly became 2-0 as Huey rolled to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Kearney at No. 2 singles. Minutes later, there was a race between three Cavaliers to capture the final two points. Angelinos made it 3-0 with his 6-1, 6-2 win over Will Plyler at the No. 6 postion. Less than a minute later, Inglot clinched the championship with his 6-1, 6-4 victory at No. 3 singles against Hardy. Devvarman had match point coming against Benjamin Carlotti at No. 1 singles when the Cavaliers clinched, but the players agreed to play out the game, which Devvarman took to record a 6-1, 6-2 win.

"It feels so great to win the tournament because it is a reward for all our hard work over the season," Devvarman said. "I have give Carlotti a lot of credit. I was at match point when we clinched and he was nice enough to play it out. Not many guys would be willing to do that."

Angelinos was named ACC Tournament MVP. After moving into the lineup at No. 6 singles for the first match of the tournament, he picked up three singles wins, losing just six games in the process.

"It's nice to be named MVP, but that isn't as important as what we were able to accomplish as a team," Angelinos said. "I started off the week not being in the singles lineup, but got my shot and made the most of it. Coach stressed to me that you always have to be ready to go in, and it paid off for me this weekend."

Virginia earned the ACC's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament with the championship. The 64-team field will be announced on May 1.

 

Heels run out of gas, fall 5-0 to the Cavs
By NOLAN HAYES : The Herald-Sun
nhayes@heraldsun.com
Apr 23, 2007 : 12:00 am ET

The question surrounding North Carolina's men's tennis players was how much energy they'd have left after having to rally past Florida State on Saturday.

The Tar Heels got their answer Sunday: Not enough.

Top-seeded Virginia won its third ACC Tournament title in the last four years, blanking No. 2 seed UNC 5-0 at the Cary Tennis Center.

"I don't think we had our legs today," said UNC coach Sam Paul, the ACC's coach of the year each of the last two years. "I think yesterday took a lot out of us. ...

"I'm really proud of all the kids and how hard they fought. We just lost to a better team today, but they gave everything they had."

The Cavaliers (26-3), who had to replace four four-year starters and three All-Americans after last year, entered the final day with fresh legs after posting routine victories over Miami in the quarterfinals and Wake Forest in the semifinals. The Tar Heels (23-3), who were tested in wins over Virginia Tech and the Seminoles, didn't have that luxury.

But UNC, which lost 6-1 at Virginia on April 13, put up a big fight for the doubles point Sunday. After Virginia's Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey, the nation's second-ranked tandem, beat UNC's Lenny Gullan and David Stone 8-0 at No. 1 doubles, UNC's Sebastian Guejman and Stefan Hardy knocked off Dominic Inglot and Houston Barrick 8-6 at No. 2.

The match at No. 3 featured just one break of serve, but Virginia's Ted Angelinos and Lee Singer came up with it in the 11th game and held off UNC's Chris Kearney and Taylor Fogleman 8-6 to get the Cavaliers on the scoreboard first.

"Our 3 team has really struggled," said Coach Brian Boland, who is in his sixth season at Virginia. "They put a lot of extra time on the court this last week and still came in and struggled the first couple of matches, but we stuck with them. We pondered making a change, but we just felt like we owed it to them because of the amount of work they put in over the last month to stick with it and see what happens, and I'm glad I did."

Virginia administrators could sing a similar tune about their men's tennis program. Once on the verge of becoming an afterthought and not fully funded until just a couple of years ago, the program has thrived under Boland and the players he has recruited.

Take Devvarman, for instance. Boland flew all the way to Chennai, India, in June 2004 to spend one day with Devvarman, who has turned into the No. 2-ranked singles player in the college ranks.

"I got delayed in London, so it took me 48 hours to get there," Boland said. "It's about a 25-hour plane trip. It was one I'm glad I took."

Boland told Devvarman that he was coming to see him, but Devvarman didn't believe it until it happened.

"I didn't expect him to actually show up at my doorstep," Devvarman said. "I was definitely shocked, and then I came back down here to Charlottesville to see the school. I loved it so much that I just knew I wasn't going anywhere else."

Devvarman has rewarded Boland with a 34-5 overall individual record during his junior year, but he'd still have 33 victories if not for a classy gesture by UNC's Benjamin Carlotti on Sunday. Devvarman had played his way to match point when the Cavaliers clinched the team championship, which gave Carlotti a chance to abandon his match without taking a loss.

But Carlotti and Devvarman agreed to play out the final game, resulting in a 6-1, 6-2 win for Devvarman and the unusual final score of 5-0 between the teams.

"The guy was nice enough to actually finish it, which I give him credit for," said Devvarman, the NCAA individual runner-up last year. "It's not fun to lose matches."

Virginia triumphed in singles quickly, with Huey giving his team a 2-0 lead with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Kearney at No. 2 singles in 1 hour, 7 minutes. Angelinos, the tournament MVP, wrapped up his 6-1, 6-2 victory over Will Plyler at No. 6 about 7 minutes later, and Inglot clinched the match 10 seconds after that with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Hardy at No. 3.

The Tar Heels fell short in their quest to win their first ACC championship since 2002, but Paul didn't lose sight of what his team has accomplished so far in 2007. Even after losing its top three singles players from last year to graduation, UNC began the season 20-0 for the first time since 1965 and reached the highest ranking (No. 5) in program history.

In addition, the Tar Heels almost certainly will host a regional next month after the NCAA Tournament bracket is unveiled.

"I'm really proud of how hard everybody has worked," Paul said. "It's a total team effort. I think if you look back at our whole season, different people have stepped up on different days.

"Today, we just didn't have it. We lost to a very good team."

NOTES -- UNC dropped to 0-3 this season in matches in which it failed to win the doubles point. ... The Cavaliers have won 16 consecutive matches against ACC competition, dating back to last year. ... The NCAA Tournament bracket will be announced May 1 at 2:30 p.m. on ESPNews, with NCAA individual selections coming the next day at 5 p.m. on ncaasports.com.


 

Swanson raves about new recruiting class
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
April 23, 2007

Before last season even started, the Virginia women’s soccer team had three players - Megan Ashforth, Kristin Bowers and Shannon Foley - go down with season-ending injuries.

During the year, UVa lost Kelly Quinn to a season-ending injury.

By the end of the campaign, Virginia only had 18 players on its roster. The fact that UVa coach Steve Swanson was able to guide his team to the NCAA Tournament’s round of 16 was a minor miracle.

But this fall, things will be much different for Swanson. All of his injured players are expected back. Plus, he’s got a pretty nice crop of freshmen.

“I think if everyone stays healthy, we’re going to have a very strong nucleus and more depth than at any other time,” said Swanson, who expects to have 26 players on his roster. “That’s exciting for us. Any program that wants to make a run - you really need that depth.”

Headlining the list of players who signed letters of intent last week is midfielder Sinead Farrelly (Havertown, Pa.), a member of the United States U-20 national team who was rated as the seventh-best recruit in the nation by SoccerBuzz Magazine.

“I think she has an exceptionally bright future,” Swanson said. “She has a lot of qualities that make her ideally suited for us. She’s a tremendous athlete with great feet and plays at a very high speed and under control with a lot of skill. She can play any of the attacking positions.”

Two of Swanson’s signees, Lindsey Miller (Nashua, N.H.) and Katie Carr (Williamsburg), were also great basketball players in high school.

Miller was a McDonald’s High School All-American.

“She’s a great point guard,” said Swanson, who laughed when asked if Debbie Ryan was going to steal his recruit away, “and I think there’s a lot of crossover between soccer and basketball, especially as a midfielder. It’s similar in the way you see the field and distribute the ball. She’s a helluva tennis player, too.”

Unfortunately, Carr, whose sister played field hockey at Virginia, tore her anterior cruciate ligament during hoops season. However, the center defender will probably be ready to go by the preseason.

“She’s a very accomplished basketball player with a love for soccer,” Swanson said. “I think there is a whole different side of an athlete once you start devoting yourself full-time to the sport. I think we’ll all see her grow very quickly.”

Swanson is equally excited about the other four members of the seven-player class - Colleen Flanagan (Downingtown, Pa.), Amy Hemenway (Charlottesville), Meghan Lenczyk (McLean) and Kika Toulouse (Arlington).

Flanagan, a defender who is part of what Swanson referred to as his “Irish contingent,” should provide great intangibles. She’s known for being very competitive and hard-nosed.

“She’s a ball-winner,” Swanson said, “like winning the draws or ground balls in lacrosse - it’s a part of the game that is so important but you may not see it show [in stats].”

Hemenway, a Charlottesville High product, has a ton of upside, according to Swanson. “She’s very quick, very fast and quite skillful with the ball,” he said

Swanson loves Lenczyk’s size.

“I think she’ll be able to play a number of positions,” Swanson said, “but right now I see her as a target forward.”

Toulhouse was a first-team selection to the Washington Post’s All-Met squad two straight years.

“I think she has the potential to really develop,” Swanson said. “She’s a really good athlete who can make strides here. She’s a great combination of student and athlete.”