U.VA. NOTES

TOURNAMENT TIME: The 16-team field won't be announced until Sunday night, but look for Virginia to open defense of its NCAA men's lacrosse title with a first-round game May 12 at Klockner Stadium.

The game likely will be played in the afternoon to avoid a conflict with a baseball game scheduled for 7 o'clock that night at Davenport Field.

Cavaliers coach Dom Starsia said he expects his team to be seeded No.3 in the NCAAs, with Cornell at No.1, Duke at No.2 and Johns Hopkins at No.4.

U.Va. is 12-3, with two of those losses coming to Duke. The Blue Devils beat the Wahoos 7-6 in overtime April 14 and 12-9 in the ACC title game Sunday. Both of those games were at Duke.

"I think there's certainly some comfort level for them playing at home," Starsia said. "A number of people have said that to me, 'It'd be good to get them away from home,' and that has certainly occurred to me."

The Devils' margin of victory over U.Va. was greater Sunday than it had been two weeks earlier, but Starsia said it "was probably the best game we'd played in a while."

The first meeting was close, he said, only because Virginia goalie Kip Turner was so spectacular.

Turner, an all-ACC pick, broke his left thumb in practice last week. He played in the championship game Sunday, but the injury affected him. Starsia said Turner should be OK for the NCAAs.

Final exams are under way at U.Va., and Starsia's team won't play again until the NCAA tourney.

DOWN TO THE WIRE: During the 2002-03 school year, Virginia captured ACC titles in four team sports. U.Va. won six conference championships in '03-04, five in '04-05 and five in '05-06.

As the end of this school year nears, U.Va. has three ACC championships: men's tennis, rowing and women's lacrosse. Its best chance to claim another title will come this month in Jacksonville, Fla., site of the ACC baseball tournament. Coach Brian O'Connor's club is ranked No.3 nationally by Baseball America.

HEATING UP: Sean Doolittle hit .313 as a freshman in 2005 and .324 last season, when he was named ACC baseball player of the year.

Heading into Virginia's game Tuesday night against visiting Virginia Commonwealth University, Doolittle was batting .295. But he went 3 for 4 against the Rams, with an RBI, to raise his average to .305.

"Sean had a big night," O'Connor said after his team's 5-4 victory at Davenport Field. "He's really been swinging the bat really well for us lately, and that's what your leaders need to do at this time of the year. It's coming down to crunch time, and guys like him need to step up."

As a pitcher, Doolittle is 7-3 with a 2.11 ERA this season.

FLYING HIGH: Before O'Connor replaced Dennis Womack after the 2003 season, U.Va. had won 40 or more games only once: in 1996. Under O'Connor, the Cavaliers won 44 games in 2004, 41 in '05 and 47 last year. After beating VCU, they're 38-10 and all but assured of advancing to the NCAA tournament for the fourth consecutive season.

"I told the team after the game, we've accomplished a lot of great things this year," O'Connor said. "We've put ourselves in the position we want to be in. Now, we've got to take care of our exams and get ready for the most important time of the year."

ON THE BRINK: U.Va. closer Casey Lambert didn't pitch against VCU and remains tied with former North Carolina star Thad Crisman for first place on the ACC's career saves list.

Lambert, a senior who attended St. Anne's-Belfield School in Charlottesville, has nine saves this season and 41 for his career. Only five players in NCAA history have recorded more saves.

BIG NUMBERS: Former U.Va. basketball player Elton Brown recently completed a superb season in the NBA's Development League. Brown, a 6-9, 250-pound post player from Newport News, averaged 18.4 points and 9.6 rebounds for the Colorado 14ers and was named to the all-league first team.

In three playoff games - Colorado lost to Dakota in the D-League final - Brown averaged 25.3 points and 11.7 rebounds. Last fall, Brown spent much of training camp with the New York Knicks. He averaged 4.3 points and 3 rebounds in three preseason games before the Knicks released him.

THE ENVELOPES, PLEASE: At the basketball team's awards dinner Monday, top honors went, not surprisingly, to guards J.R. Reynolds and Sean Singletary.

Reynolds and Singletary were named co-recipients of the Bill Gibson Cavalier of the Year Award for 2006-07. Reynolds, a senior, also received the Michael McCann Leadership Award as the team's top defensive player.

Singletary and Reynolds were the Cavaliers' captains in 2005-06 and again this season.

Other winners were sophomore swingman Mamadi Diane, who was named the team's most improved player; senior forward Jason Cain, who received the chairman of the boards award as U.Va.'s top rebounder; and freshman center Jerome Meyinsse, who took home the team's academic achievement award. - Jeff White

 

USC to visit U.Va. in 2008
Meeting will be teams' first in football; Cavs will go to L.A. in 2010
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- College football royalty is coming to Scott Stadium.

In 2008, the University of Virginia will open the season at home Aug. 30 against mighty Southern California. Under coach Pete Carroll, the Trojans have won two national championships and 59 of their past 65 games.

"Virginia football likes the challenge of competition," seventh-year coach Al Groh said in a release yesterday. "Clearly, we will get all we want from one of the most storied programs in the country. When you think about national championships, Heisman Trophies and All-Americans, the USC Trojans are at the top of the list."

Virginia and Southern Cal will conclude their two-games series Sept. 11, 2010, at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

These schools never have met in football. U.Va., in fact, has played only one game against a Pac-10 team, losing 38-17 to Washington in 1976.

The Trojans haven't played in an ACC stadium since 1998, when they lost 38-10 at Florida State. In 2004, Southern Cal beat Virginia Tech 24-13 in the BCA Kickoff Classic at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. Against the teams that currently make up the ACC, USC's all-time record is 10-6.

The Cavaliers, who went 5-7 in 2006, will have to replace several key players after the coming season, among them defensive end Chris Long, linebacker Jermaine Dias, tight ends Tom Santi and Jonathan Stupar, center Jordy Lipsey and offensive guard Ian-Yates Cunningham. Still, U.Va. figures to have a strong nucleus of returning starters in 2008.

U.Va.'s other opponents at Scott Stadium in 2008 will be East Carolina, Maryland, Clemson, North Carolina and Miami.

 

U.Va. will host Southern Cal in '08
Two-game series concludes with a 2010 contest in Los Angeles.
BY DAVID TEEL
247-4636
May 3, 2007

With a significant West Coast alumni base, the University of Virginia went trolling for a football series against a California team. The effort landed the Cavaliers one of the sport's biggest fish.

Virginia will open the 2008 season at home against Southern California and will play the Trojans two years later in Los Angeles, the schools announced Wednesday.

Jon Oliver, Virginia's executive associate athletic director, coordinates football scheduling and recently began a Western search.

"We thought we had something going with Stanford," Oliver said via e-mail. "But it fell apart and then USC put word out that they were looking for a home-and-home series."

Negotiations lasted about a month and concluded last week, Oliver said.

"Virginia football likes the challenge of competition," coach Al Groh said in statement. "Clearly, we will get all we want from one of the most storied programs in the country. When you think about national championships, Heisman Trophies, and All-Americans, the USC Trojans are at the top of the list. I know (USC coach) Pete Carroll well and have great respect for what he and his players have done."

Groh's connection with Carroll dates to their NFL coaching days, though they never worked on the same staff.

In six seasons under Carroll, the Trojans have won two national championships and five Pacific 10 Conference titles. Three of the last five Heisman honorees hail from USC - Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush.

The first of USC's nine national championships came in 1932. A record seven Trojans have won the Heisman, including Mike Garrett, now the school's athletic director.

The 2008 USC-Virginia game is Aug. 30 at Scott Stadium, the 2010 contest Sept. 11 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. In 2008, the Cavaliers also host Miami, North Carolina, Clemson, Maryland and East Carolina. USC will be the first Pacific 10 Conference team to play at Virginia. The Cavaliers' lone game against the Pac-10 was a season-opening loss at Washington in 1976. «

 

Virginia will play Trojans
The Cavaliers upgrade their football schedule, adding games with USC in 2008 and 2010.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

The idea, according to Virginia football coach Al Groh, was to add some spice to the Cavaliers' upcoming football schedules.

It appears the Cavaliers achieved their objective, announcing Wednesday that they will open the 2008 season with a home game against Southern California, the national champion in 2003 and 2004.

The Trojans will host Virginia in the second game of the 2010 season.

Groh and Southern Cal coach Pete Carroll know each other from their days in the National Football League, when Carroll was the head coach of the New England Patriots and Groh coached the New York Jets, but it was UVa executive associate athletic director Jon Oliver who pushed for a deal.

Oliver has contacts on the West Coast dating from his days in athletics administration at Washington State.

"We had talked about a game of this nature," Groh said, "and he asked would I be interested in Southern Cal? He thought he might be able to put that together.

"I said, 'If we're aiming for a real high-profile game, we can't get much more high-profile than that. Let's start with that one and see where it goes.' That seemed to fall in place pretty quickly. Pete and I didn't talk about it."

The Cavaliers were looking for a big-name opponent to join a list of upcoming non-conference opponents that includes East Carolina at home and Connecticut on the road. UVa also has an agreement for multiple home games against Mid-American Conference opposition in exchange for playing at Middle Tennessee State in 2007.

"We're trying to move into that [upper] bracket of teams," Groh said, "and you certainly do that by winning games like this, not just by playing them. [Winning is] the next step, but we like competition and this is as good as the competition gets."

Southern Cal's trip to Charlottesville will mark only its second game at an ACC stadium. The Trojans lost at Florida State 30-10 in 1998.
 

Cavs set date with Trojans
UVa will open 2008 season at home versus USC
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
May 3, 2007

Al Groh’s message to recruits can suddenly go beyond academics and the ACC.

Virginia’s football coach can drop two words: Southern Cal.

On Wednesday, officials at Virginia announced a home-and-home series with USC that will have one of the nation’s storied programs playing at Scott Stadium in 2008. The Cavaliers are set to return the game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 2010.

“We are working hard to be within that bracket of elite teams,” Groh told The Daily Progress. “This is the type of big-time opponent that puts us squarely in that arena on a national stage.

“Obviously, teams like Florida State and Miami, within our own conference, have a long-term reputation that way, but this [puts Virginia] at the center stage from a national perspective.”

Why Southern Cal?

Groh and Jon Oliver, executive associate director of athletics at UVa, said to themselves, “why not?”

“We both said we were looking for a high-profile opponent and nobody has gotten a much higher profile in the history of college football than USC,” Groh said. “We agreed on what we would like to do and Jon suggested with some of the contacts that he had out on the West Coast that he might be able to get something done there.”

After looking at Stanford and Washington, Oliver said USC appeared to be the best fit and the biggest reward for Virginia’s season-ticket holders.

USC stakes claim to 11 national titles, the most recent of which came in 2004.

“The opportunity to open the 2008 season at home against a team of this caliber is truly exciting,” Oliver said through a released statement. “Coach Groh has worked hard to create a great college football atmosphere at Scott Stadium and our fans have been tremendous in supporting this effort. They deserve to see this type of game.”

Virginia Athletics Director Craig Littlepage praised Oliver for getting the series inked.

“Jon Oliver deserves a lot of the credit for doggedly pursuing this matchup,” Littlepage said. “This is a great development for our football program; Southern California is one of college football’s all-time premier programs.

“USC is one of the top non-conference opponents that has ever played in Charlottesville.”

The contest in ’08 will be played on Aug. 30, serving as Virginia’s season opener. The return game is slated to be played Sept. 11, 2010.

Groh said he likes the fact that the two games fall early in the schedule.

“The No. 1 objective of every season is to get into the ACC Championship game and we would never want to do anything to jeopardize our chances of doing that,” Groh said. “By the same token, a game like this will set the standard of performance necessary and might help us get to that game.”

There are obvious ties between Groh and USC coach Pete Carroll. While they have never met as head coaches, both squared off while manning the sidelines for the New York Jets and the New England Patriots.

Carroll, who was fired by the Patriots after the 1999 season, has compiled a 65-12 record in six seasons guiding the Trojans, making him the winningest active coach in Division I.

“I have known Pete for quite some time,” Groh said, “and I have always been impressed with his body of work.”

Unless the Trojans face an ACC team in a bowl game this season, it will mark their first ACC opponent since 2004 when they beat Virginia Tech, 24-13, at FedEx Field in Landover, Md.