Cavs beat Jackets
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
May 25, 2007

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Assuming the role of a prize fighter, Virginia delivered not one, but two knockout punches Thursday to a pair of teams hoping originally to play in the 2007 ACC Tournament’s championship game.

Registering the win took a second straight dose of late-inning magic at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville, but it helped the Cavaliers inch closer to Sunday’s title game and a shot at their first league crown since 1996.

The Cavaliers’ latest victim, sixth-seeded Georgia Tech, was outplayed and outscored late as Virginia registered a 4-1 victory. In the process, North Carolina State joined the Yellow Jackets as participants playing without hope of winning a title.

Virginia (43-13) can clinch a berth in the championship game with a win on Saturday over No. 2 North Carolina, or, prior to that game, should N.C. State beat the Tar Heels in a game that was delayed by heavy rain Wednesday night. The contest started after 10 p.m.

“It feels very good to be 2-0 in this tournament and it was nice to beat a very good Georgia Tech ball club,” said Virginia coach Brian O’Connor. “I am just so proud of our team. They have hung in there in both of these ball games.

“Maybe things didn’t go our way in the first five innings of the last two games, but we have continued to battle and found ways to score runs.”

Virginia’s offense, which struggled early against Georgia Tech starter Eddie Burns (6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER), finally broke a 1-1 tie in the eighth, two innings after a 42-minute rain delay.

Ironically, the scoring started in similar fashion to Wednesday’s win over N.C. State. UVa senior Brandon Marsh, who finished 2 for 4 and scored twice, opened the frame with a single up the middle off Yellow Jacket reliever Jared Hyatt.

After junior Sean Doolittle fell behind 1-2 in the ensuing count, Marsh stole second base and moved to third one pitch later on a grounder to first.

With Georgia Tech’s infield drawn in, Brandon Guyer slapped a slider past third baseman Brad Feltes to give Virginia a lead it would not relinquish.

“When you do put it in play good things happen,” said Guyer, who finished with two singles. “I had the easy job; I just had to put it in play.

“When the infield is in, there are a lot of places that you can put it.”

Virginia added two insurance runs in the top of the ninth on three hits, including John Scaglione’s leadoff double to left.
Virginia’s bullpen, which came to Doolittle’s rescue in a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the bottom of the sixth, secured the victory with a pair of inning-ending double plays.

Jake Rule, who pitched 2.1 innings and earned the win, logged the first double play in the sixth after Doolittle walked Georgia Tech’s right fielder Wes Crancer on five pitches in a sequence that started prior to rain delay.

“Coach Karl Kuhn, our pitching coach, and I had made a decision during that rain delay that Sean was going to go back out there and face the batter,” O’Connor explained, “but no matter what, after that hitter, he was going to come out of the ball game and I was going to go with Jake Rule.

“I felt good about [Rule] getting a ground ball and fortunately it went our way.”

Rule (6-4) forced Georgia Tech’s Luke Murton to roll into the double play started by Virginia shortstop Tyler Cannon on a 2-2 pitch.

Doolittle, who did not allow a hit until the fifth inning, said Rule was the key to the victory.

“When Jake had his name called, he came out and did the job,” said Doolittle, who went 5.1 innings, allowing four hits and the Yellow Jackets’ lone run in the fifth.

O’Connor said he used Rule for an inning in relief on Wednesday thinking about Thursday’s game.

“I pitched him yesterday in the ninth inning because he has never pitched in an ACC Tournament,” O’Connor said, “and I felt it was important to go out and get his feet wet.

“He didn’t pitch well [Wednesday], but he pitched well today.”
In the eighth, Georgia Tech put two runners on after Rule walked the leadoff batter and reliever Alex Smith plunked Crancer in the back with a two-out offering.

Michael Schwimer, who has replaced closer-turned-starter Casey Lambert at the end of Virginia’s bullpen, escaped the jam by getting Murton to hit into another grounder.

In the ninth, Schwimer closed out the contest in Lambert-like fashion - the junior walked two of the first three batters that he faced before earning his second save of the season.

“I was a little wild, but I wanted to keep the Cavalier faithful a little nervous before I shut the door,” Schwimer joked. “I was just a little wild at first but I was able to fight back.”

The Cavaliers will not play again until Saturday at 1 p.m.
O’Connor said he would start Lambert if the Cavaliers need to win the game to advance to the title game.
 

Cavs ready for Blue Devils
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
May 25, 2007

There are no two ways about it. Virginia’s defense against Duke on March 31 at Klockner Stadium was downright putrid.

UVa gave up 19 goals - the most that a Julie Myers-coached team has ever surrendered.

The worst aspect of the 19-18 overtime loss to the Blue Devils was the way in which Virginia’s defense crumbled down the stretch. The Cavs blew a six-goal, first-half lead, then a two-goal advantage with less than two minutes remaining in regulation.

“It was really frustrating and disappointing,” said Virginia senior defender Jessy Morgan. “We let the game get away from us, but we’ve learned from that.”

Clearly.

Virginia has allowed just 7.6 goals per game since, and is currently riding a seven-game winning streak.

Tonight at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, UVa takes on Duke in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament. The winner advances to play the Northwestern-Pennsylvania winner on Sunday.

“I think playing them in the Final Four is a great opportunity to avenge that loss,” Morgan said.

Virginia will be running into a highly motivated bunch in second-seeded Duke.

“It’s our goal every year to get to the Final Four,” said Duke coach Kerstin Kimel, whose team will be making its second straight appearance. “I think the difference for us this year is that we don’t just want to be here. We want to win … it’s not OK to just make it.”

Virginia (18-3), the No. 3 seed, is playing its best lacrosse of the season. The Cavs smoked North Carolina to win the ACC Tournament. In the NCAA Tournament, they defeated Princeton and UNC by a combined score of 33-18.

Myers believes her team’s defense is one of the biggest reasons for the hot streak.

“I think we’ve done much better at stopping drives, communicating, and sliding and helping,” Myers said. “[Goalie Kendall McBrearty] has been playing great, and the defense has been playing tighter in front of her.

“I think we’re a much improved team from the first time we saw them, but they’re improved, too.”

Duke (16-3) has also advanced through the tournament with relative ease, defeating Le Moyne and Johns Hopkins.

The Blue Devils have a ton of offensive weapons, starting with Kristin Waagbo. The senior scored six goals on the Wahoos in the March meeting.

“She’s so tall and strong that it presents somewhat of a matchup issue for most teams,” Myers said.

Junior midfielder Caroline Cryer also gave Virginia fits.

“She started winning the draws and transitioning the ball and scoring down the stretch,” Myers said. “She’s very athletic. We need to be aware of where she is.”

But the Blue Devils will also have their work cut out on the defensive end. Kate Breslin, Virginia’s leading scorer, has been rolling all year. And lately, teammates Blair Weymouth and Ashley McCulloch are taking the pressure off of her, and forcing defenses to play more honest.

Virginia should be extremely motivated for the game. When the NCAA Tournament seedings first came out, many Cavaliers were befuddled that Duke received a higher seed after losing in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament (UVa won the tournament).

Myers is expecting an extremely competitive game.

“Duke is loaded,” she said. “They have a great offense and midfielders and really aggressive defenders. I don’t know where their weakness is.

“I think the only way to beat Duke is for us to play great as a team.”

Myers believes the first Duke game taught her players a valuable lesson.

“We really need to keep the hammer down,” she said, “and can’t come up for air until those final seconds tick off the clock.”

Ground balls

Virginia leads the all-time series with Duke, 14-6. … Jess Wasilewski and Brittany Kalkstein led UVa with four goals apiece in the loss to the Blue Devils on March 31. … It will be a homecoming for Virginia players Jess Wasilewski, Megan Havrilla and Katie Shannon. All three hail from the state of Pennsylvania. Duke also has three players from the state, including Sara Giedgowd, who was a teammate of Wasilewski and Havrilla at Conestoga High School (Berwyn, Pa.). Blue Devils coach Kerstin Kimel is also a Pennsylvania native.
 

Duke aims for title in third Final Four try
By NOLAN HAYES : The Herald-Sun
nhayes@heraldsun.com
May 25, 2007 : 12:03 am ET

It's a three-step program -- or at least that's what Duke's women's lacrosse players hope.

First, they reached the Final Four. Next, they reached the Final Four and performed well on their sport's biggest stage. Now, the only thing left for them to do is to win at the Final Four.

The second-seeded Blue Devils (16-3) hope to make that happen today, when they take on No. 3 seed Virginia (18-3) in the NCAA semifinals at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. The game is expected to begin around 8:30 p.m., 45 minutes after the completion of the semifinal game between top-seeded Northwestern (19-1) and No. 4 seed Pennsylvania (16-1).

"The past two years, just getting to the Final Four was a huge goal," said junior Caroline Cryer, who leads Duke with 67 goals this season. "But I think this year we have more of the mindset that it's not good enough just to get there. We're going there to win it all. It's just a different mindset."

The Blue Devils appeared in their first Final Four since 1999 when they lost to Virginia 15-13 in the 2005 NCAA semifinals -- "There's definitely a sense of satisfaction in being there, and I think our kids walked away from that year disappointed and regretful that they didn't make more of their opportunity," Duke coach Kerstin Kimel said -- but they came back with better focus last year.

The result was an 11-10, double-overtime loss to No. 1 Northwestern in a game so well-played that, as Kimel said, "many people consider it to be the best women's lacrosse game that they ever saw." That provided little solace to the Blue Devils, but it did give them plenty of incentive to come back even stronger in 2007.

Duke enters this weekend second in the nation in scoring (15.4 goals per game), ahead of last season's school-record figure of 14.7 goals per game, and the team's seven seniors have been the catalysts. Duke's fourth-year players have steered their team all season not just toward the Final Four but to the final game.

"We definitely have a very close-knit class," senior midfielder Rachel Sanford said. "We came in here as freshmen wanting to be really successful, and I think we'd really like to win a national championship and leave that as our legacy. I think that's really helped propel us this whole spring."

If the Blue Devils are to break through for the first NCAA semifinal win in their program's history, they'll have to do so against a familiar foe. In addition to eliminating Duke in the 2005 Final Four, the Cavaliers also beat the Blue Devils in the 1999 semifinals.

"It's really exciting to play them," Sanford said. "We have a lot of history against them. Unfortunately, they knocked us out of the tournament two years ago in the Friday night game. For those of us who were there, we're looking to avenge that loss."

Duke won this year's regular-season meeting between the teams 19-18 at Virginia on March 31 in a double-overtime game that was symbolic of the rivalry the programs have developed in recent years. Duke and Virginia have split their last six meetings, with each team totaling 75 goals in those contests.

The Cavaliers have posted a 9-1 record since their most recent loss to the Blue Devils and are riding high after winning the ACC Tournament championship.

"They're playing extremely well right now," Kimel said, "so we expect it to be a typical ACC blood bath on Friday night."

The Blue Devils believe they're prepared for it because of their experience. They returned eight of their top nine scorers from last year's team, so most of their key contributors know what it's like to play in the Final Four.

And after a "whirlwind of experiences" -- Kimel's phrase -- during the 2007 season, every player on the roster should be ready for anything. Duke has won close games, lost close games, blown out good teams and even been blown out once itself (17-5 by Northwestern on April 7).

"I think that we have a lot of experiences from which to draw this year, and I think that prepares us," Kimel said. "They know that when you get to this point in the season -- because of our previous experience in the Final Four and because of the experiences we've had this year -- every play matters.

"Our group this year has a much better handle on all of the things that go into making you a really great tournament team at this time of the year. Our kids, they've said it repeatedly -- and our seniors have provided tremendous leadership in this regard -- that they're not just happy to be going to the Final Four. We want to go to win."

NOTES -- Cryer, who has scored a goal in 21 consecutive games, is three goals shy of the single-season school record (70) that Katie Chrest set in 2005. "Obviously, that's there," Cryer said. "But at this point, it's however we can score goals. If I'm feeding my teammates or they're feeding me, it doesn't matter to me as long as we get wins this weekend." ... The NCAA championship game is set for Sunday at 7 p.m. It will be televised on CSTV. ... Duke is 0-6 all time in the tournament away from home.

 

Doolittle pitches Virginia to win over Georgia Tech
Rule, Schwimer pitch flawless relief in tournament win
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.

Third-seeded Virginia beat seventh-seeded Georgia Tech 4-1 yesterday in the ACC baseball tournament.

Virginia will have today off and will play second-seeded North Carolina at 1 p.m. Saturday in the final game of pool play. The team with the best record in the pool will advance to the championship game Sunday.

North Carolina and N.C. State played late last night in another round-robin game.

“It feels very good to be 2-0 in this tournament, and it was nice to beat a very good Georgia Tech ball club today,” said Coach Brian O’Connor of Virginia. “I am just so proud of our team, as it has hung in there in both of these ballgames. Maybe things didn’t go our way in the first five innings of the last two games, but we have continued to battle and found ways to score runs.”

Sean Doolittle pitched 51/3 innings, allowing a run, four hits and three walks with eight strikeouts. He faced the minimum 12 batters through four innings and did not surrender a hit until the fifth.

Jake Rule pitched 21/3 innings of shutout relief to pick up the win and move to 6-4 this year. Michael Schwimer got the last four outs to earn his second save.

Jared Hyatt (8-1) took the loss after giving up three runs and six hits in two innings of relief. Eddie Burns started for the Yellow Jackets and went six innings, surrendering a run, five hits and a walk while striking out five.

Four Cavaliers - Brandon Marsh, Brandon Guyer, John Scaglione and Patrick Wingfield - had to hits each and Marsh scored twice.

Virginia (43-13) broke the ice with a run in the fourth inning on a David Adams sacrifice fly. Georgia Tech (32-24) countered with its lone run on a Tony Plagman RBI single in the fifth inning to tie the game.

After a 39-minute rain delay in the sixth inning, the Yellow Jackets loaded the bases with one out and knocked Doolittle from the game. Rule came on and induced Luke Murton to hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the threat and keep the game tied. In the eighth inning, Marsh singled to lead off and then stole second.

He moved to third on a Doolittle groundout to first base and scored on a Guyer single to left field through the drawn-in infield. Guyer then stole second base, marking the Cavaliers’ 125th stolen base of the season, which ties a school record that was set in 1990.

The Cavaliers added two insurance runs in the ninth inning. Scaglione doubled off the wall to lead off and scored on a Wingfield single to center. Wingfield advanced to second on the throw home and moved to third when the ball went through to the backstop. Pinch hitter Tim Henry then hit the first pitch from new pitcher Brad Rulon to left field to plate Wingfield and give the Cavaliers a 4-1 lead.

Virginia beats Jackets in baseball tourney
Sophomore slump hits Jackets' Murton hard
By MIKE KNOBLER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/25/07

Jacksonville — The freshman hero of Georgia Tech's 2006 College World Series team has become the sophomore enigma of 2007.

Can anybody figure out Luke Murton? Besides opposing pitchers, that is.

The man who hit .339 last season has seen his average drop 100 points. The guy who hit three home runs against Clemson in a 2006 ACC tournament game is hitless through two games in this year's tournament and staring down a 0-for-12 slump.

"I've been in a struggle all year. It's kind of mounted on itself," Murton said Thursday night after Virginia beat Tech 4-1 and eliminated the Yellow Jackets from contention for the ACC tournament title.

Murton came up with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh inning of a 1-1 game. He grounded into a double play.

"Huge," Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said. "I think it was the ballgame. If they get a hit there, it changes the entire complexion of the ballgame."

It was just the latest disappointment for Tech's outfielder/first baseman/DH.

"Luke is a great kid. He's tried very hard," said Jackets coach Danny Hall, who talked with Murton before the game and made an adjustment in Murton's stance. "He's had a hard time clicking and feeling comfortable at the plate. He's a very talented guy, and I'm sticking with him because I believe in his talent.

"He's not the first guy ever to struggle. The biggest thing is just trying to fight your way out of it and keep competing, and he's done that, and if he wasn't doing it I probably wouldn't play him."

Murton was one of the 2006 team's best offensive players. He led the team in hitting in ACC games, batted .440 in the NCAA tournament and was the only Jacket on the All-ACC tournament team. He was a raw talent who made college baseball look easy.

Now, though, it couldn't look any harder.

His brother, Tech alumnus and Chicago Cubs left fielder Matt Murton, told Luke to be patient, get past it and learn from it. A lot of good players go through tough times, Matt said. But it's a first for Luke.

"I've never had anything like this," he said.

He has worked with all of Tech's coaches. He has tried extra batting practice. He has tried less batting practice. He has tried various adjustments. The one thing he hasn't tried is a return to his 2006 swing. As strange as that might seem, he doesn't want to go back to doing what he did last season.

He says he was too hunched over then and couldn't cover the whole plate. This year, he has flattened out his back.

Hall sees Murton trying to pull everything and not staying back on off-speed pitches. Pitchers throw him curveballs and work the outer half of the plate.

"He's got major power, and he's got major talent, and he's got very good hands," Hall said. "He's not getting himself into a position where he can use what he's got."

Tech (32-24) is 1-1 in the ACC tournament and plays N.C. State on Saturday. Virginia (43-13) is 2-0 in tournament play. Even if Virginia loses to North Carolina and Tech beats N.C. State, Tech can't advance to Sunday's championship game because it would lose every tie-breaker.

The N.C. State game gives Murton a few more at-bats to prepare for a hoped-for NCAA regional next week. Meanwhile, Hall is considering a change. Murton, second on the team with nine home runs, has batted fifth much of the season.

"If we're facing a righty," Hall said, "we might have to move him down a little bit."

Cavaliers Advance to Round of 16 at NCAA Individual Championships
Devvarman ties single season school singles win record
May 24, 2007

ATHENS, Ga. - The Virginia men's tennis team had one singles player and one doubles team advance to the round of 16 during day two of the NCAA Individual Championships Thursday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. Somdev Devvarman (Chennai, India) advanced in singles play, while Devvarman and Treat Huey (Alexandria, Va.) won their opening round doubles match.

Devvarman, the tournament's No. 2 seed, reached the round of 16 for the second consecutive year with his 6-3, 1-0 ret. win over No. 23 ranked Oleksandr Nedovyesov of Oklahoma State. Devvarman went up an early break in the first set, 2-1. He held that advantage to 5-3 in the set when he broke Nedovyesov again to close out the opening set 6-3. In the second set, Devvarman held to open before Nedovyesov retired due to injury in the second game.

"I came out pretty focused today and knew I had a tough opponent," Devvarman said. "He was hurt a little bit, but I still felt like I was hitting the ball well."

For Devvarman, the win was his 40th singles win of the season, tying the school record for wins in a season set by Brian Vahaly in 2001. Vahaly set the record as he reached the 2001 NCAA Singles final in Athens. Devvarman reached the NCAA Singles final last year.

"I'm honored to be in the same company as Brian," Devvarman said. "Brian told me he supported me and expected me to do more. That is very humbling coming form a great player like him."

Devvarman and Huey, the No. 2 seed in the doubles draw, opened play with a 7-6 (5), 6-3 win over Travis Helgeson and Matic Omerzel of Georgia. In the first set, the teams each held serve in every game, forcing a tiebreaker at 6-6. In the tiebreaker, the Georgia team took a 4-1 lead before the Cavalier duo won five straight points to take a 6-4 lead. After Georgia won the next point, Omerzel double faulted on set point to give the first set to Virginia, 7-6 (5). In the second set, the teams were tied 2-2 when Georgia went up 0-40 on Huey's serve. However, the Virginia team won the next five points to hold serve and then proceeded to break Omerzel's serve in the next game to take a 4-2 lead. The teams held serve for the remainder of the match, as the Cavalier team won the second set 6-3.

"Give them credit, they played really well, especially on their serve," Huey said. "I thought we also had a great match serving, as we didn't get broken all night. We won a big point after a long rally at 4-4 in the first set breaker that I thought was the turning point. Then in the second set, we got the one break we needed and finished off the match."

With the victory, Devvarman and Huey are now 34-7 on the season. The 34 wins ties the school record for most wins by a doubles team in a season set by Vahaly and Huntley Montgomery in 2001, when they posted a 34-8 mark.

Devvarman will meet Helgeson in the round of 16 of the singles draw on Friday. Helgeson defeated Pierre Mouillon of California 6-3, 6-4 in the second round. Devvarman and Huey will play Notre Dame's Ryan Keckley and Sheeva Parbhu in the round of 16 Friday. The Irish team topped Old Dominion's Harel Srugo and Henrique Cancado 1-6, 6-2, 7-5 on Thursday.

 

Leitao says he'll miss Lanier
Assistant coach Rob Lanier leaves Virginia to be an assistant coach at national champion Florida.
STAFF, WIRE SERVICE REPORTS «
May 25, 2007

Virginia basketball coach Dave Leitao said he'll miss an assistant basketball coach who is leaving the Cavaliers for two-time defending national champion Florida, but that he wishes him well.

Rob Lanier, who came to U.Va. with Leitao in the spring of 2005, has decided to join Billy Donovan's staff in Gainesville.

"For two years, Rob has been an integral member of our staff and an important part of our team's success," Leitao said in a statement. "We will certainly miss his professionalism, and I will personally miss his friendship."

Lanier, 38, a former head coach at Siena, has apparently been on Donovan's radar screen for some time. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Wednesday that Donovan attempted to hire Lanier last season after longtime Florida assistant Anthony Grant left to become the head coach at Virginia Commonwealth. After the Gators lost another assistant this year when Donnie Jones became head coach at Marshall on April 7, Donovan began pursuing Lanier again.

"We're thrilled to be able to bring in an assistant coach of Rob's caliber," Donovan said in a release. "He's a great teacher of the game, a proven recruiter, and will be a fantastic addition to our program."

Lanier said it was a tough decision to leave Virginia, but the right one.

"I'm excited, and I'm saddened at the same time, because it's never easy to leave a great place where there's special people," Lanier told the Times-Dispatch. " ... My gut told me something, and I followed it."

Lanier led Siena to a 58-70 record from 2001-2005, including an NCAA tournament appearance in 2002. He was an assistant at Texas from 1999 to 2001, at Rutgers from 1997 to 1999 and at St. Bonaventure from 1992 to 1997. He has degrees from St. Bonaventure and Niagara, where he began his coaching career as a graduate assistant in 1990.

"I'm sure everyone in Charlottesville who has had the opportunity to get to know Rob echoes my sentiments in wishing him the very best for continued success," Leitao said.
 

Title IX plays big role in rise of women’s rowing
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© May 25, 2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE - A few miles north of campus, the second-largest sports team at the University of Virginia was preparing last week for a national championship.

At 8 o'clock on an overcast morning, members of the women's crew team began arriving at Virginia's Rivanna Reservoir Boathouse. Fresh-faced and athletic, taller than average but not basketball-tall, a couple dozen young women stretched and rubbed sleep from their eyes as they looked forward to the first of two workouts that day.

Their coach, Kevin Sauer, had dubbed it "hell week," a time to push his team to its limit to get ready for the NCAA Rowing Championships, be ing held today though Sunday in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

"It's getting more and more competitive," he said. "It's crazy competitive."

As the women's team - with its varsity status, three full-time coaches and 20 scholarships to give - made its way down the path to the water, the men's team passed coming up.

The men were preparing for a championship, too, but it's not NCAA-sanctioned. The men receive no funding from the athletic department, have no scholarships to give and "tend to live in a very hand-to-mouth kind of way," said their coach, Will Oliver.

The teams share a boathouse, a river and a love of their sport. Yet, they are largely running - rowing, in this case - different races.

Women's rowing is the fastest-growing sport in the NCAA. Twenty years ago, about 30 schools had varsity teams. This year, 86 teams competed in Division I alone, with more being added each year. Old Dominion will add the sport in 2008, Oklahoma is building a $4 million boathouse - about half of what Wisconsin spent on its facility.

Even land-locked schools row, some traveling 45 minutes to reach water that isn't always well-suited for crew.

"Some row back and forth a lot, and turn around a lot," Sauer said.

The sport owes its growth not so much to an upsurge in interest, but to one of the key requirements of Title IX: proportionality. Roughly, the percentage of female athletes at a school is supposed to match the percentage of women in the student body.

Most schools carry at least 50 members on the team, meaning crew goes a long way toward meeting the proportionality requirement. It also helps offset the 100-plus members carried by the average Division I-A football team.

ODU made the connection crystal clear in recent months, deciding to add women's crew this fall and compete in 2008, when the school will begin practicing for its first I-AA football season in 2009. ODU already has club teams. Athletic director Jim Jarrett said crew is a natural for a school surrounded by water, and that a 40- or 50-member team will help offset the addition of 90 football players.

With 75 rowers, Virginia's team is larger than some, but smaller than many. On its equity in athletics disclosure to the U.S. Department of Education, Michigan lists more female rowers (125) than football players (116). Texas has 102 rowers, Ohio State 93.

Critics, like Jessica Gavora of The College Sports Council and the author of a book on Title IX, deride proportionality as "bean counting." Proportionality is just 1 of 3 ways of complying with Title IX, she points out. Schools can also comply by surveying students and "accommodating the interests" of women, and by showing a history of expanding opportunities for women.

Yet, fear of lawsuits has made proportionality the method most schools choose, she said.

" Courts have said survey data is useless; it just measures past discrimination," she said. "It doesn't matter what women think they want. You have to build it, and they will come."

Out of that debate has come the hasty rise in colleges offering women's rowing.

Tales abound of coaches offering crew scholarships to tall, athletic-looking women who have never rowed before. A Kansas student was riding her bike on campus one day when a coach, impressed with her leg power on a steep hill, tracked her down. Michigan set up rowing machines at freshma n orientation and invited women to try out.

To hear some tell it, women's crew coaches are handing out scholarships like candy.

That's not the case at Virginia, which gave its women's team varsity status in 1995. Sauer, formerly the club coach for both men and women, had two partial scholarships to give that first year. Now, Virginia has 20 and Sauer recruits far and wide. His varsity eight includes four rowers from Canada, one from Germany and another from Belleview, Wash. All were elite high school or club rowers.

But here's the thing about crew: The varsity eight, among the fastest in the country, also includes a sophomore from Charlottesville, Augusta Stratos, who first heard about rowing last year at an activity fair. She is not on scholarship yet, but hopes to be.

"It's really the only sport that you can start in college and do well at," Sauer said.

"Anyone can do it," said Libby McCann, a U.Va. senior from Massachusetts who took up rowing seriously after being cut from her high school soccer team. "As long as you can condition yourself to push beyond your limits."

The same holds true for men. Virginia alum Wyatt Allen began rowing as a first-year student in 1997. In 2004, he won an Olympic gold medal with the U.S. men's eight.

Allen not only rowed without a scholarship, he probably even mulched someone's flower beds along the way. To raise money, the men's club team runs a "rent-a-rower" program in which rowers will do odd jobs for bidders of their services.

Oliver said his athletes are resigned to the fact that they won't be elevated to varsity status anytime soon, if ever. Adding a men's varsity team would tilt the proportionality numbers in favor of the men.

Fair, or not? While the disparity between the teams may create a more equitable environment for the entire athletic department, it creates an obvious imbalance within the sport. At some schools, there's friction between women's varsity and men's club teams, Oliver said. At Virginia, everyone insists that's not the case, in part because Sauer was the club coach for the men and women before getting the varsity job.

"He recognizes what we're trying to do and respects the effort we put in," Oliver said.

Besides, the boathouse is no place to discuss gender politics. Out on the water, it's all about going fast.

After the men come in, Sauer, a tall and affable sort whose athletes call him by his first name, fires up a launch and heads out. He steers with his left hand and holds a bullhorn with his right, putting his first and second eights through their paces for more than two hours.

It's one of the toughest practices of the year, and they'll do it again in the afternoon. Two hours in, after pairing the boats in a 1,500-meter sprint, Sauer pulls up alongside the varsity eight and explains the method behind this athletic sadism.

"This isn't necessarily for fitness, as much as training the body and head for pain," he says. "If you can stay sharp and quick when you're this fatigued, that's what we're looking for."

The women nod. Some look too tired to speak.

A few of Sauer's rowers have full scholarships. Some receive as little as 5 percent. The idea is to reward them with additional funds if they advance through the program.

Virginia has been to nine of the 10 NCAA rowing championships and does more with less than many of its competitors. It also gets by on less than other teams on campus, said boatman Roger Payne, who held the same job at Wisconsin for 12 years.

Virginia's boathouse was built in 1994 for $175,000. It's owned by the Virginia Rowing Association, which runs the men's team. The university leases space for the women's team.

The boathouse has no locker rooms. Team members store gear in cubby holes made of plywood. Boats can cost as much as $30,000 apiece, but many are donated. The team also usually travels by bus. When the rowers took a charter flight to the ACC championships - the ACC picked up the tab - team members posed for pictures in front of the plane.

"They are not pampered," Sauer said. "If a kid didn't want to come here because the boat house isn't fancy enough, I wouldn't want them."

Say what you want about proportionality or Title IX, the scholarships are hard-earned. Exercise physiologists have called rowing the most physically demanding of all sports. It can take years to build the aerobic base needed to compete at a high level.

And no one gets famous, or even recognized on campus, as a result of all the hard work.

"You're the second person who's called me for an interview this year," Sauer joked.

He said the growth of the sport has had a trickle-down effect, with high school and club rowing teams springing up to feed the college programs. The lure of scholarships is also fueling the trend.

The sport only figures to keep growing.

"I don't think there's any question that for athletic departments looking for sports to add, it's a big team," Sauer said. "At the same time, it's attractive. It does give kids that are on campus an opportunity to do something that they haven't done before."