U.VA. Notes: Cavs host Heels for crucial weekend
Thursday, May 08, 2008 - 12:07 AM Updated: 08:10 AM
 
Cavs host Heels for crucial weekend
The Virginia baseball team is heading into one of the biggest weekends of the Brian O'Connor era. U.Va. (13-11 ACC, 33-15 overall) hosts second-ranked North Carolina in a three-game series at Davenport Field.

The teams are scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday and at 1 p.m. Sunday. Junior right-hander Jacob Thompson will start on the mound for U.Va. in the series opener.

U.Va. closes the regular season next weekend with a three-game series against ACC foe Georgia Tech, also at Davenport Field. The Cavaliers are not assured of a fifth straight trip to the NCAA tournament, and these final two series will provide them multiple opportunities to collect marquee victories.

"There's no question this weekend and next weekend are big for this team," said O'Connor, who's in his fifth season as Virginia's coach.

The Wahoos haven't played an ACC game since April 27, when they lost 10-0 at top-ranked Miami. Freshman right-fielder David Coleman, a Trinity Episcopal graduate, had two of U.Va.'s six hits in that loss.

In ACC games, Coleman is hitting .281, third-best on the team. He's hitting .272 overall and since March 18 has raised his average 87 points. With 11 strikeouts, Coleman has the fewest of any Cavalier who's played regularly.

6 U.Va. coaches lauded
The ACC has honored six coaches from U.Va. this academic year: Al Groh, Kevin Sauer, Kim Lewellen, Mark Bernardino, Brian Boland and Jason Dunn.

Groh was ACC coach of the year in football, Sauer in rowing, Lewellen in women's golf, Bernardino in men's swimming and women's swimming, Boland in men's tennis and Dunn in men's cross country.

U.Va. has won six ACC championships in 2007-08, the most of any school.

U.Va. lacrosse foe on a roll
In men's lacrosse, Virginia's reward for earning the No. 2 seed in the 16-team NCAA tournament is a first-round matchup with an opponent that has won 11 straight games.

U.Va. (12-3) hosts Maryland-Baltimore County (12-3) at 5 p.m. Sunday. UMBC's victims this season include Maryland, one of the teams to defeat Virginia.

In 2003, Virginia drew Mount St. Mary's in the first round and won 19-8. In 2005, U.Va. opened the NCAAs with a 23-9 rout of Albany.

As lacrosse has grown in popularity, the talent level has risen at many schools that aren't considered traditional powers. So don't be shocked if Sunday night's game at Klockner Stadium is close. A year ago, after all, No. 2 seed U.Va. lost 14-8 to visiting Delaware in the first round.

"There's no doubt that in the past couple years what's changed in our sport is that the first-round games are now games," U.Va. coach Dom Starsia said.

One of Starsia's seniors, attackman Ben Rubeor, yesterday was named one of five finalists for the Tewaaraton Trophy, given annually to the top player in college lacrosse. Rubeor, from Towson, Md., is a three-time all-ACC pick.

Long drafts several for NYC trip
On the night before the NFL draft, defensive end Chris Long made sure to include former teammates from U.Va. and St. Anne's-Belfield in his celebration in New York City.

"Chris brought up a large number of [U.Va.] players and guys he played with in high school," Groh said. "It was a wonderful gesture on his part."

Long's guests in the big city, Groh said, included Clint Sintim, Nate Collins, Alex Field, Eugene Monroe, Kevin Ogletree and Olu Hall, a former U.Va. linebacker who's now at Kansas State.

Courtney headed to Bucknell?
The athletic director at Bucknell, John Hardt, hasn't said much publicly about his school's search for a new basketball coach, but Bill Courtney is a strong candidate for the job.

A 1992 graduate of Bucknell, where he starred at guard, Courtney has been an assistant coach at U.Va. for the past two seasons. Bucknell is seeking a successor to longtime coach Pat Flannery, who last month announced his retirement.

Courtney, 38, was inducted into Bucknell's athletic hall of fame last fall. - Jeff White

 

Virginia hopes to improve seeding
By Jay Jenkins
Published: May 9, 2008

While the postseason is two weeks away, Virginia coach Brian O’Connor expects the environment and the opponent this weekend to relay a strong message to his players.
With capacity crowds expected as No. 2 North Carolina invades Davenport Field, the team’s skipper informed his team of what lies ahead.
Unlikely to serve as a host in an NCAA Regional barring a miraculous finish, Virginia’s postseason fate - and its seeding - is hanging in the balance.
“I told the team that we won 33 ballgames up to this point and 13 games in the league, but believe it or not, everything we have done up to this point doesn’t matter,” O’Connor said. “The only thing that matters is the confidence we have gained from it. It all comes down to these seven ballgames and our position in the league and where our position is from a national perspective.
“The great thing is that I don’t think we have played our best baseball yet this year, and we are working hard to make it our best at the end.”
The No. 24 Cavaliers
(33-15, 13-11 ACC) will look to snap a three-game losing streak in league play tonight at 6 p.m. in the series opener. Accomplishing that against the Tar Heels (40-8, 18-5) will not be easy, as they sport the nation’s best earned run average and rank third in the ACC in batting.
North Carolina, one of only four teams with more wins than Virginia over the past three years, split four contests with the Cavaliers last year en route to a runner-up finish in the College World Series.
“We have a lot of respect for their program,” O’Connor said. “They have good players and have accomplished a lot in the past few years. We have had great ballgames with them recently and I am sure this weekend we will see three great games again.”
While the Cavaliers have remained superb on the mound against ACC foes, the team’s sputtering offense has crippled the team in seven one-run losses.
“Like Coach says all the time, it comes down to clutch plays, clutch pitches and clutch hits,” said shortstop Greg Miclat. “It never feels good to be so close and there are no moral victories. Losing to them by one run is not OK just because a team is so good.
“That is unacceptable in our program. We want to be on top.”
In an attempt to jumpstart production, O’Connor shuffled the lineup in the past two games, which was aided by the healthy return of rookie Phil Gosselin (hamate bone).
“We will probably look at doing some new things again this weekend to try to put the best combination together that we can and to give us the best chance to score offensively,” O’Connor said. “Phil Gosselin changes things. Phil was in our lineup every day until he got hurt a month ago. He came back last Tuesday and had a three-hit game.
“He was in the lineup for a reason and hopefully that will add something to us.”
Gosselin is batting .306 with two homers and 15 RBI in just 24 starts.

 

Recruiting guru Gibbons praises Leitao’s efforts
By Whitey Reid
Published: May 9, 2008

Some basketball recruiting gurus aren’t completely sold on Virginia’s incoming class.
Bob Gibbons, one of the more respected evaluators of talent, isn’t one of them.
“I think they really strengthened themselves in getting two tall big guys up front in [John] Brandenburg and [Assane] Sene,” said Gibbons, who will be in town today through Sunday for the annual Southern Invitational, “and [Sylven] Landesberg, of course, was Mr. Basketball in New York State and a McDonald’s All-American.”
Landesberg, the 6-foot-6 combo guard from Holy Cross High in Queens, N.Y., is the first Virginia-bound player to be named a McDonald’s All-American since Majestic Mapp earned the honor in 1999.
Last season, as a junior, Landesberg led the New York Catholic League - arguably one of the most competitive high school leagues in the country - in scoring, averaging 27 points per game.
Virginia’s coaching staff did a great job in beating out a number of suitors, including St. John’s, Landesberg’s hometown school.
“They haven’t had that consistent perimeter scorer since J.R. Reynolds left, and I think Landesberg can help fill that void and make a major contribution as a freshman,” Gibbons said. “I would be shocked if he
doesn’t step right in and start next year.”
The additions of Brandenburg and Sene were an absolute must. Virginia hasn’t had enough big bodies the last couple of years, and nobody knows for sure if Tunji Soroye will be back for a fifth year after taking a medical redshirt.
“[Brandenburg] gives them an inside scorer,” Gibbons said, “and Sene can block shots and rebound and be a defensive specialist for them.”
Gibbons said Virginia fans should be excited about the future.
“Very much so,” he said. “I think this trio will really help strengthen the team. Of course they’ll miss [Sean] Singletary and his leadership and all, but he had a great four-year run and it’s time to pass the torch and move forward.”
To that end, the Virginia staff will have its eye on several players who will be participating in this weekend’s tournament, one of the largest AAU events of the year.
UVa will be focusing on a number of younger players from the Boo Williams
15-and-under squad, including eighth-grade phenom Justin Anderson (a 6-foot-5 swingman from Fredericksburg),
6-foot-9 freshman James McAdoo from Norfolk and 6-foot-5 sophomore Travis McKie from Richmond.
The staff is also looking at 6-foot-8 Melvin Tabb, a junior out of Raleigh, N.C., and New York product Sherrod Wright, a 6-foot-4 guard.
Forwards Tristan Spurlock and Deshawn Painter, two of the Cavs’ top targets for the class of 2009, will not be on hand.
Dunks
Sources say Virginia assistant coach Bill Courtney is a legitimate candidate to replace longtime Bucknell coach Pat Flannery, who announced his retirement last month.
Courtney, who just completed his second season at UVa, was a former standout player for the Bison and is a member of the school’s hall of fame. Bucknell athletic director John Hardt could not be reached for comment.

 

AAA football finals headed to Lane
By The Daily Progress Staff
Published: May 9, 2008

The Virginia High School League’s Group AAA football championships are bidding goodbye to Scott Stadium.
The VHSL announced Thursday that the 2008 AAA Division 5 and 6 championship games will be played at Lane Stadium at Virginia Tech. Both games will be played on Saturday, December 6.
The VHSL Executive Committee voted 25-1 on Wednesday to approve Virginia Tech’s bid to host the games in 2008. The committee also voted to keep this year’s Group AA championships at Liberty University and to expand the state basketball championships to include division playoffs for Group AA schools.
 

Cavaliers Host NCAA Regional This Weekend
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 05/08/2008

CHARLOTTESVILLE – For the fifth consecutive year, the Virginia men’s tennis team will host a regional of the NCAA Tournament at the Snyder Tennis Center. The top-seeded Cavaliers (28-0) will open play Saturday against Fairleigh Dickinson (12-8) at 10 a.m., with VCU (19-7) and Penn State (15-11) to follow at 1 p.m. Saturday’s winners will meet in the second round on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Admission to the matches is free. Pay parking is available at the Central Grounds Garage. Tennis fans can park for free at the Emmet/Ivy Parking Garage and the new Culbreth Road Parking Garage, located behind Carr’s Hill Field.

Virginia becomes the ninth different school to receive the No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament. The Cavaliers enter the tournament undefeated, 28-0, having won the ITA National Team Indoor and ACC Championships earlier this year. They are making their fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, and 10th appearance overall. Virginia has an all-time record of 14-9 in the NCAA Tournament, including a 12-4 record in the Brian Boland era. The Cavaliers are 8-0 in NCAA Tournament matches in Charlottesville.

The winner of the Charlottesville Regional will advance to the NCAA Round of 16, which begins Friday, May 16 at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa.


 

No. 24 Baseball Returns From Break to Host No. 2 UNC
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 05/07/2008

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – After taking a nine-day hiatus for final exams, the No. 24 Virginia baseball team returns to ACC play this weekend as it plays host to second-ranked North Carolina in a three-game series at Davenport Field. The teams start the series at 6 p.m. Friday, followed by a 6 p.m. game Saturday and 1 p.m. contest Sunday.

All three games will be webcast live on ACC Select, while WINA Radio (1070 AM) also will have live coverage of the entire series. Live statistics will be available at VirginiaSports.com.

The Tar Heels come to Charlottesville as the highest-ranked opponent at Davenport Field in nearly two years. Ironically, North Carolina was the last opponent to come in this highly ranked, as the 2006 team was No. 1 when it visited Davenport Field from May 12-14, 2006. Virginia won two of three in that series. UNC also marks the third Top-2 team the Cavaliers have battled this season, joining then-No. 2 Florida State (April 4-6) and No. 1 Miami (April 25-27).

Pitching figures to be the dominant theme of the weekend, as both teams boast a strong pitching staff that ranks among the nation’s best. North Carolina leads the nation in several pitching categories, including ERA (2.21), strikeouts per nine innings (10.1) and hits allowed per nine innings (7.37). Virginia’s pitching staff is not far behind, ranking fifth in ERA (3.33), sixth in strikeouts per nine innings (9.4) and 10th in hits allowed per nine innings (8.15).

Virginia (33-15, 13-11 ACC) went into its break on a high note with an 11-1 win over Mount St. Mary’s on April 29. Jeremy Farrell (Jr., Westlake, Ohio) went 4-for-5 with a home run and two doubles, and Virginia scored in each of the first five innings to jump out to a big lead and used strong pitching to coast from there.

Phil Gosselin (Fr., West Chester, Pa.), after missing a month because of injury, returned to the Virginia lineup and went 3-for-4 with three RBI. Franco Valdes (So., Miami, Fla.) and Greg Miclat (Jr., Concord, N.C.) each added two hits.

North Carolina (39-8, 18-5) won 9-2 Tuesday against North Florida and is scheduled to play host to the Ospreys again on Wednesday. Tim Fedroff leads the Tar Heels with a .399 batting average and nine home runs. Dustin Ackley is batting .395, while Kyle Seager has a .381 batting average, eight homers and league-high 64 RBI.

North Carolina leads the all-time series, 163-85-4. The Tar Heels are Virginia’s most frequent opponent, as the teams have played 252 games all-time. The teams split four games last year, with Virginia winning two of three in Chapel Hill and UNC earning a 5-0 win in the ACC tournament.

Following the UNC series, Virginia next plays at 6 p.m. Tuesday against VMI at Davenport Field.

 

UVa Women’s Golfers Open in Sixth Place at NCAA Regional
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 05/08/2008

Athens, GA – The Virginia women’s golf team’s bid to return to the NCAA Championships got off to a good start Thursday at the East Regional taking place at the University of Georgia Golf Course. The Cavaliers shot 8-over 296 are tied for sixth place with No. 10 Auburn. The top eight teams from the three-day, 54-hole event advance to the NCAA Championships.

“We put ourselves in a good position today,” said Virginia coach Kim Lewellen. “You cannot win this tournament on first day, but can put yourself in a good position and that’s what the team did. It is a very good feeling to be where we are. Now we just have to go out the next few days and maintain our spot, but our goal is to play a little better.”

Sophomore Whitney Neuhauser led the Cavaliers with a score of even par 72. She had 16 pars during her round. Neuhauser is in 10th place. Freshman Joy Kim shot 1-over 73 to stand 17th while classmate Calle Nielson shot 2-over 74 and is 23rd. Jennie Arseneault used three birdies on her back nine to finish at 5-over 77. She is 52nd overall. Lene Krog is in 64th place at 6-over 78.

“Whitney probably hit the most greens she has hit all year,” Lewellen said. “She had a phenomenal round and that was really big for us today. I was also very proud of how Joy Kim played. She did a nice job and Calle and Jennie both grinded, especially on the back nine. Lene did not have a great day, but she has a tendency to bounce back and that could be very helpful to us tomorrow.”

Top-ranked Duke leads the field at 3-under 285. Fifth-ranked Florida is second at 290, South Carolina is third at 291, Furman is fourth at 292 and Louisville is in fifth place at 293.

The Cavaliers play was considerably better than in March when UVa played on the same course during Georgia’s Liz Murphey Classic and never shot lower than 307 during their three rounds.

The second round of the tournament is Friday with the final round set for Saturday. Virginia will tee off at 12:30 p.m. during the second round. Live scoring is online at Golfstat.com

NCAA East Regional Championship
Univ. of Georgia Golf Course
Athens, GA
Par-72, 6,335 yards
First Round Results

Team Results 1. Duke 285 2. Florida 290 3. South Carolina 291 4. Furman 292 5. Louisville 293 6. Virginia 296 6. Auburn 296 8. Wake Forest 298 9. Georgia 29910. New Mexico 30411. Missouri 30512. Vanderbilt 30812. Georgia State 30814. Indiana 30914. Charleston Southern 30916. Tennessee 31117. Central Florida 31217. UNC Wilmington 31219. East Carolina 31420. Jacksonville State 32721. Jackson State 338Individual Leaders 1. Sara-Maude Juneau, Louisville 67 2. Amanda Blumenherst, Duke 68 2. Benedicte, Toumpsin, South Carolina 68 4. Corrine Carr, Furman 69 5. Krystle Caithness, Georgia 70 5. Cydney Clanton, Auburn 70 5. Kimberly Donovan, Duke 70 8. Carmen Perez, UNC Wilmington 71 8. Alexandra Phelps, New Mexico 7110. Tiffany Chudy, Florida 7210. Jaclyn Hilea, Furman 7210. Ornella Jouven, Florida 7210. Cindy LaCrosse, Louisville 7210. Whitney Neuhauser, Virginia 7210. Jennifer Pandolfi, Duke 7210. Natalie Sheary, Wake Forest 72Virginia10. Whitney Neuhauser 7217. Joy Kim 7323. Calle Nielson 7452. Jennie Arseneault 7764. Lene Krog 78