U.Va. notes
By Staff Reports
Published: May 5, 2009

Baseball team aims to be regional host again
Since Brian O'Connor took over as coach after the 2003 season, Virginia's baseball team never has failed to reach the NCAA tournament, and that streak almost certainly will be extended this year.

With seven regular-season games left, U.Va. is 35-9-1 overall (and 13-8-1 in the ACC). Still, if the Cavaliers want to host an NCAA tournament regional, as they did in 2004, '06 and '07, they need to finish strong.

U.Va., ranked No. 13 nationally by Baseball America, hosts ACC rival Duke in a three-game series this weekend. Then comes a May 12 date with Virginia Commonwealth at Davenport Field, followed by a three-game series at Virginia Tech (May 14-16). The Cavaliers have won 12 straight over the Hokies.

Elite company
Steele Stanwick last month became the fourth U.Va. freshman this decade to be named ACC rookie of the year in men's lacrosse, joining goalie Tillman Johnson (2001) and attackmen Joe Yevoli (2002) and Danny Glading (2006).

Stanwick, an attackman from Baltimore, is second on the team in goals, with 29, and third in assists, with 14.

Glading, the Cavaliers' leading scorer, was named all-ACC for the third time. Fifteen players in school history have been so honored.

Late surge
He hasn't been as productive this season as his twin, Shamel, who was named all-ACC. But sophomore midfielder Rhamel Bratton, who missed three regular-season games for medical reasons, has totaled two goals and one assist in his past three outings.

"I think he's playing now the way he was at the very beginning of the season," U.Va. coach Dom Starsia said, "and I think one of the ways that we can get better is to be able to get him on the field a little more now."

For the season, Shamel has 24 goals and nine assists. Rhamel has six goals and three assists.

Divided loyalties
Chris Long played football at U.Va., before moving on to the NFL, and his younger brothers plan to enroll there this summer -- Kyle to play football and Howie to play lacrosse.

Their father, however, is a Villanova graduate. So former NFL great Howie Long may have mixed emotions this weekend. In the first round of the NCAA men's lacrosse tournament, U.Va. hosts Villanova at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Klockner Stadium.

Breakthrough coming?
The 2001 season was Al Groh's first as football coach at U.Va. Since then, 28 of his players have been taken in the NFL draft, including four this year.

Those draft picks, however, have included only one defensive back (Marcus Hamilton, a seventh-rounder in 2007) and one quarterback (Matt Schaub, a third-rounder in 2004).

At least two cornerbacks on U.Va.'s 2009 roster -- senior Chris Cook and junior Ras-I Dowling -- have NFL potential, and "then I guess the next big thing that could happen is when we can get a quarterback up in that category," Groh said.

Expanding the playbook
Early in his tenure at U.Va., Groh wasn't eager for his quarterbacks to run with the ball, in part because of the punishment they might take. His philosophy has evolved over the years, and fans can expect to see Vic Hall and Jameel Sewell running the option at times this fall.

When a "quarterback has that as part of his skill set, then certainly you want to take advantage of that," Groh said after last month's spring game. "But that puts them in harm's way a lot. . . . So to have two players who have those diverse skills on the same team gives a little more comfort level to let either one of them loose, knowing that a similar player is right behind them."

Rarefied air
In men's tennis, U.Va. is the only school to be a top-eight seed in each of the past six NCAA tournaments.

In 2008, Virginia became the first ACC team to be seeded No. 1 in the tourney. The Cavaliers are No. 1 again this year.

U.Va. (29-0) hosts Navy (18-7) in the NCAA tourney's first round Friday at 1 p.m. If the Cavaliers win, as expected, they will meet South Carolina or North Carolina at 1 p.m. Saturday, also at the Snyder Tennis Center.

String continues
The Virginia women' lacrosse team got the news it was hoping for Sunday night. The Cavaliers learned they'rheaded to the NCAA tournament for the 14th consecutive year.

U.Va., which received an at-large invitation to the 16-team tourney, will face ACC rival Duke in the first round Sunday at Durham, N.C. Virginia is 11-7. The fifth-seeded Blue Devils are 13-5.

During the regular season, visiting Duke edged Virginia 13-12 on March 28. The U.Va.-Duke winner will meet No. 2 seed Pennsylvania or Fairfield in an NCAA quarterfinal May 16. -- Jeff White

 

Cavaliers happy with No. 1 seed
By Whitey Reid
Published: May 5, 2009

This season, the Virginia men’s lacrosse team has lost two games to Duke by a combined score of 31-15.
Apparently, that didn’t mean a whole lot to the NCAA Tournament selection committee.
Late Sunday night, Virginia was tabbed as the No. 1 seed in the tournament.
UVa (13-2), whose only losses were to Duke, is set to host Villanova (11-5) on Sunday at Klockner Stadium. Duke (13-3), the No. 3 seed, hosts Navy on Saturday.
Since Virginia coach Dom Starsia had previously served on the selection committee, he knew to expect just about anything when the draw was announced on ESPNU.
“I don’t think we’ve been feeling like the No. 1 seed for the last couple of weeks,” said Starsia, whose program has made the tournament in 16 of the last 17 seasons, winning titles in 1999, 2003 and 2006. “Over the last couple of days, for me anyway, I’ve sort of had a chance to
consider the entire season and I knew that we had an argument for it.
“I felt like there were times that we almost felt a little guilty about [being No. 1] because we didn’t play our best lacrosse in the last couple of weeks, but I think that overall it’s something we can be really proud of. We’ve been at this thing since January and have reached this point in May and we’ve earned the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.”
Villanova played its way into the tournament with a dramatic 10-9 win over Towson on Sunday in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament. Virginia assistant coaches Marc Van Arsdale and Hannon Wright were in attendance, scouting the Wildcats.
“[They] were impressed,” Starsia said, “particularly with Villanova at the defensive end of the field. The kid in the goal did a really nice job and they have a longstick middie that Mark was very impressed with and a couple of veterans on the
attack.
“They were kind of impressed overall with a good solid team.”
Last season, Virginia lost to Syracuse in a heart-breaker at the Final Four in Foxboro, Mass. The Orange, who went on to win the championship, is the No. 2 seed this year. Syracuse (12-2) will open at home against Siena.
All four ACC teams qualified for the tournament. North Carolina (11-5) earned a No. 6 seed and will host UMBC, while Maryland (9-6) takes on No. 7 Notre Dame.
If Virginia can get past Villanova, it would face the Brown-Johns Hopkins
winner at Navy on May 17 in the quarterfinals.
But the challenge for the Wahoos now, according to Starsia, is to put rankings and reputations out of their minds and hone in on the task at hand.
“I’m not sure that there’s a more challenging thing in sports than to start out as No. 1,” he said, “and to finish up that way.”

 

Virginia Men’s Golf Team Receives NCAA Bid
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 05/04/2009

Charlottesville, VA – For the second straight year the Virginia men’s golf team has received a bid to the NCAA Championships. The Cavaliers will compete as the number nine seed among 14 teams at the Regional Championship site at Galloway National Golf Club in Galloway, N.J. All six regionals take place May 14-16.

The NCAA is using a new format this year that features six regional sites. Three sites have 13 teams and three have 14 squads. The top five teams, and one individual from a non-qualifying team, will advance to the NCAA Championships scheduled for May 26-30 at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. In the past the NCAA used three regional sites to provide the field for the NCAA Championships with 10 teams qualifying from each field.

The Cavaliers enter postseason play ranked No. 51 by Golfstat and No. 52 by Golfweek. The Cavaliers are one of eight ACC teams to receive a bid to the NCAAs.

“From the look of things, this is a very tough regional,” said coach Bowen Sargent. “For us to be a number-nine seed shows the overall strength of the regional. I have heard Galloway National can be a very difficult course. There are a lot of undulating greens, fast greens and chipping and putting will be at a premium. Our guys are excited because they want to establish themselves as a team that can compete for a spot at the NCAA Championships every year. We didn’t finish the season as well as we played earlier in the year, so they are anxious to get out there and prove themselves.”

The regional berth marks the 13th time since 1990 the Cavaliers have advanced to postseason play. Virginia is looking to advance to the NCAA Championships for the 12th time in its history. Last year the Cavaliers placed 10th at the NCAA East Regional and went on to a 26th-place finish at the NCAA Championships.

The field for the New Jersey Regional includes (listed by seed): Clemson, Alabama, Illinois, Tennessee, Wake Forest, Colorado State, Kent State, Coastal Carolina, Virginia, Penn State, Minnesota, VCU, Columbia and Sacred Heart.

Other 2009 NCAA Regional Sites

University of Texas Golf Club
Austin, Texas
Host: University of Texas
Field (listed by seed): Stanford, Florida, Texas Tech, Texas, UNLV, California, Lamar, Michigan, Texas-Arlington, Virginia Tech, Mississippi State, New Mexico State and Jacksonville State

Lake Merced Golf Club
Daly City, Calif.
Host: University of San Francisco
Field (listed by seed): USC, Texas A&M, Arizona State, San Diego State, UC Davis, Oregon, New Mexico, Colorado, UC Irvine, Kansas State, Oregon State, San Diego and San Francisco

Red Tail Golf Club
Sorrento, Fla.
State: Florida
Host: University of Central Florida and the Central Florida Sports Commission
Field (listed by seed): Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina, Central Florida, Florida State, Arizona, Augusta State, Kentucky, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Iowa, Charlotte, Campbell and Loyola-Maryland

The Club at Olde Stone
Bowling Green, Ky.
Host: Western Kentucky University
Field (listed by seed): Washington, Georgia Tech, NC State, UCLA, Mississippi, East Tennessee State, Duke, Louisville, Ohio State, Vanderbilt, Middle Tennessee State, Austin Peay, Cleveland State and Bucknell

Karsten Creek Golf Club
Stillwater, Ok.
Host: Oklahoma State University
Field (listed by seed): Oklahoma State, Arkansas, TCU, LSU, Chattanooga, Pepperdine, Michigan State, Baylor, Northwestern, Tulsa, Denver, Wichita State and Oral Roberts