U.Va. nets easy win over Navy

Second round:U.Va. vs. North Carolina, today, 1 p.m.

By Jeff White
Published: May 9, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The U.S. Naval Academy men's tennis team faced three ACC opponents -- Maryland, North Carolina and Clemson -- during the regular season and lost 1-6, 0-7 and 0-7, respectively.

So Navy coach John Officer spoke with some authority yesterday after his team's first-round match in the NCAA tournament.

"Virginia's the class of the ACC, there's no question," Officer said.

The Cavaliers are trying to prove they're the class of college tennis, too. Seeded No.1 in the NCAA tourney, U.Va. needed less than two hours to dispose of the Midshipmen, 4-0, before an appreciative crowd of 357 at the Snyder Tennis Center.

Next up for Virginia (30-0) is a second-round date with North Carolina (17-10) today at 1 p.m. UNC ousted South Carolina 4-0 in yesterday's first match at the Charlottesville regional.

The Cavaliers will be heavy favorites this afternoon, and for good reason. They blanked the Tar Heels 7-0 during the regular season and 4-0 in the ACC tournament.

"It gives us some confidence," Virginia coach Brian Boland said, "but at the same time it's the NCAA tournament, and you have to come ready to play. It's something I know the guys will be ready for."

In their first match since April 19, the Wahoos showed little evidence of the long layoff.

After Houston Barrick and Sanam Singh whipped Navy's Jason Hill and Nick Birger for their school record-tying 38th doubles win of the season, Dominic Inglot and Michael Shabaz finished off Nate Nelms and Johnny Waters to clinch the first point for Virginia.

Inglot, a senior who plays No. 1 singles and doubles, has a serve that has approached 140 miles per hour, in Boland's estimation, and the 6-4 Englishman was in fine form yesterday. At one point in doubles, Inglot blasted an ace that prompted Nelms to shake his head and say, "Whew," to his partner.

"It's the best serve in college tennis," Boland said. "When he lights it up and he's feeling it, nobody hits it bigger and nobody hits it better."

Singles followed doubles, and it was a race to see who would get the three victories U.Va. needed to advance to the NCAA tournament's second round for the sixth straight year.

Shabaz won first, at No.3, and Singh followed with a win at No.2. Drew Courtney, a freshman from Northern Virginia, delivered the coup de grace for the Cavaliers, winning 6-2, 6-2 at No.5.

"It was great to get out and compete again after almost a three-week layoff," Boland said. "It takes a little bit of time to get back into that real-match situation again, and I thought we responded pretty well."

 

Cavaliers Down Navy 4-0 in NCAA First Round
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 05/08/2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE – The No. 1 Virginia men’s tennis team posted its third consecutive 30-win season as it topped Navy 4-0 in a NCAA Tournament first round match at the Snyder Tennis Center. The Cavaliers (30-0) meet ACC rival North Carolina in the second round Saturday for a trip to the round of 16 next week.

“It was nice to get back out on the courts after a three-week break,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “You sometimes wonder how the layoff will affect the team, but the guys have had a couple great weeks of practice and came out today focused and ready to compete.”

The Cavaliers took the 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point. Houston Barrick (Brentwood, Tenn.) and Sanam Singh (Chandigarh, India) topped Jason Hill and Nick Birger 8-3 at No. 2 doubles. The win was the duo’s 38th of season, tying the school record for wins in a season by a doubles team, set last year by Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey. Dominic Inglot (London, England) and Michael Shabaz (Fairfax, Va.) clinched the opening point with an 8-3 win at No. 1 over Nate Nelms and Johnny Waters.

In singles, Shabaz extended the lead to 2-0 with his 6-2, 6-2 win over Marcus Rebersak at No. 3 singles. Singh added a 6-0, 6-4 win over Waters at No. 2 singles to make the score 3-0. Drew Courtney (Clifton, Va.) clinched the dual match win as he completed a 6-2, 6-2 win over Ramsey Lemaich at the No. 5 position.

The Cavaliers will play North Carolina in the second round Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Snyder Tennis Center. The Tar Heels topped South Carolina 4-0 in Friday’s other first round match of the Charlottesville Regional. Virginia defeated the Tar Heels 7-0 in the regular season and 4-0 in the ACC Tournament earlier this year.

“We are looking forward to playing North Carolina,” said Boland. “We have a lot of respect for their program and know that we will have to be ready to play tomorrow.”

No. 1 Virginia 4, Navy 0

Doubles
1. #12 Inglot/Shabaz (UVa) def. Nelms/Waters (Navy) 8-3
2. #13 Barrick/Singh (UVa) def. Hill/Birger (Navy) 8-3
3. Singer/Courtney (UVa) led Lemaich/Bullard (Navy) 6-2 DNF

Singles
1. #14 Dominic Inglot (UVa) led Nate Nelms (Navy) 6-2, 3-4 DNF
2. #26 Sanam Singh (UVa) def. Johnny Waters (Navy) 6-0, 6-4
3. #27 Michael Shabaz (UVa) def. Marcus Rebersak (Navy) 6-2, 6-2
4. Steven Eelkman Rooda (UVa) led Jason Hill (Navy) 7-6(3), 0-0 DNF
5. Drew Courtney (UVa) def. Ramsey Lemaich (Navy) 6-2, 6-2
6. #90 Lee Singer (UVa) def. Owen Bullard (Navy) 6-3, 5-2 DNF

Order of Finish
Doubles: 2,1
Singles: 3,2,5
Attendance: 357

 

Cavs roll through first round
By Whitey Reid
Published: May 9, 2009

Virginia sophomore Sanam Singh remembers the day last season when coach Brian Boland told him he would be playing doubles with teammate Houston Barrick.

“It was kind of random,” Singh said. “Coach thought it would be a good pairing because Houston is really good at the net and I like playing from the baseline.

“We started playing together and jelled really well, [but] I didn’t think we would do as well as we [have].”

“Once we started to figure out trends and what the other was doing,” added Barrick, “we never looked back.”

On Friday afternoon at the Snyder Tennis Center, Singh and Barrick, as they have all year, dominated their opponents. The duo’s 8-3 victory over Jason Hill and Nick Birger at No. 2 doubles paved the way for an easy 4-0 triumph over Navy in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

With the victory, No. 1-seeded Virginia (30-0) remained undefeated and advanced to a second round match against North Carolina at 1 p.m. today. The Tar Heels were an easy 4-0 winner over South Carolina on Friday.

“It was great to get out and compete again after almost a three-week layoff,” said Boland, whose team notched its third consecutive 30-win season. “I thought we responded pretty well.

“The guys have been excited about this tournament for a while. The anticipation was there and we played well.”

Singh and Barrick, who tied Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey’s record for most doubles wins in a season with 38, have come a long way. At times last season, they weren’t even one of Virginia’s top three doubles tandems. This season, they’ve risen to as high as No. 2 in the country and are currently No. 13.

“That’s pretty impressive to go from outside the lineup and then being No. 2 in the country,” Boland said. “You don’t see that often — making such great strides in such a short amount of time.

“Their chemistry is great on the court and they’re both very aggressive. They both complement each other very well.”

Singh and Barrick are a major reason why Virginia has dropped just two doubles points the entire season (to UCLA and Duke). Their play has consistently set the tone for the singles matches, which was once again the case on Friday.

After winning the doubles point, UVa made quick work of Patriot League champion Navy (18-8).

At No. 3 singles, sophomore Michael Shabaz beat Marcus Rebersak, 6-2, 6-2, while Singh took care of Johnny Waters, 6-0, 6-4, at No. 2.

Freshman Drew Courtney clinched the duel win with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Ramsey Lemaich at No. 5.

The match lasted just over two hours.

“Virginia is the class of the ACC,” said Navy coach John Officer. “We had played North Carolina and Clemson and they were good teams, but the thing that Virginia does so well is that they serve very, very well.

“They also play defense very well. You don’t get a lot of easy points against Virginia.”

Virginia, which made it to the Final Four last year before losing a heartbreaker to Georgia, has already beaten North Carolina rather easily, twice — once during the regular season and once in the recent ACC tournament.

But Barrick says the team has worked too hard to take anyone lightly.

“Any Carolina team is going to fight hard,” he said. “They’re going to be prepared and they’ve seen us twice already…they’re going to come out fighting. We have to be ready and have to bring our ‘A’ game because they’re going to be ready to come get us.”

Aces

Boland elected to sit Barrick in the singles action so that he could give freshman Steven Eelkman Rooda some experience. Eelkman Rooda was leading Hill, 7-6, 0-0 when play was halted. … Alex Inglot, the older brother of Dom Inglot, was not in his much-hyped Cavalier costume that he had promised. Sources say he will be in full garb for today’s match. … A crowd of 357 was on hand.

 

Duke Powers Its Way to 11-4 Win over No. 11 Virginia
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 05/08/2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Duke hit a pair of big home runs and used a strong pitching performance from Christopher Manno to notch an 11-4 win over the No. 11 Virginia baseball team Friday night at Davenport Field. In their first game back from a nine-day break for final exams, the Cavaliers committed three errors which led to four unearned runs.

Jake Lemmerman hit a grand slam and drove in five runs to lead the Duke offense. Nate Freiman also homered for the Blue Devils.

Steven Proscia (Fr., Suffern, N.Y.) and John Hicks (Fr., Sandy Hook, Va.) each hit solo home runs for the Cavaliers. Hicks had three hits total. UVa finished with 11 hits but missed out on several key opportunities, particularly in the first three innings. The Cavaliers left nine runners on base and went 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position.

Manno (5-4) earned the win for Duke after going six innings and allowing one earned run, six hits and one walk. He struck out eight. UVa starter Danny Hultzen (Fr., Bethesda, Md.) was dealt his first college defeat after going 5.1 innings. He gave up six runs, but only two were earned. Hultzen (6-1) also allowed six hits and one walk while striking out one.

The seven-run loss was Virginia's largest margin of defeat this season and was UVa's first ACC loss by more than three runs. Six of UVa's ACC losses have come by one run.

The Blue Devils took advantage of a UVa error to grab a 2-0 first-inning lead. With one out, Matt Williams reached on an error by second baseman Phil Gosselin (So., West Chester, Pa.). Freiman then clubbed a long home run to right field to give Duke a 2-0 lead.

UVa put runners in scoring position in each of the first three innings but failed to cash in on the opportunities. The best chance came in the third, when UVa loaded the bases with no outs. Manno rebounded to get Gosselin to fly to short right field and induce Dan Grovatt (So., Tabernacle, N.J.) to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the threat.

The Cavaliers broke through in the fourth when Proscia crushed second pitch of the inning over the left-field bleachers for his sixth home run of the year.

Duke responded with a run in the fifth inning when Lemmerman doubled in Joe Pedevillano.

The Blue Devils took control with a three-run sixth inning, benefitting from two costly Virginia errors. Freiman reached on an error by Proscia to start the inning, but Freiman was erased when Jeremy Gould bunted into a fielder’s choice. After an Alex Hassan single, Will Piwnica-Worms walked to load the bases and end Hultzen’s night.

Tyler Wilson (So., Midlothian, Va.) came on in relief and got Gabriel Saade to hit a sacrifice fly to left field. Pedevillano then lifted a fly ball to right field which Grovatt dropped, allowing both baserunners to score and push the Duke lead to 6-1.

The Blue Devils tacked on a run in the seventh, getting a two-out single from Hassan to score Williams.

UVa got to within 7-3 in the bottom of the seventh on a two-run Grovatt single, but Duke again came back with a big blow, a grand slam by Lemmerman off UVa reliever Will Roberts (Jr., Richmond, Va.) to double the lead and give the Blue Devils a commanding 11-3 advantage.

Shortly after the grand slam, the game was delayed for 41 minutes because of a thunderstorm.

After the delay, Hicks got the Cavaliers their final run with a home run to left field. The long ball was his fourth of the year.

The teams play game two of the series at 1 p.m. Saturday.

 

UVa Remains Fifth at NCAA East Regional
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 05/08/2009

Gainesville, FL – The third-ranked Virginia women’s golf team stayed in fifth place after the second round of play at the NCAA East Regional Championship taking place at the Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, Fla. Virginia shot 17-over 297 during the second round for a 36-hole total of 587. Alabama leads the field at 575 followed by Denver (583) while Tennessee and Vanderbilt are tied for third at 585, two shots ahead of the Cavaliers

Following Saturday’s final round, the top eight teams from the 21-team regional will advance to the NCAA Championships. Tulane is in sixth place behind UVa at 588 followed by Duke (591) and Georgia (592). North Carolina is in ninth place at 594.

Kristen Simpson had Virginia’s best round Friday, shooting 2-over 72 to move up to 38th overall at 149. Whitney Neuhauser continues to lead the Cavaliers on the leaderboard. She shot 74 and is 16th overall at 145. Callie Nielson also carded a 74 and is one shot behind Neuhauser in 19th place at 146. Lene Krog is 46th at 150 while Joy Kim is 69th at 153. Krog shot 77 Friday while Kim finished with a 79.

Alabama’s Camilla Lennarth enjoys a two-shot lead for medalist honors at 1-under 139.

“It was like the whole field struggled today,” said Cavalier coach Kim Lewellen. “The winds picked up and it (the course) played a lot tougher today across the board. We didn’t have our strongest day, but at the same time, when you look at the standings, we’re up near the top and that’s where we want to be going into the final round.

“When you go to a regional you want to play well, but ultimately, you want to advance to the nationals. I think our girls, while not happy with how they played today, feel good about where we are. We’ve had a lot of good final days this season and we need to experience one of those again tomorrow.”

The Cavaliers will start the third round at 7:40 a.m. from the 10th tee. During the tournament’s final round, the teams near the top half of the standings play first, in the morning wave.

Live scoring of the tournament, and the Central and West Regionals, is online at Golfstat.com.

NCAA East Regional Championship
Mark Bostick Golf Course at the University of Florida
Gainesville, Fla.
Par-70, 6,023 yards
Second Round Results

Team Results 1. Alabama (6) 284-291-575 2. Denver (20) 287-296-583 3. Tennessee (27) 292-293-585 3. Vanderbilt (23) 286-299-585 5. Virginia (3) 290-297-587 6. Tulane (31) 292-296-588 7. Duke (12) 298-293-591 8. Georgia (14) 297-295-592 9. North Carolina (10) 291-303-59410. Furman (46) 305-290-59511. East Carolina (37) 283-313-59612. South Carolina (43) 308-290-59812. Auburn (7) 304-294-59812. Coastal Carolina 301-297-59815. Mississippi (38) 307-293-60016. Florida State 307-297-60417. Florida (30) 305-301-60618. Central Florida 309-302-61119. College of Charleston (50) 302-310-61219. Stetson 309-303-61221. Jackson State 324-336-660Number in parenthesis is Golfstat rankingIndividual Leaders1. Camilla Lennarth, Alabama 69-70-1392. Marina Alex, Vanderbilt 69-72-1412. Nathalie Mansson, Tennessee 69-72-1412. Candace Schepperle, Auburn 71-70-1415. Stephanie Connelly, UCF 73-69-1425. Linn Gustafsson, Tulane 71-71-1425. Brooke Pancake, Alabama 70-72-1428. Abby Bools, East Carolina 68-75-1438. Blair Lamb, Furman 73-70-1438. Jennie Lee, Duke 71-72-1438. Catherine O’Donnell, North Carolina 69-74-1438. Stephanie Sherlock, Denver 69-70-1438. Dawn Shockley, Denver 73-70-143Virginia16. Whitney Neuhauser 71-74-14519. Calle Nielson 72-74-14638. Kristen Simpson 77-72-14946. Lene Krog 73-77-15069. Joy Kim 74-79-153
 

ACC to mull adding 2 games
Officials ponder 18-game schedule
By Ken Tysiac - Staff Writer
Published: Sat, May. 09, 2009 02:00AMModified Sat, May. 09, 2009 04:33AM

ACC men's basketball coaches and administrators will discuss the idea of an 18-game Atlantic Coast Conference schedule next week at the league's annual spring meetings on Amelia Island in Florida.

In a telephone interview this week, ACC commissioner John Swofford said he's comfortable with the current 16-game conference format. He said that even if the ACC approves an increase to 18 games, it wouldn't take effect until the 2011-12 season -- after the league's current TV deals expire.

"It's serving our league well," Swofford said of the current format. "Our coaches are very comfortable with it. There are pros and cons either way. From a pure business decision, there are some reasons to look at 18, but then you could lose some very attractive intersectional games that are of superb value to the television packages."

The ACC meetings start Monday and will conclude Wednesday.

The idea of playing 18 conference games has been unpopular with the ACC's coaches. They have said more ACC games would strengthen schedules that already are difficult.

Because of that, they have cautioned that adding two extra conference games might cause them to drop some marquee nonconference series with quality opponents.

"In the past, the coaches haven't been in favor of it," N.C. State athletic director Lee Fowler said of the 18-game format.

Fowler predicted that the matter will be discussed next week without coming to a vote, not with the possibility of changing to an 18-game schedule still three seasons away.

Swofford said the jury still is out on whether an 18-game schedule helps conferences get more teams into the NCAA Tournament field. Statistical analyst Jerry Palm of collegerpi.com said an 18-game conference schedule doesn't help teams raise their RPI, which is a tool the Division I men's basketball committee considers in selecting the tournament field.

The RPI, or Ratings Percentage Index, is a mathematical formula that ranks teams based on a combination of winning percentage and strength of schedule. Palm said the increased schedule strength created by adding conference games is more than offset by an accompanying decrease in winning percentage.

"The general effect (of an 18-game conference schedule) in terms of the RPI is going to be negative," Palm said.

Teams in the Big East, Big Ten and Pac-10 currently play 18-game conference schedules. The principal argument in favor of an 18-game format is adding games that are more attractive to fans and television executives, who might pay more money for a stronger product.

But if ACC teams add two conference games and drop their marquee nonconference games, there wouldn't be much value added for fans or television.

"I think an 18-game schedule is a plus," said Ken Haines, president and CEO of current ACC TV rights holder Raycom Sports. "It would make our scheduling a little easier as long as it wasn't at the expense of high-profile nonconference games. It remains to be seen whether it would make it more valuable."

 

Observations from Above the Rim
Inside information and observations on college basketball in the Carolinas and beyond from the reporting staff of The Charlotte Observer
Friday, May 8, 2009
ACC to consider 18-game league slate for 2011-12

Men’s basketball coaches and administrators will discuss the idea of an 18-game Atlantic Coast Conference schedule next week at the league’s annual spring meetings on Amelia Island in Florida.

In a telephone interview this week, ACC commissioner John Swofford said he’s comfortable with the current 16-game conference format. He said that even if the ACC approves an increase to 18 games, it wouldn’t take effect until the 2011-12 season - after the league’s current TV deals expire.

“It’s serving our league well,” Swofford said of the 16-game format. “Our coaches are very comfortable with it. There are pros and cons either way. From a pure business decision there are some reasons to look at 18, but then you could lose some very attractive intersectional games that are of superb value to the television packages.”

The idea of playing 18 conference games has been unpopular with the ACC’s coaches. They have said more ACC games would strengthen schedules that already are difficult.
They have cautioned that adding two extra conference games might cause them to drop some marquee nonconference series with quality opponents.

“In the past, the coaches haven’t been in favor of it,” N.C. State athletics director Lee Fowler said of the 18-game format.

Fowler predicted that the matter will be discussed but won’t come to a vote next week because the earliest an 18-game schedule could begin is 2011-12. The ACC meetings start Monday and will conclude Wednesday.

Swofford said the jury still is out on whether an 18-game schedule helps conferences get more teams into the NCAA Tournament field. Statistical analyst Jerry Palm of collegerpi.com said an 18-game conference schedule doesn’t help teams raise their RPI, which is a tool the Division I men’s basketball committee considers in selecting the tournament field.

The RPI, or Ratings Percentage Index, is a mathematical formula that ranks teams based on a combination of winning percentage and strength of schedule. Palm said the increased schedule strength created by adding conference games is more than offset by an accompanying decrease in winning percentage.

“The general effect (of an 18-game conference schedule) in terms of the RPI is going to be negative,” Palm said.

Teams in the Big East, Big Ten and Pac-10 currently play 18-game conference schedules. The principal argument in favor of an 18-game format is adding games that are more attractive to fans and television executives, who might pay more money for a stronger product.

But if ACC teams add two conference games and drop their marquee nonconference games, there wouldn’t be much value added for fans or television.

“I think an 18-game schedule is a plus,” said Ken Haines, president and CEO of current ACC TV rights holder Raycom Sports. “It would make our scheduling a little easier as long as it wasn’t at the expense of high-profile nonconference games. It remains to be seen whether it would make it more valuable.”

 

VT-bound Florida quarterback also had WVU on his final list
QB also a top priority for Cavs
By Doug Doughty

On the day that Delray Beach, Fla., quarterback Mark Leal committed to Virginia Tech, visitors to his school Thursday included University of Virginia assistant Chad Wilt.

Atlantic High School coach Andre Thaddies didn’t know at the time that Leal would be making his decision later in the day and wasn’t surprised that UVa might be interested.

The Atlantic High quarterbacks coach is Omar Jacobs, who was the Mid-American Conference player of the year as a senior at Bowling Green in 2004. Jacobs’ coach at Bowling Green was Gregg Brandon, the new offensive coordinator at Virginia.

“He had heard from Virginia before,” Thaddies said. “It was a guy with an Italian name who isn’t there any more [Bob Diaco]. It made sense that they were interested in Mark. They’re going to the spread.”

Leal, a 6-foot-1, 190-pounder, had five rushing touchdowns as a junior but the quarterback doesn’t do much running in Atlantic’s version of the spread.

“Our quarterback coach doesn’t believe in it,” Thaddies said.

Leal passed for 2,355 yards and threw 21 touchdown passes. He was intercepted seven times.

Originally from Arizona, Leal began his Atlantic High career on the freshman team. He became a starter in the eighth game of the 2007 season, when Thaddies decided “that I just couldn’t wait any longer,” he said.

At the time of his commitment Thursday, Leal had seven Division I-A offers, according to rivals.com. In addition to Tech, they were from Kansas, Minnesota, Oregon, West Virginia and Florida International.

“He just decided, ‘If I had to sign tomorrow, I would sign with Virginia Tech,’ “ Thaddies said. “He was ready to get it over with.”

West Virginia also was one of the finalists for Ricardo Young, a 6-1, 170-pound quarterback from H.D. Woodson High School in Washington, D.C., who had committed to the Hokies earlier Thursday.

“I was talking to Brandon Flowers about the pros and cons of [Leal] going there,” Thaddies said, “and he said that Tech’s always going to bring in two or three quarterbacks.”

FLOWERS IS AN Atlantic High graduate, as is Jayron Hosley, a defensive back from Delray Beach who signed with the Hokies in February. Flowers and Hosley are cousins.

“I think that had a little bit to do with the decision,” Thaddies said. “Not only that we’ve had somebody up there for a while, but that there will be somebody he knows when he gets there.”

Thaddies wasn’t offended that the Sunshine State’s big three of Florida, Florida State and Miami hadn’t offered.

“Miami has recruited him,” Thaddies said. “They just weren’t ready to pull the trigger yet.”

“At Florida, they already had their guy.”

The Gators have a commitment from 6-3, 200-pounder Trey Burton from Venice, Fla., who, like Leal and Young, is rated a three-star recruit by rivals.com. Burton also was recruited by West Virginia.

My impression from the Hokies is that both Leal and Young were recruited as quarterbacks first, with Young probably needing a little more work from a weight-training standpoint.

The attraction for Leal, according to his coach, was a tradition of athletic Tech quarterbacks that was most evident in Michael Vick and is now identifiable in Tyrod Taylor.

“He wanted to go somewhere where he fit the mold,” Thaddies said. “He didn’t want to go somewhere where they would try to fit a square into a triangle.”

THE COMMITMENT BY LEAL was Tech’s seventh for the class of 2010. Virginia has one commitment, a Feb. 23 pledge from Mount Ulla, N.C., running back Kevin Parks.

The Cavaliers had seven commitments by this time a year ago and went on to add four more by the end of May. It’s worth noting that two of the commitments were from players who ultimately de-committed, Harrisonburg High School running back Alex Owan and Olney (Md.) Good Counsel running back Caleb Porzel.

(The News-Record in Harrisonburg reported this week that Owah will prep at Hargrave Military Academy).

Of course, that was a Virginia class that swelled to 25 once it was completed. Early projections are for a 2010 UVa class in the 14-18 range. I’m hearing that Virginia Tech will sign between 18-22.

(I’ll bet you right now that both UVa and Tech are on the high side of those ranges and easily could surpass the upper limit).

Like the Hokies, Virginia is in the market for quarterbacks. Phillip Sims from Group AAA Division 6 state champion Oscar Smith in Chesapeake had to be first on UVa’s list and had to be first on Tech’s list, too.

Heck, Sims was the No. 1-ranked quarterback on the rivals.com top 100 list that was updated this week, although he was only 58th overall.

(Sporting News Today had Sims rated 24th overall, but he was behind two other quarterbacks, No. 17 Jake Heaps from Sammamish, Wash., and No. 20 Blake Bell from Wichita, Kan. Bell has committed to Oklahoma).

Two of the quarterbacks at the top of Virginia’s wish list, both of whom the Cavaliers have offered, are 6-3, 220-pound Andrew Hendrix from Moeller High School in Cincinnati and 6-2, 200 Sam Gibson from Plattville, Ala.

You’d have to say there’s some irony there: Alabama getting a commitment from a Virginian and Virginia recruiting an Alabaman. Who was the last UVa player from Alabama, walk-on fullback Steve Morse in 1984?

WITH TWO FIFTH-YEAR seniors vying for the starting job next year, with a fourth-year junior in the mix, Virginia needs to sign a quarterback in this class.

If I’m remembering correctly, head coach Al Groh told me recently that there were some uncommitted junior quarterbacks in the state who have caught his eye.

Jake McGee, a 6-5, 210-pound left-hander from Collegiate in Richmond, passed for 30 touchdowns as a junior. So far, Virginia has not made a big push for McGee but the Cavaliers don’t have to be reminded about the last Collegiate QB they turned down.

That was Russell Wilson, this year’s first-team All-ACC quarterback as a redshirt freshman for N.C. State.