Next stop for Virginia: College Station
By Whitey Reid
Published: May 10, 2009

In the past, Virginia coach Brian Boland says that Michael Shabaz has had a habit of letting his performance in his doubles affect his singles.

But on Saturday afternoon at the Snyder Tennis Center, that was far from the case.

Shabaz, teaming with Dom Inglot, lost in doubles to North Carolina, but came back with vengeance in his singles, pacing Virginia to a 4-0 NCAA tournament victory that advanced the Cavaliers (31-0) to a round of 16 tilt against Florida State that kicks off on Thursday in College Station, Texas.

The win was UVa’s third over UNC this season.

“I’m proud of the way we played,” said Virginia coach Brian Boland. “We have a lot of respect for North Carolina. They’ve always had good teams, and this was no different.

“But, again, we just keep getting better and better.”

Shabaz lived up to his nickname of “Showbiz,” obliterating UNC’s Brennan Boyajian, winning 6-2, 6-1 at No. 3 singles. The match was over before the majority of the other singles matches had completed a set.

“I started feeling it early with my returns,” said Shabaz, a sophomore. “I started making a lot of first serves and just went into [the match] with the attitude of taking the first ball and just crushing it.

“He’s kind of a defensive player and I knew he was going to run around a lot, so I just tried to crush it and move him around, and the ball started falling in for me.”

The Cavaliers took a 1-0 lead by winning a close doubles point.

The Tar Heels (17-11) gained an early advantage as No. 17 Taylor Fogleman and Clay Donato topped No. 12 Shabaz and Dom Inglot, 8-3 at the top position.

But Virginia knotted things up as Lee Singer and Drew Courtney defeated Boyajian and Zach Hunter, 8-5, at No. 3 doubles.

No. 13 Sanam Singh and Houston Barrick clinched the opening point with their 8-5 win over Andrew Crone and Alex Raifee at No. 2 doubles.

In singles, Virginia won all six first sets. Virginia went up 2-0 as Shabaz, jumping all over Boyajian’s second serve, cruised to his win.

“Usually I try to slice the return,” Shabaz said, “but I was just taking it and ripping it. They started going in cross-court and down the line and then I just started picking it apart.”

UNC coach Sam Paul said he was a bit surprised with how quick Shabaz took care of Boyajian.

“If you look at Shabaz’ record, he’s one of the best players in the country,” Paul said. “With the depth of their team, you wouldn’t say he’s a [number] three player — he’s just a great player.”

Courtney added a 6-2, 6-1 win over Hunter at the No. 5 position to make the score 3-0. Singh then clinched the win with his 7-5, 6-4 win over Fogleman at No. 2 singles.

Now, Virginia is focused on erasing the bitter memory of last season when it was upset by Georgia in the Final Four.

“We know that nobody is going to give it to us,” Shabaz said. “We have to go out there and act as if nothing has happened so far and that it’s a new tournament and just play match by match.

“Obviously we’re the No. 1 seed and everybody’s going to be gunning for us, but we have to treat it like neutral ground. We have to go play and the best team will win.”

Aces

Singh and Barrick set the new school record for doubles victories with 39, eclipsing the record set by Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey last season. … Super fan Alex Inglot, the 28-year-old brother of Dom Inglot who works as a lawyer in England, was back in action, wearing an orange prison jump suit that read “criminally insane” on the back. “If I was the other team, I would be scared,” said sophomore Sanam Singh. “It’s really intimidating for the other team when he’s screaming, ‘Dom’s brother’s got a one-day release!’”

Boland’s Cavs keep knocking them down
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: May 10, 2009

Virginia’s undefeated and No. 1-ranked men’s tennis team keeps running into familiar faces on its quest to bring the program its first NCAA championship.

On Saturday, the Cavaliers dispatched ACC rival North Carolina for the third time this season, this one in the second round of the NCAA tournament at Snyder Tennis Center. No sooner had the Wahoos sent the Tar Heels packing than UVa coach Brian Boland learned that his squad’s next opponent in the Sweet 16 will be Florida State.

That third meeting will take place Thursday under the blazing sun of College Station, Texas, a boiling pot none of the current Cavs experienced when Virginia was ousted by eventual champion UCLA back in 2005.

He’ll play anyone

As Boland said after watching his team improve to a staggering 31-0 on Saturday, at this point of the season it’s not so much who you play, but how you’re playing and how prepared you are.

If that’s the case, he’s got to be headed to Texas A&M with a good feeling about the Cavaliers’ chances. Boland said that his team just keeps getting better.

Even North Carolina coach Sam Paul praised Virginia’s performance and what Boland has accomplished here in such a short span: the Cavaliers are the only team in the nation to be a top-eight seed in each of the past six seasons.

“You saw that we had seven ACC teams in the round of 32, so Brian’s put pressure on all of us to step it up a notch,” Paul said. “He’s done a fantastic job. We weren’t super excited to come here and face Virginia in the second round because we know how tough they are.”

Tough, yes, but with that reputation and the No. 1 ranking being a huge bullseye on their chests, the Cavaliers realize that once they reach this stage of the national tournament, nothing comes easy.

They won’t sneak up

“Last year was the same situation,” said sophomore Sanam Singh, who closed out UVa’s 4-0 victory over the Tar Heels on Saturday with his singles win. “We have gotten used to it. We’ve been No. 1 for most of our time here.

“The pressure is good because people are gunning for you and you go out there and have to play with intensity and not think about we’re No. 1 and they’re No. 5,” said Singh, who is 37-5 overall this season. “At this level, everyone is coming to play.”

Michael Shabaz (36-8) said in some ways, though, it works to Virginia’s advantage, especially when they reach this point in the season.

“They also fear us a little bit, too, because we are the top seed,” he said. “So you have to look at it both ways.”

Boland has spoken often about how this team — like some of the others he has coached at UVa — thrives on pressure, scoops it up with a spoon.

“If you don’t like pressure, this is the wrong program to join,” he said.

As good as Virginia has been in the last several years, even Boland is somewhat astonished at what this season’s squad has accomplished. They’re the only undefeated major college team in the country, out of more than 300. They also won the ITA National Indoor Championship for the second straight year.

“I’ve had some great teams in the past, but there’s something really unique about this one,” said Boland, who garnered his 200th win as UVa’s coach in Saturday’s match. “When you look at the fact that we lost Somdev Devvarman, a two-time national singles champion, and lost Teddy Angelinos and Treat Huey, and yet came back and returned to the Sweet 16 this year and haven’t lost a match, speaks volumes about these young men and what they’ve learned from their experiences.”

Shabaz, a sophomore, believes that taking the indoor title can only help when the team heads to Texas A&M this morning.

“I honestly think it helps because there’s only two times when the best in the nation meets [indoors and outdoors], and the first time we came out on top,” Shabaz said. “That can only help us the rest of this tournament when things become very mental. Everyone will be gunning for us, but we have an inner confidence that we can keep going.”

Boland believes there’s nothing like experience and his team’s cup runneth over with an almost embarrassment of riches when it comes to that department.

Take the indoor title, for example. As Boland put it, Virginia’s been on the national stage, faced the best teams in the country and won all the marbles.

“First and foremost, you take a lot of confidence from that,” the UVa coach said. “Secondly, we’ve seen some of these teams and we know what the environment is like. The fact we’ve been here six years in a row and had a lot of success in the postseason can only help us.”

A modest guy, who would rather point to his players for the program’s success, Boland isn’t comfortable talking about himself. So, it was no surprise when asked about his 200th win in only six seasons at Virginia, he came back with a George Welsh-like answer, as short as possible.

“I’d like to win a lot more,” Boland said.

He would prefer that the next three come within the next 10 days in Texas.



 

Virginia continues tennis dominance with rout of UNC
By Jeff White
Published: May 10, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- It may be the NCAA tournament, but the University of Virginia men's tennis team keeps running into ACC rivals.

In its final appearance of the season at the Snyder Tennis Center, top-seeded U.Va. defeated North Carolina 4-0 yesterday to advance to the NCAA tourney's round of 16 for the sixth straight year.

Next for the Cavaliers (31-0) is a third-round date with another familiar foe, Florida State (21-8), on Thursday in College Station, Texas.

So be it, Brian Boland told reporters after collecting his 200th victory as Virginia's coach.

"We're trying to focus on the thing we have control over," Boland said. "At this point, it's not so much who you're playing, it's how you're playing and how prepared you are."

The Cavaliers, who have won 46 consecutive matches against ACC competition, will try to beat the Seminoles for the third time this season. UNC coach Sam Paul can appreciate the challenge facing FSU.

The Wahoos beat Carolina 7-0 in the regular season and 4-0 in the ACC tournament, and their dominance continued yesterday before a crowd of 449 on a hot, humid afternoon.

"I think you can see why they're 31-0 right now," Paul said. "They're just too good."

It was a memorable day for several U.Va. players, including sophomore Sanam Singh, who plays No. 2 doubles with junior Houston Barrick.

With the doubles point on the line -- Virginia and UNC each had won a match -- Singh and Barrick closed out Andrew Crone and Alex Rafiee 8-5. With the victory, their 39th, Singh and Barrick broke the school record for doubles wins in a season set in 2008 by Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey.

"That's a bonus," Singh said. "It's great to get it at a moment like this, to get into the Sweet 16 and have a shot at the national championship."

Singh later ended the Tar Heels' season with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Taylor Fogleman at No. 2 singles. UNC finished 17-11.

"Any time you play the same team three times in a year, as good as North Carolina, it's never easy," Boland said, "and I'm certainly proud of the way we played . . . We just keep getting better with each match."

Final exams ended Friday at U.Va., and Boland's team leaves today for College Station. The sooner the Cavaliers get acclimated to the humidity there, the better, their coach believes.

"We decided to go early," Boland said. "I think the heat's going to be a little bit different down there. We want to get in the heat early."

In eight seasons under Boland, U.Va. has lost only 41 times. Twenty of those defeats came in his first two seasons. When asked about victory No. 200, Boland downplayed the accomplishment.

"I'd like to win a lot more," he said.

Contact Jeff White at (804) 649-6838 or jwhite@timesdispatch.com.

VIRGINIA 4, NORTH CAROLINA 0

Doubles -- No. 1, Fogleman-Donato (UNC) d. Inglot-Shabaz 8-3; No. 2, Barrick-Singh (V) d. Crone-Rafiee 8-5; No. 3, Singer-Courtney (V) d. Boyajian-Hunter 85

Singles -- No. 1, Inglot led Donato 7-5, 4-4, DNF; No. 2, Singh d. Fogleman 7-5, 6-4; No. 3, Shabaz d. Boyajian 6-2, 6-1; No. 4, Barrick led Crone 6-4, 3-4, DNF; No. 5, Courtney d. Hunter 6-2, 6-1; No. 6, Singer led Ahari 7-6(3), 3-1, DNF

 

Cavaliers Earn Sixth Consecutive Trip to NCAA Round of 16
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 05/09/2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE – The No. 1 Virginia men’s tennis team advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 for the sixth consecutive season with a 4-0 win over North Carolina in a second round match Saturday afternoon at the Snyder Tennis Center. The Cavaliers (31-0) will meet another ACC rival, Florida State, in the round of 16 on Thursday in College Station, Texas.

“Anytime you play a team three times in a season that is as good as North Carolina, it is never easy and I am proud of the way that we played,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “We have a lot of respect for UNC. They always have good teams and this year was no different. But we just keep getting better with each match.”

The Cavaliers took the 1-0 lead by winning a close doubles point. The Tar Heels (17-11) gained an early advantage as No. 17 Taylor Fogleman and Clay Donato topped No. 12 Dominic Inglot (London, England) and Michael Shabaz (Fairfax, Va.) 8-3 at the top position. Virginia drew even as Lee Singer (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) and Drew Courtney (Clifton, Va.) defeated Brennan Boyajian and Zach Hunter 8-5 at No. 3 doubles. No. 13 Sanam Singh (Chandigarh, India) and Houston Barrick (Brentwood, Tenn.) clinched the opening point with their 8-5 win over Andrew Crone and Alex Raifee at No. 2 doubles. The win was Singh and Barrick’s 39th win of the season, setting a new school record for doubles win in a year by a team, breaking the mark of 38 set by Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey last season.

“To give North Carolina a lot of credit, I thought that they came out with a lot of energy and fire in doubles,” said Boland. “We responded at No. 2 and No. 3 and that was an important point for us in terms of momentum.”

In singles, Virginia used the momentum from doubles and won all six first sets. The score quickly was extended to 2-0 as Shabaz cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 win over Boyajian at No. 3 singles. Courtney added a 6-2, 6-1 win over Hunter at the No. 5 position to make the score 3-0. Singh then sealed the win with his 7-5, 6-4 win over Fogleman at No. 2 singles.

“I was particularly pleased with how we came out in singles and won all six first sets,” said Boland. “We had a few close ones with Dom and Sanam and Lee, and they found a way to win those tight sets. That is impressive and is something that we focused on in between doubles and singles. We talked about coming out and playing strong from the first point. We did that against Wake Forest in the ACC final and we did another good job of that today. Hopefully that carries through to next week in College Station.”

The win extended the Cavaliers’ school record winning streaks to 48 consecutive home wins and 46 consecutive wins against ACC opponents (regular season and tournaments). The victory was also the 200th win for Boland at Virginia, as he improves to 200-41 as the head coach of the Cavaliers.

After defeating the Tar Heels for the third time this season, the Cavaliers will now meet another opponent for the third time this season in Florida State. Virginia won 4-3 in the regular season meeting in Tallahassee and topped the Seminoles 4-0 in the ACC Tournament semifinals.

“We have been one of the top eight seeds in this tournament for the past six years and we have a lot of experience and know what to expect,” said Boland. “At this point, it isn’t as much who you play as how you are playing and how prepared you are. We need to focus on the thing we need to do between now and Thursday and then leave everything on the court.”

The Virginia-Florida State round of 16 match is slated for noon CT (1 p.m. ET) on Thursday at the Mitchell Tennis Center on the campus of Texas A&M.

 

Cavs win a wild one
By Jay Jenkins
Published: May 10, 2009

Andrew Carraway sat motionless in the dugout for almost an hour.

Virginia’s starting pitcher Saturday, perhaps making the final start of his stellar career at Davenport Field, felt he was to blame for what appeared to be a series-dooming loss to Duke.

Those emotions shifted in improbable fashion as 11th-ranked Virginia mounted a 10-9 victory in a contest in which it trailed by six runs with just five outs left.

Perhaps in fitting fashion, the late-game heroics for the Cavaliers (36-10-1, 14-9-1 ACC) bailed out Carraway as John Barr drilled a walk-off single, preventing the senior from taking his first loss of the season.

“I went out there and gave up two home runs and eight earned runs and we still managed to win the game. Wow,” Carraway said. “It made me feel great. That’s all you can ask for, knowing that in any circumstance that your team has a chance to win.”

In the magical ninth, Virginia rookie Danny Hultzen opened the frame with a game-tying solo homer on a fastball that was grooved by Duke reliever Dennis O’Grady.

“I was just trying to get on base. I had a couple of rough at-bats before so I was just looking for a good pitch to hit,” Hultzen said. “I thought I got it and put a good swing on it.

“[O’Grady] had started everybody off with a fastball so I was looking for that too. I thought I hit it straight in the air but the wind pushed it a little bit.”

Dan Grovatt followed Hultzen with a triple into the gap in left-center field that narrowly eluded the outstretched glove of Duke center fielder Will Piwnica-Worms.

After O’Grady intentionally walked Steven Prosica — who had homered for the second straight day earlier in the game — Virginia catcher John Hicks struck out. Duke (32-19, 13-13) elected to load the bases by walking Tyler Cannon, but Barr fired the game-winning shot down the third-base line off O’Grady (1-1).

“I knew he was dumping in that slider so I thought he would come with that on the first pitch so I went out there looking for something off-speed,” Barr said. “He left it up a little bit and I put a decent swing on it. That’s pretty much where my mindset was and I put a decent swing on it. Everything worked out.”

Carraway, who allowed five runs in the second inning and left as Duke added three in the fifth, certainly agreed.

It would be easy to point at nerves. The senior that returned to live on the Lawn may not toe the rubber at Davenport Field again.

“I did think about that,” Carraway said. “Maybe I thought about it too much. It might have got me a little more pumped up for the game but it definitely got me a little more disappointed in the dugout.”

It marked the second time that UVa mounted an improbable late-game rally in an ACC contest. The first came in April at Georgia Tech.

“This was a great win for our ballclub. It was very, very similar to the Georgia Tech game that we found a way to win,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said. “This kind of game can carry your team a long ways. We were fortunate that our guys put a lot of hits together at the end of the game and Matt Packer pitched well out of the bullpen to help us get the win.”

Virginia and Duke will close out the series today at 1 p.m.

 

No. 11 Baseball Rallies from Six Down, Tops Duke 10-9
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 05/09/2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – John Barr (So., Ivyland, Pa.) hit a bases-loaded single with one out in the ninth inning to cap a seven-run rally as the No. 11 Virginia baseball team defeated Duke, 10-9, Saturday afternoon at Davenport Field. The Cavaliers trailed 9-3 with one out in the eighth inning but scored five in the eighth and then tied the game on the first pitch in the ninth inning on a home run by Danny Hultzen (Fr., Bethesda, Md.) before Barr’s heroics.

The big rally was UVa’s second such comeback this year. The Cavaliers scored six runs in the ninth inning April 11 at Georgia Tech to win 11-10.

Steven Proscia (Fr., Suffern, N.Y.) homered for the second straight day for the Cavaliers. He reached base four times and finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and three runs. Phil Gosselin (So., West Chester, Pa.) also had two hits and scored twice, while John Hicks (Fr., Sandy Hook, Va.) had a pair of hits and two RBI and Dan Grovatt (So., Tabernacle, N.J.) nabbed two hits and scored twice.

The Virginia bullpen was stellar with 4.2 innings of one-run, five hit relief. Tyler Wilson (So., Midlothian, Va.) threw two-thirds of an inning before Matt Packer (Jr., Germantown, Tenn.) went 3.1 innings while allowing only Piwnica-Worms’ home run. Kevin Arico (So., Flemington, N.J.) worked the final two-thirds of an inning to earn the win and improve to 2-2 this year.

Virginia starting pitcher Andrew Carraway (Sr., Marietta, Ga.) had his first rough outing of the year. Carraway pitched 4.1 innings and gave up eight earned runs and eight hits while striking out six. With his six strikeouts, Carraway moved into eighth place all-time at Virginia with 215 strikeouts. He also made his 67th career appearance, which is tied for ninth all-time at UVa.

Andrew Wolcott gave Duke its second consecutive strong starting pitching performance of the series, going 7.1 innings and allowing four earned runs, six hits and one walk while striking out five. Dennis O’Grady (1-1) took the loss after allowing six runs (four earned) in one inning.

Duke jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, then bumped it to 9-3 in the seventh on a solo home run by Will Piwnica-Worms before the Cavaliers’ big comeback.

With Virginia trailing 9-8, Hultzen led off the ninth with a home run to left-center, his third homer of the year and first at Davenport Field. Grovatt then ripped a triple the got just past an out-stretched Piwnica-Worms in center field. O’Grady intentionally walked Proscia, then struck out Hicks looking. After an intentional walk to Cannon to load the bases, Barr pulled a base hit just inside third base and down the left-field line to score Grovatt with the winning run and set off a massive celebration.

Duke (32-19, 13-13 ACC) grabbed an early lead with a five-run the second inning. Joe Pedevillano and Ryan McCurdy each hit RBI singles before Matt Williams launched a three-run home run to left-center to give the Blue Devils a 5-0 lead.

The Cavaliers (36-10-1, 14-9-1) got a run back in the second inning on a solo home run by Proscia, his seventh homer of the season and second in as many games.

In the fourth inning, UVa sliced two runs off the lead. Gosselin led off with a single and advanced on a groundout. With two out, Proscia was hit by a pitch. Gosselin scored on a Hicks single, which also moved Proscia to third. On the next pitch, Wolcott committed a balk, allowing Proscia to score.

Duke got the runs right back in the fifth on a two-run home run by Nate Freiman, his league-leading 17th of the season. The Blue Devils later got an RBI single from Alex Hassan to push the lead back to five, 8-3.

UVa staged a five-run rally in the eighth inning to close within one. Proscia started the scoring by hitting an RBI single to plate Gosselin. Hicks followed with an RBI single and after Tyler Cannon (Jr., Pigeon Forge, Tenn.) singled to load the bases, pinch hitter Scott Silverstein (Fr., Olney, Md.) walked to force in a run. One out later, O’Grady made an errant pickoff throw to first, allowing Cannon and Hicks to score and close the lead to 9-8.

The teams play the rubber game of the three-game series at 1 p.m. Sunday.

 

Starsia gets his rematch
By Whitey Reid
Published: May 10, 2009

The year was 1993 when Villanova visited Scott Stadium, and first-year Virginia coach Dom Starsia was rockin’ the ’stache.

The game was the first of Starsia’s UVa tenure.

This afternoon, 16 years later, Virginia and Villanova will finally meet again when the Cavaliers host the Wildcats in a first-round NCAA tournament game at Klockner Stadium.

“It’s a little bit ironic,” Starsia said, “but the cast of characters — except for me — has changed a great deal.”

Starsia led Virginia to a 10-5 record back in ’93. Six years later, he guided the program to the first of three national championships.

This season, No. 1 UVa (13-2) has played great against everybody other than Duke, which sent the Cavaliers to both of their defeats.

Villanova, meanwhile, played its way into the tournament with a dramatic 10-9 win over Towson on Sunday in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament.

“They have a bunch of good players,” said Virginia senior co-captain Danny Glading. “They’re good in the defense and they’re good in the offense. I think they’re efficient on offense. They take their time and get to spots where they want to get.”

Starsia believes that Villanova (11-5) might try to slow the game’s tempo, similarly to what Dartmouth did to his team in its regular-season finale. In that game, Virginia lost nine of 10 faceoffs in the first half and wasn’t able to find its groove until the third quarter.

“On the offensive end, I think they have a balanced group,” Starsia said, “which is not really code for they don’t have anybody who stands out — but they have a bunch of people who play the game smartly and play with a lot of confidence.

“They may not want to play racehorse lacrosse up and down the field. I think there’s a chance they’ll want to play the game a little more deliberately.”

Last season, Virginia lost to Syracuse in a heartbreaker at the Final Four in Foxborough, Mass. The Orange, who went on to win the championship, is the No. 2 seed this year. Duke is No. 3.

If Virginia can get past Villanova, it would face Johns Hopkins at Navy in the quarterfinals next Sunday.

But Starsia isn’t thinking about that yet.

“Their goalie has really quick hands,” Starsia said. “I would say the strength of their team is in their defensive midfield.

“In a game like this, winning the faceoffs and getting the ball back is probably going to be as important as everything.”

In that 1993 meeting, Virginia won the game, 21-6. Not surprisingly, Starsia’s recollection of most everything else isn’t very crisp. “It may just be that I’m getting old,” he joked.

As for the chances of seeing a throwback mustache this afternoon?

“If it insured us that we would win, then I would grow it back — the same way that I was happy to cut it off when we won the championship in 1999,” said Starsia, smiling. “Those kinds of things are easily replaceable.”

Glading said the team seems ready to go.

“It’s going to be an exciting game,” he said. “We’ve had two good weeks of practice and I think we’re going to be prepared.”

 

Wahoos hungry for redemption

VILLANOVA AT VIRGINIA
NCAA men's lacrosse first round
Today:2:30 p.m., ESPNU

Published: May 10, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- For the University of Virginia men's lacrosse team, the regular season included road wins over Syracuse and Johns Hopkins, a one-goal victory over North Carolina at Giants Stadium and a historic seven-overtime triumph over Maryland.

One day, U.Va. coach Dom Starsia said, "I think the players will look back at our regular season and say, 'Wow, that was a heck of a ride.'

"But to satisfy the hunger from the end of last season, [more important is] what's still ahead of us, and I think everybody appreciates that. What people remember about lacrosse seasons really is about to unfold."

In 2008, Virginia lost in double overtime to eventual national champion Syracuse in the NCAA semifinals. A year later, the Cavaliers are seeded No. 1 in the NCAA tourney, which begins for them today.

At 2:30 p.m., Virginia (13-2) hosts Colonial Athletic Association champion Villanova (11-5) in a first-round game at Klockner Stadium. The winner of this ESPNU-televised game will face No. 8 seed Johns Hopkins (10-4) in the quarterfinals next Sunday at Annapolis, Md. Hopkins beat visiting Brown 12-11 in overtime yesterday.

Villanova was the first opponent Starsia faced as U.Va.'s coach. The Wahoos whipped the Wildcats 21-6 in Charlottesville on Feb. 28, 1993. Today marks the teams' first meeting since then.

"This is a nerve-wracking game," Starsia said. "You feel like these teams that are traveling [in the first round] are playing with house money. I'm trying not to transfer my anxiety about it to the team. I want the kids to be able to just focus on playing." -- Jeff White

 

UVa Golfers Grab Berth to NCAA Championships
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 05/09/2009

Gainesville, Fla. – She did it again.

Last year the Virginia women’s golf team needed a sizzling finish by Joy Kim at the NCAA Regional to help propel the team to the NCAA Championships. Kim fired off five birdies over her final nine holes at the University of Georgia Golf Course to help the Cavaliers to a fifth-place finish.

Saturday morning Kim was just impressive in closing out her final round at this season’s NCAA East Regional Championship at the Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, Fla. She managed birdies on her final three holes to help Virginia earn a spot in the NCAA Championships. The Cavaliers placed fourth overall at 874 to secure one of the eight berths to the national championships.

“I went up to Joy on the 16th hole and tapped her on the back and told her we really needed her right now and darned if she didn’t go birdie, birdie, birdie,” said Virginia coach Kim Lewellen. “That’s Joy. She’s a real competitor and I think she thrives on pressure situations. She really performed well for us when it counted the most.”

“It was awesome to finish that way,” Kim said. “I was just playing okay today and on my 16th hole it just seemed to all come together. I hit the ball well and my putts went in.”

Kim finished the day at 2-over 72 and moved up to 53rd overall in the standings at 225. Virginia was led during the final round by 1-over 71 performances by Whitney Neuhauser and Calle Nielson. Neuhauser finished eighth overall at 6-over 216. Nielson was one shot behind her in 11th place.

Lene Krog carded a 3-over 73 during the final round and placed 40th overall at 225. Kristen Simpson shot 79 Saturday and was 61st at 228.

Virginia’s final round score of 7-over 287 was its best 18-hole performance during the three-day event. It was the fifth best single-round effort during the entire championship.

“We have had a tendency to play our best on the final day of tournaments this year and we did it again,” Lewellen said. “I’m happy that we played well today. We had a rough go of it at the ACCs (finishing fifth) and I think this was a good step for us. We got back into it and played like we did earlier in the year. We sort of built our confidence back up. Now we are all really looking forward to the NCAAs.”

Virginia’s appearance at the NCAA Championships will be the third in the program’s six-year history. Last year the Cavaliers placed 12th overall and were 13th in 2005. This year’s NCAA Championships take place May 19-22 at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md. Earlier this year Virginia placed third in a field of 15 at the Fall Preview played at Caves Valley.

Denver used a final round 1-under 279 to win the East Regional at 862. Alabama was second at 866 followed by Tennessee at 873. Also advancing to the NCAAs were Tulane (876), Duke (881), North Carolina (881) and Georgia (889). East Carolina, which led after the first round, finished ninth at 892. Auburn, the No. 2 seed in the field behind the Cavaliers, was 10th at 893. Denver’s Dawn Shockley took medalist honors by one shot, finishing at 1-under 209.

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

Team Results 1. Denver (20) 287-296-279-862 2. Alabama (6) 284-291-291-866 3. Tennessee (27) 292-293-288-873 4. Virginia (3) 290-297-287-874 5. Tulane (31) 292-296-288-876 6. Duke (12) 298-293-290-881 6. North Carolina (10) 291-303-287-881 8. Georgia (14) 297-295-297-889 9. East Carolina (37) 283-313-296-89210. Auburn (7) 304-294-295-89311. Vanderbilt (23) 286-299-309-89412. South Carolina (43) 308-290-299-89713. Coastal Carolina 301-297-300-89814. Furman (46) 305-290-308-90315. Florida State 307-297-303-90716. Florida (30) 305-301-302-90817. Mississippi (38) 307-293-309-90917. Central Florida 309-302-298-90917. Stetson 309-303-304-91620. College of Charleston (50) 302-310-312-92421. Jackson State 324-336-330-990Number in parenthesis is Golfstat rankingIndividual Leaders1. Dawn Shockley, Denver 73-70-66-2092. Stephanie Connelly, UCF 73-69-68-2103. Camilla Lennarth, Alabama 69-70-73-2123. Nathalie Mansson, Tennessee 69-72-71-2125. Marina Alex, Vanderbilt 69-72-73-2145. Katie Kempter, Denver 69-77-68-2147. Brooke Pancake, Alabama 70-72-73-2158. Whitney Neuhauser, Virginia 71-74-71-2168. Candace Schepperle, Auburn 71-70-75-2168. Stephanie Sherlock, Denver 69-70-73-216Virginia 8. Whitney Neuhauser 71-74-71-21611. Calle Nielson 72-74-71-21740. Lene Krog 73-77-73-22353. Joy Kim 74-79-72-22561. Kristen Simpson 77-72-79-228
 

The ACC looks to go lean
By Ken Tysiac - staff writer
Published: Sun, May. 10, 2009 05:46AMModified Sun, May. 10, 2009 05:46AM

Located at the intersection of stately, moss-covered oak trees and a beach of white sand, The Ritz-Carlton on Amelia Island near Jacksonville, Fla., is an elegant resort.

Each year, the luxury hotel hosts the Atlantic Coast Conference's spring meetings, as coaches and school and conference officials conduct business early in the day in its chilly conference rooms. Then they spend their late afternoons and early evenings playing golf or relaxing on the beach.

For some, it's an uncomfortable arrangement at a time when member schools struggle through budget cuts, furloughs and layoffs in a floundering economy. N.C. State college of management department head Art Padilla, who has worked to reform college athletics, questioned the wisdom of the trip even though the ACC has been cutting other costs.

Padilla said he knows ACC officials have been tightening their belts and restricting coaches' travel and acknowledged that contractual obligations with the hotel may make it difficult to cancel.

"But I think they need to re-look at this Amelia Island [trip]," he said.

ACC commissioner John Swofford said the conference, which pays expenses for the spring meetings to be held Monday through Wednesday, indeed has a multi-year contract with the resort.

Swofford said it would have been difficult to cancel on short notice, because it takes a lot of meeting space and hotel rooms to accommodate the conference.

The 12 ACC schools bring football and men's and women's basketball coaches, athletic directors, senior women's administrators and faculty athletic representatives to the meetings.

"It's an annual gathering of an awful lot of people, and it's very difficult to move that kind of meeting in a short time frame," Swofford said. "... We have reduced to some degree the number of attendees from a conference standpoint to this particular meeting, and also the length of the stay and number of room nights to a degree."

This week, conference and school officials are scheduled to discuss ways to cut costs. Swofford said the ACC conference office will reduce its 2009-10 budget six percent from 2008-09. The money-saving strategies include:

--Reducing travel for staff members to NCAA championships, bowl games, conventions, meetings and seminars.

--Eliminating printed ACC media guides, which will remain available online.

--Holding more meetings via teleconferences.

--"Flatlining" salaries and not creating new positions in the office.

The ACC already has moved its 2009 football media kickoff from the Tampa area to Greensboro and its 2010 baseball tournament from Boston to Greensboro to cut costs.

N.C. State baseball coach Elliott Avent said he understood the reasons for postponing the much-anticipated trip to the Boston Red Sox's storied Fenway Park.

"We were excited to be going to Fenway Park," Avent said, "but the trials and tribulations of the Boston area were going to be tough not only economically, but from a fan standpoint of your fans being able to get there."

Perhaps the biggest nonfinancial issue that will be debated is a look ahead to the possibility of an 18-game conference schedule in men's basketball, beginning in 2011-12.

The ACC is locked into a 16-game conference schedule until the end of 2010-11; the Big East, Big Ten and Pac-10 all play 18-game conference schedules.

Swofford said the idea of a nine-game conference football schedule, which was debated at last year's meeting, has died.

He also doesn't expect negotiations on the conference's TV contracts, which expire after 2010-11, to start just yet. Asked if the ACC will revisit the issue of future meetings at the Ritz-Carlton, Swofford said he thought so.

"You want to do what's responsible without overreacting to the potential of a situation," Swofford said. "It's something our school representatives are discussing on an ongoing basis and we are looking over the next year at our meeting schedules on certain kinds of meetings."

 

No. 3 Duke Defeats Virginia in NCAA Second Round
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 05/09/2009

DURHAM, N.C. – The No. 27 Virginia women’s tennis team was defeated 4-1 by third-ranked Duke in the second round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament Saturday at Ambler Tennis Stadium in Durham, N.C. Lindsey Hardenbergh (Fairfax Station, Va.) recorded the lone point for the Cavaliers with a win at No. 4 singles.

“Overall it was as well as we have played against Duke,” Virginia coach Mark Guilbeau said following the match. “Duke is a really good team. Our kids really fought hard and the final score was 4-1 but we were really close. We were in those last three matches and we were in doubles so I think progress was made.”

The Cavaliers conclude the season with an overall record of 14-10 and reached the national tournament for the 10th time in program history.

Duke (24-3), meanwhile, advances to the Round of 16 in College Station, Texas.

“We need to do a better job at surviving those though parts of the season,” Guilbeau continued. “When you get in this environment, this is as tough as it gets. Duke could win the national championship and we’re still good enough to give them a great run. We want to be in a better position in the future but that being said, we played them as well as we could have and maybe as well as any team in the country plays them. I give the kids a lot of credit for today.”

The Blue Devils took the doubles point winning two of out of three matches. At No. 3 doubles, Duke’s Ellah Nze and Reka Zsilinszka earned an 8-4 victory over Virginia’s Emily Fraser (Rye, N.Y.) and Hardenbergh.

After Cavaliers Claire Bartlett (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Jennifer Stevens (Miami, Fla.) won the second doubles match, 8-4, over 53rd ranked Jessi Robinson and Mallory Cecil, the doubles point came down to No. 1. Duke’s Amanda Granson and Melissa Mang defeated UVa’s Amanda Rales (Bethesda, Md.) and Maggie Yahner (Las Vegas, Nev.) 8-6.

In singles, Hardenbergh picked up Virginia’s lone point with the win over No. 91 Amanda Granson.

No. 3 Duke 4, No. 27 Virginia 1

Doubles
1. #22 Amanda Granson/Melissa Mang (Duke) def. Amanda Rales/Maggie Yahner (UVa) 8-6
2. Claire Bartlett/Jennifer Stevens (UVa) def. No. 53 Jessi Robinson/Mallory Cecil (Duke) 8-4
3. Ellah Nze/Reka Zsilinszka (Duke) def. Emily Fraser/Lindsey Hardenbergh (UVa) 8-4

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1

Singles
1. #6 Mallory Cecil (Duke) def. #80 Emily Fraser (UVa) 6-1, 6-2
2. #100 Jennifer Stevens (UVa ) led #37 Ellah Nze (Duke) 6-4, 5-5 DNF
3. #30 Reka Zsilinszka (Duke) led Amanda Rales (UVa) 6-2, 5-3 DNF
4. Lindsey Hardenbergh (UVa) def. No. 91 Amanda Granson (Duke) 6-0, 6-2
5. #122 Melissa Mang (Duke) def. Claire Bartlett (UVa) 6-3, 6-2
6. Jessi Robinson (Duke) def. Maggie Yahner (UVa) 6-0, 7-5

Order of finish: 4, 1, 6, 5