By now, everyone knows that the Dukies are riding into town to close out a trying home season for the Virginia men's basketball team tonight.
Hooville finally will live up to the hype, causing empty seats to be as hard to find as Keith Jenifer's three-point game.
But never fear, Cavaliers. Even if you miss Virginia's penultimate prayer for an NCAA berth, you still can catch a plethora of exciting athletic contests that will satiate even the most delicate of sports palates.
Fed up with the failure to meet lofty preseason expectations? Catch the women's basketball team tip off an ACC tournament run with a game against Georgia Tech on Saturday. The game is in Greensboro, N.C., but you can catch it on Fox Sports Net at 2 p.m.
Over the course of the season, Debbie's darlings proved that they are more than just the fundamentally correct counterpart to Pete's pack. Graduation and offseason defections left the women's basketball team with little experience and without its two brightest stars, Svetlana Volnaya and Schuye LaRue. As a result, 2001-2002 looked like a rebuilding season and Virginia was picked to finish eighth in the conference.
Virginia coach Debbie Ryan, however, has groomed the freshman class into something special. Sparked by the inspired play of newcomers Brandi Teamer and LaTonya Blue, and under the steady leadership of the team's lone senior, Telisha Quarles, the Cavaliers surprised everyone by tying Clemson for third place in the ACC. Entering this weekend, the Cavalier women - not the Cavalier men - appear destined for an NCAA tournament bid.
If you want to enjoy the beautiful weekend weather and some live Virginia action, however, you should head over to Klockner Stadium for the men's lacrosse game against Syracuse at 3 p.m. Saturday. Featuring the two titans in the college lacrosse world, every game between the preseason No. 2 Orangemen and the preseason No. 5 Cavaliers proves to be exciting. Virginia has lost the past five meetings between the two teams, but two of those were one-goal defeats in Charlottesville. Outside of the Carrier Dome and in front of fans clad in orange and blue, the Cavaliers undoubtedly willmake Saturday's game a memorable one.
Additionally, both teams are coming off the emotional high of reaching milestones last week: Syracuse won its 700th game in school history while Virginia coach Dom Starsia notched his 100th win at the Cavaliers' helm. A big win over a tough rival may carry this momentum far into the regular season.
So if you're disappointed by the basketball team's lack of run-and-gun, check out the men's lacrosse team. With All-American attackman Conor Gill leading the way, the Virginia offense is apt to explode at any minute. In the Cavaliers' season-opening 20-6 drubbing of Drexel on Feb. 24, Gill scored only once but added seven assists to lead Virginia. He may have to improve on this performance against the Orangemen since Syracuse's potent attack has victimized the Cavaliers for 13 goals or more in each of the past five meetings. Fortunately for the Cavaliers, sophomore goaltender extraordinare Tillman Johnson has ridded himself of the freshmen jitters that plagued his game last year against Syracuse and appears poised to tap into his immense shot-blocking potential.
No matter how you put it, this weekend is chock full of Cavalier athletic entertainment. If the men's basketball team plays like the Washington Generals tonight, there's plenty of potentially heart-stopping action this weekend to restore faith among the Cavalier faithful.
But if you were camping out in Hooville, please stay home until you take a long hot shower.
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