Men’s Track and Field
The Virginia men’s track and field team made history Saturday at the ACC Championships, tying Florida State for the title and marking the first time in program history the squad has held a share of the outdoor crown. The Cavaliers and Seminoles both tallied 141 points during the course of the three-day meet in Coral Gables, Fla. to outdistance themselves from third-place Virginia Tech’s 130-point total.
Sophomore Adams Abdulrazaaq, the conference title holder in the 110-meter hurdles, and senior Yemi Ayeni, title holder in the discus, led Virginia’s first-place finish — a significant improvement from the team’s fourth-place showing last season. Abdulrazaaq’s personal best of 14.16 seconds gave the Cavaliers their first conference victory in the hurdles, while Ayeni’s throw of 189 feet, 7 inches was the All-American’s third-straight ACC crown.
Sophomore Ryan Collins and senior Andrew Jesien helped out in the distance events, as both notched runnerup performances in the 5000-meter and 1500-meter runs, respectively. The Cavaliers managed to overcome a 14-point deficit against Florida State heading into the final day of the meet to claim a share of the championship.
Women’s Track and Field
On the women’s side, Virginia finished in fourth place with 74 points. The Seminoles nabbed the team title with 160 points to top Virginia Tech and North Carolina.
A trio of Cavalier senior throwers led the team in scoring, as Billie-Joe Grant, Caitlin Kelly and Amy Bilmanis captured second, third and fifth places. Freshman Morgane Gay notched her first All-ACC honor with her third-place showing in the 1500-meter run.
In all, 14 Cavaliers earned all-conference honors. The squad will compete in the Penn Relays next weekend.
Men’s Tennis
For the third consecutive season, the Cavalier men’s tennis team captured the ACC Tournament team title. No. 1 Virginia’s 4-0 shutout of No. 20 Wake Forest Sunday in Cary, N.C. gave the squad its fifth title in the last six years. It also was the first time in tournament history a team has swept all three of its matches en route to the crown.
Although the No. 13 Virginia doubles tandem of senior Dominic Inglot and sophomore Michael Shabaz suffered an 8-5 loss to the No. 11 Demon Deacon duo of senior Corey Parr and junior Steven Forman at the No. 1 position, the Cavaliers rebounded with victories in the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles slots. Sophomore Sanam Singh and junior Houston Barrick defeated Wake Forest sophomore Iain Atkinson and junior Carlos Salmon 8-5 and the pair of junior Lee Singer and freshman Drew Courtney captured the doubles point for the Cavaliers with an 8-3 win against sophomore Jonathan Wolff and freshman David Hopkins.
The squad also made impressive showings during the singles. Named the tournament MVP, Inglot avenged his regular season loss against Parr with a 6-4, 6-3 defeat of the Wake Forest senior Sunday. Courtney followed with a 6-3. 6-2 defeat of Atkinson in the No. 5 spot, while Singh secured the Cavalier title with 6-2, 7-5 victory against Forman at No. 2.
Undefeated Virginia — which notched its 45th straight victory in conference play with the win — will next compete in the NCAA Tournament in College Station, Texas. The 64-team bracket will be released April 28.
Women’s Tennis
The Virginia women’s tennis team made an early exit at the ACC Tournament, falling to No. 3 Duke 4-0 in the quarterfinals Friday in Cary, N.C. The loss marks the second-straight year Duke eliminated the Cavaliers in the second round of play and left the team 13-8 overall this season.
The tournament’s No. 7 seed, Virginia topped Boston College 4-1 in Thursday’s opening round but failed to carry momentum from the win into Friday afternoon’s contest. The Blue Devils swept all three doubles matches to secure the first point of the day and followed with strong singles play. In the No. 5 slot, Virginia senior Maggie Yahner suffered a 6-1, 6-1 loss against Duke senior Melissa Mang, and Blue Devil senior Jessi Robinson defeated Cavalier sophomore Neela Vaez 7-5, 6-1. Sophomore Ella Nze clinched the win for Duke by cruising to a 7-5, 6-1 victory against junior Jennifer Stevens in the No. 2 spot.
Virginia — currently ranked No. 27 in the nation — now awaits the announcement of the 64-team NCAA Tournament field April 28 to learn whether its season will continue.
—compiled by Cayce Troxel
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