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(03/18/09 5:15am)
The Cavalier wrestling team has had one of their best seasons to date, qualifying seven wrestlers — the most in program history — to the NCAA Championships in St. Louis, Mo.The Cavaliers (11-11, 2-3 ACC) qualified six matmen for their performances at the ACC Championships: sophomore Nick Nelson (141), junior Kellon Balum (149), freshman Jedd Moore (157), sophomore Chris Henrich (174), senior Rocco Caponi (184) and junior Brent Jones (197). Freshman Matt Bonson (133) became the seventh Virginia selection by earning an at-large bid after finishing 17-7 and defeating two wrestlers in the top 12 in the nation at the time of the matches.After starting at No. 23 in the polls, the highest ranking in school history, Virginia has been flying under the radar for most of the season. The Cavaliers’ record may be lackluster, but much of that can be attributed to injuries throughout the year, including a season-ending injury to junior Ross Gitomer, the 2008 ACC Champion at 125 pounds. The team’s second-place finish at the ACC Championships this season showed the team’s talent; even without anyone in the 125-pound class, Virginia finished just two points behind Maryland for the second straight year.The Most Outstanding Wrestler of the match was Jones, who was the No. 3 seed at 197 pounds. Jones won three bouts to capture the individual title and earn a bid to the NCAA Championships. His performance against the No. 1 seed Maryland junior Hudson Taylor was one of the highlights of ACCs; Jones pinned Taylor in an impressive 38 seconds. “If Brent Jones pinning Hudson Taylor didn’t prove to the rest of the guys that you can beat anybody on any given day, then nothing ever will,” Virginia coach Steve Garland said. “That was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. It was emotional, I cried like a baby afterwards. I’ve coached guys into national championship matches, I’ve coached guys to a fourth-place team finish, I’ve been at the top of our sport, and that was right up there with any match I have ever been a part of.”With the bids to NCAAs, Virginia has several contenders who could win individual titles and become All-Americans. Every Cavalier who qualified has shown that he can beat top-notch competition, knocking off several top-ranked wrestlers throughout the season. Moore won the Eastern Michigan Open at the beginning of the season, taking five straight matches to win the tournament. Bonson had several key wins this season, including victories against junior Danny Mitcheff of Kent State Jan. 10 and junior Tyler Shinn of Oklahoma State Nov. 29, who were each ranked No. 11 in the country at the time of the matches. Nelson also has proven he can beat top-notch competition, defeating No. 11 senior Drew Lashaway of Kent State and senior Joe Caramanica of North Carolina State.“We are at that point now where teams straight up fear us for having the U.Va. singlet on,” sophomore Chris Henrich said. “They know we are a team that they don’t want to go toe to toe with on the mat.”Caponi will be making his school-record fourth NCAA appearance, and Henrich will be making his second straight trip to the national championships. Henrich said he is confident the team will finish in the top 15 or even the top 10, which would be its best performance since 1957 when the grapplers finished the season tied for 10th.“Once you step on that mat, you just have to stick to your training and stick to what you know,” Jones said. “A lot of people freeze and lose the mental battle out there and crumble under the pressure. We have had the training to go the distance.”
(03/17/09 5:39am)
The No. 4 Virginia women’s lacrosse team will host in-state rival William & Mary tonight at Klöckner Stadium. The Cavaliers look to recover from their Saturday loss to North Carolina, while the Tribe hopes to break its eight-year losing streak to Virginia.William & Mary (3-3) recently dropped out of the top 20. They have played a tough schedule this season, facing three top-20 opponents — losing to Duke, Boston University and Stanford. The Cavaliers (5-2, 1-2 ACC) have struggled against top competition as well, losing to then-No. 3 Maryland and then-No. 3 North Carolina.Virginia has a bevy of offensive talent, but it is the defense that has helped the Cavaliers succeed this season. Tonight Virginia again must use several key players, including junior midfielder Kaitlin Duff, if it wants to continue its dominance of William & Mary. Duff is Virginia’s best lockdown defender, leading the team in every defensive category this season. She is among the best in the country with 17 turnovers, creating havoc against opposing teams. Duff also has 16 ground balls to lead the team. Having started every game in her collegiate career, she also brings plenty of experience to the defense.“I think we have a lot of the key players with good experience under their belt stepping up and that really helps everyone who plays alongside of them,” coach Julie Myers said.Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Benner anchors the Cavalier defense between the pipes. Benner is third in the conference in goals-against average, affording only 9.84 nettings per game. Excluding the defensive lapses against Maryland and North Carolina — in which the Cavaliers allowed 17 and 12 goals respectively — Benner is allowing less than eight goals per game.Benner “has had a really good season; she has really stepped it up,” senior defender Katie Shannon said. “She has had some really good games and has come up with some big saves.”The key to the game, however, could come down to the draw controls. Junior midfielder Brittany Kalkstein arguably is one of the most underappreciated players in the country, with one of the most important jobs on the team in controlling the draw at the beginning of every half and after every goal. Like Duff, she is also a durable and dependable player, starting every game in her career. Kalkstein has 28 draw controls this season and is second on Virginia’s all-time draw controls list.She “has become one of the best defenders in the game,” Myers said.William & Mary, meanwhile, has a defensive stalwart of its own in sophomore goalkeeper Emily Geary. She was one of the top freshman goalkeepers in the country last season and was named to the All-CAA Second Team. Geary is averaging just less than 11 saves per games. For the Tribe to be successful tonight, Geary will have to slow down Virginia’s offense, which averages about 14 goals per game.She is not alone though. William & Mary handles draw controls by committee with four players recording at least 11 this season. The Tribe is among the top 10 in the country in draw controls per game, averaging about 15 per contest.The Cavaliers will need hold off the Tribe and get back to their winning ways by playing solid defense for 60 minutes. There is no doubt that goals will be scored tonight; the team that overcomes the other’s defense the most, however, will be the one that emerges victorious.
(03/13/09 5:42am)
“If I were them I would be scared because we are going to be fired up to beat them.” Senior defender Jen Holden is confident going into this weekend’s game against the No. 9 North Carolina women’s lacrosse team. The No. 4 Cavaliers (5-1, 1-1 ACC) are coming off a weekend in which they were outplayed by No. 3 Maryland last Friday and barely escaped with a win against Penn State, winning in overtime Sunday. Holden said she believes Virginia needs to get back to basics if it wants to defeat North Carolina (4-2) Saturday. The Tar Heels have beaten the Cavaliers in three of the last four meetings between the two teams, with their most recent win against Virginia coming in the form of an 11-7 upset in the first round of last year’s NCAA Tournament.“It was a huge upset, so revenge will be on our mind,” Holden said. “We know them really well; they have a lot of returning players.”North Carolina’s two losses this season have both come against top-10 opponents Northwestern and Pennsylvania. The Tar Heels are not short on talent; senior defender Amber Falcone was named to the U.S. Training Team for the 2009 World Cup and sophomore attacker Cory Donohoe is tied for the team lead in goals with 12. Donohoe also was one of two freshmen named to the All-ACC team last season, and Womenslax.com named her Player of the Week earlier this year for her four-goal performance against then-No. 12 Vanderbilt. The Cavaliers counter with their own talent on the offensive side of the field, with senior midfielders Blair Weymouth and Ashley McCulloch and senior attacker Jenny Hauser leading the charge. Weymouth leads the Cavaliers with 19 goals and is closely followed by McCulloch with 15 and Hauser with 14. McCulloch also has accumulated 15 assists this season, leading the team and currently good enough for fifth in the country. North Carolina will be playing its first ACC game of the season; the Cavaliers will be playing their third after beating Virginia Teach in the season-opener and losing to Maryland last Friday. Though the Cavaliers boast four All-Americans, Virginia coach Julie Myers said she believes the Tar Heels most likely will not be intimidated.“Their swagger is their biggest strength,” Myers said. “Everyone of those players feels like they are the greatest, fastest, fittest athlete out there with the ability to shoot from anywhere. They are going to come after us; they feel like they are better than Virginia.”Despite knocking off Syracuse two weeks ago, the Cavaliers’ performances this past weekend against Maryland and Penn State indicate that the team has room for improvement. The Cavaliers must return to playing solid defense and efficient offense to get back on track and emerge victorious against the Tar Heels.“We need to make sure that we limit their shots and make sure that our goal keepers are ready for long wide shots, which they traditionally take,” Myers said. “On the offensive end, we need to be patient; we need to get the ball moving again.”
(02/26/09 6:47am)
The No. 4 Virginia women’s lacrosse team easily pushed its record to 17-1 all-time against Richmond at home, defeating the Spiders 16-7 last night.The Cavaliers (3-0, 1-0 ACC) continued their offensive dominance to start the season by scoring two goals in the first two minutes of the game. Richmond (0-4) hung with the Cavaliers until about halfway through the first half, when Virginia’s overpowering offense sprung to life and put in six unanswered goals.“I think we were excited that we didn’t let Richmond back in the game,” Virginia coach Julie Myers said. “I think for 15 minutes or so there was some life in the Richmond team. I was glad that we made a stance and we started to bury Richmond in the second part of the first half.”Senior midfielder Blair Weymouth led the Cavalier attack with five goals. It was a collaborative effort, though, that defeated the pesky Spiders. Assisting Weymouth was senior midfielder Ashley McCulloch, the reigning national and conference player of the week, who gave an impressive all-around performance with three goals and three assists. The collaboration was not limited to individual players, however, as Virginia’s entire offensive and defensive schemes worked in harmony, each putting on an impressive show. The defense was led by redshirt sophomore goalie Lauren Benner, who collected a career-high 12 saves in the cage. The Spiders were only able to score seven times, keeping alive the Cavaliers’ trend of not allowing an opponent to score double digits this season. The Virginia defense also kept the 2008 Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year, senior attack Allison Furstenberg, in check, only allowing her to score once. Last weekend against Duke and North Carolina, she tallied eight goals combined.“We knew what they were doing, especially Allison with her crease roll she likes to do,” Weymouth said. “I think our defense read them well and knew when to tighten up on them and knew when to back off and give them a little bit of space.”The game against Richmond was a good warm-up for the Cavaliers as they turn around quickly and head to New York to take on No. 2 Syracuse (3-0) Friday for an early season test. Virginia will travel outside of the commonwealth for the first time this season to face a team it defeated 13-8 last year in Charlottesville.“I think playing well tonight against a good Richmond team was our first step in preparing for Syracuse,” Myers said. “Playing well tonight and handling a couple dominant players that Richmond does have I think helps us prepare for Syracuse, who has two or three pretty dominant players.”The Orange has had an impressive start to its season as well, scoring 44 goals in its first three games. Syracuse also defeated No. 17 Stanford 15-10 last weekend in Palo Alto, Calif. for a noteworthy early season victory of its own.The Cavaliers will have their hands full on defense as Syracuse is led by several outstanding offensive players. The Orange attack line is dominated by junior Halley Quillinan and senior Katie Rowan, who have notched 12 goals each this season. Rowan also is tied for the team’s lead in assists with four.Weymouth said the Cavaliers look forward to the challenge of an exciting game early in the season and are eager to get to New York and get on the field.“We will be ready,” Weymouth said. “We are not scared.”
(02/25/09 6:31am)
The No. 4 Virginia women’s lacrosse team will put its flawless record and streaking offense to the test as it faces off against Richmond Wednesday at Klöckner Stadium.The Cavaliers (2-0, 1-0 ACC) have had an impressive start to their season, outscoring opponents 38-11 and scoring 19 goals in each of their first two games. Senior midfielder Ashley McCulloch currently leads the attack with nine goals and seven assists.“She has been lighting it up behind the cage and taking it in front,” senior midfielder Blair Weymouth said. “She is seeing the field so well and has just been able to make other people play better.”McCulloch was named ACC Player of the Week for her performances against Virginia Tech and Loyola. She recorded a career high with five goals against Loyola and currently leads the ACC in points per game with eight.Although McCulloch is one of Virginia’s four preseason All-Americans who have helped cement the team’s No. 4 national ranking, collective effort is what has allowed Virginia to get off to one of its best overall starts in several years. Every person on the team has seen playing time and contributed, with 12 Cavaliers already having notched goals this season.“We have rotated everyone onto the field at different points so far and the intensity level stays the same,” Virginia coach Julie Myers said. “We haven’t played down to an opponent and we haven’t really changed how we have played based on the personnel that is in. Everyone is able to chip in and contribute on game day.” In particular, freshmen midfielders Josie Owen and Julie Gardner have complemented McCulloch’s play. The freshman duo has contributed eight goals this season and looks to be a staple of the Cavalier attack during the next four years.Though Virginia is off to a hot start, it cannot underestimate Richmond (0-3). The Cavaliers won the teams’ last two meetings, but the Spiders defeated Virginia 8-7 in 2006, snapping a 21-match streak — dating back to 1984 — of Virginia victories against Richmond.“Every year we have played it has been an intense in-state rivalry because they can catch you off guard,” Weymouth said. “In-state competition is always nice.”Additionally, though the Spiders have yet to win a match this season, each loss has been to an ACC powerhouse; opponents Maryland, Duke and North Carolina are all ranked in the top 10 in the country. Richmond was able to hang tough Friday against No. 2 Duke; the score stood at 2-2 at halftime and the Spiders only faced a slim 11-7 deficit late in the second half before the Blue Devils scored the next two goals en route to a 14-9 victory.The Spiders are led by their own offensive stud, senior attack Allison Furstenburg. The transfer from Syracuse was selected second-team All-Atlantic 10 last season and was named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week for her eight combined goals against Duke and North Carolina this past weekend.The Cavaliers will try not to look ahead to their Friday match up against Big East juggernaut No. 3 Syracuse and instead must focus on handling business tonight against Richmond.“We have a big week ahead of us,” Myers said.
(02/17/09 6:48am)
When one thinks about Virginia lacrosse, the triple threat of Danny Glading and Rhamel and Shamel Bratton is often the first thing to come to mind. The men’s team, however, is not the only successful squad on Grounds; the Cavalier women’s lacrosse team boasts its own trio of superstars in seniors Ashley McCulloch, Jen Holden and Blair Weymouth. During the past three years, the names have become synonymous with winning, and this year so far is no different, as two of the three already were named preseason All-Americans for No. 4 Virginia.“I think it is an honor and definitely exciting, but it is a new year and you cannot think about that,” midfielder McCulloch said. “You have to play as well as ever.”While the Cavaliers will accept nothing less than a national championship this season, they will need leadership and determination to achieve such a lofty goal. Virginia coach Julie Myers expects the trio — especially defender Holden and midfielder Weymouth, the team’s captains — to take the reins as the season progresses. Myers said she has great confidence in her players and their abilities to lead the team on and off the field.“Leadership is going to be big for them,” Myers said. “They will know how to light a spark when things go a little bit flatter and a little quiet and how to ride the emotion when things are going their way. They do a great job of leading by example.”The Cavaliers, who will kick off their season Wednesday against Virginia Tech, played several preseason exhibition games to help prepare them for the season. They traveled to Florida two weekends ago to take on the U.S. Developmental and Elite teams, as well as the Japanese National team. While Virginia was unable secure a victory against either of the American teams, the squad managed to defeat the Japanese team 18-12.“Practicing all the time kind of gets boring,” McCulloch said. “Having different people to play against helps a lot. You learn a lot from scrimmages.”Playing elite competition before the season starts should aid the Cavaliers come NCAA Championship time. The Cavaliers made an early exit in the tournament last season, falling to North Carolina in a first-round upset despite topping the Tar Heels once during the regular season and again in the ACC Tournament. While Virginia appears to possess the talent and ability to win a national championship, the team must strive for improved consistency compared to last season. And as the season progresses, the Cavaliers also will rely on their depth. The team has its eyes set on reaching Towson, Md., the site of this season’s National Championship, and though the road to the Final Four undoubtedly will present plenty of challenges for the team, Myers said she is confident in her players’ abilities to persevere.“They are hungry for it,” Myers said. “Everyday they talk about trying to get [a national championship] and being there in the end.”
(02/13/09 6:46am)
“Perseverance, character and integrity,” are what define this year’s seniors, Virginia coach Steve Garland said.The Cavaliers (9-10, 0-2 ACC) will have a chance to put those qualities to the test when they play host to N.C. State Saturday to kick off their weekend and then take on Duke in their last home match of the season Sunday at Memorial Gymnasium.The matches against N.C. State (4-11-1, 0-3 ACC) and Duke (8-3, 1-2 ACC) will be the Cavaliers’ last chance to salvage their conference record.Leading Duke is heavyweight junior Konrad Dudziak, who holds a No. 5 ranking. Dudziak holds a 25-2 record this year, including a 4-0 record in dual meets. At the 184-pound weight class, Blue Devil junior John Barone will take on Cavalier senior Rocco Caponi in a rematch of last season’s ACC semifinals. While Caponi managed to beat Barone in a 6-4 decision last year, the Duke grappler boasts an impressive 32-5 record thus far.The Wolfpack, meanwhile, is headlined by two ranked wrestlers in lighter weight classes: 141-pound No. 18 senior Joe Caramanica and 149-pound No. 3 junior Darrion Caldwell. Perhaps the most compelling matchup of the day, however, will be at the 174-pound division, in which Virginia sophomore Chris Henrich will take on N.C. State freshman Jake Burge. Although Henrich is currently ranked seventh nationally and has recorded a near-perfect 31-1 record on the season, Burge enters Saturday’s contest on an impressive eight-bought win streak. While Henrich still has two years of eligibility remaining, the Cavaliers have three starting seniors: Peter Ferrara, Mike Sewell and Caponi, who has totaled 106 career wins. Following the meets against N.C. State and Duke, Virginia will have to part ways with Caponi, who has proven himself as one of Virginia’s most successful wrestlers, ranking third on the school’s career wins list. “It will be a little bit bittersweet,” Caponi said. “It is always good to wrestle in front of your home crowd, but it is a little sad that it will be the last time I wrestle in front of the home crowd at U.Va.”Unlike Caponi, Ferrara and Sewell are new additions to the starting rotation this season. Although they have not acquired the career statistics that Caponi has, both Ferrara and Sewell have grown during their time at Virginia and have become team leaders.The seniors “are great role models for the rest of the team,” Garland said. “Mikey has always been a great workout partner. Petey is just insanely smart and brings up the team GPA. The team would be a lot different if we were missing any one of them.” Ferrara said wrestling has significantly impacted him while he has been at the University. While Ferrara was not highly recruited out of high school, he found his place in Charlottesville. In his final season, he is the starter at 149 pounds and has posted a 15-9 record.“It has meant a lot more to me than many people may know,” Ferrara said. “Wrestling has been that balancing force for me.”Ferrara dislocated his knee against Old Dominion this past weekend and may not be able to wrestle against Duke and N.C. State. If Ferrara does wrestle, however, it will illustrate the determination he has shown throughout his four years and may jumpstart the Cavaliers as they get ready for the ACC Tournament. Though the Cavaliers will play their last home match of the season this weekend, they also are beginning their push for an ACC Championship. The seniors will play a major role in motivating the team as they enter postseason play.“Postseason is just a lot of leadership,” Caponi said. “We are the old farts on the team.”Virginia does not have an overly impressive record this season and is competing with four of its ten starting wrestlers currently injured. The team, however, continues to remain positive despite various setbacks. “I think we can turn a lot of heads in the postseason,” Ferrara said.
(02/12/09 6:39am)
Three national championships, five ACC titles, 54 All-Americans. The Virginia women’s lacrosse team boasts a decorated history, and if a No. 4 preseason rank and three returning first-team All-Americans are any indication, this season should be a continuation of the program’s tradition of excellence.The Cavaliers are coming off a disappointing season during which they lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to a North Carolina team they had already beaten twice — once in the regular season and again in the ACC Tournament. The squad enters this season excited for a chance to redeem itself and make a run at the national championship in May.“We have that date — May 24 — in our heads, so we are looking forward to that,” senior midfielder Blair Weymouth said. “Hopefully all of the hard work will pay off in May.”It will be no easy task for Virginia, though, as the Cavaliers’ schedule boasts a slew of talented teams, including preseason No. 1 Northwestern, winner of four consecutive national championships and Virginia’s opponent in this regular season’s finale. The Cavaliers are also up for an early season test Feb. 27 when they travel to No. 2 Syracuse, one of the six teams Virginia will face in the regular season that participated in last year’s NCAA Tournament.“It is something we do every year,” Virginia coach Julie Myers said. “I don’t think we look at our schedule and feel overwhelmed by it; if anything, we feel excited by it.”The ACC is arguably the best conference in the country, boasting four teams ranked in the top 10 nationally.“We know we are going to be taking our lumps and giving our lumps,” Myers said. “We just have to make the most of it. To have a tough schedule and to be in a tough conference makes it easy to work hard every day of the year to make sure you are preparing for something awesome.”Last season, Virginia managed to escape the difficult conference schedule with an impressive 4-1 record — the only loss coming at the hands of then-No. 5 Maryland in College Park. The Cavaliers have proved themselves to be the gold standard in the ACC in recent years, winning the last three conference crowns, but they will have to remain focused throughout the season if they wish to achieve their ambitious goal of claiming the program’s fourth national championship. Myers works hard to instill in her players the importance of daily dedication in practice and an overall appreciation for the game of lacrosse that she hopes will continue to yield success.“She has been a part of the program so long,” junior midfielder Brittany Kalkstein said. “It is just a constant we have had throughout [the years]. We can always count on her and her abilities to coach us.”Last year, Myers was named the ACC Coach of the Year for the fourth time during her tenure at Virginia. She has helped the Cavaliers reach the NCAA Tournament in all 13 seasons of her time as head coach, an accomplishment no other current coach in Division I has managed to duplicate. With Myers, the Cavaliers have made it to the NCAA Championship game seven times, winning the title most recently in 2004.While Myers’ team is loaded with talent at every position, the players still need to take the season one game at a time. If they wish to make good their lofty goals, the Cavaliers will have to overcome an intense schedule and go unscathed in the NCAA Tournament.“I think that coming ready to play will be a big focus — knowing that we are a good team and not being afraid to kick some butt,” Weymouth said.
(02/06/09 6:59am)
The Cavalier mat men will travel to Norfolk, Va. to take on in-state foe Old Dominion Sunday. Virginia (9-9, 0-2 ACC) will once again have a chance to demonstrate its talent against the No. 18 Monarchs (13-6, 1-0 CAA), who will likely prove to be a formidable opponent.The Cavaliers and Monarchs saw each other earlier this season at the Southern Scuffle, at which the Monarchs finished 20th and the Cavaliers placed 7th. Old Dominion has been on a roll since the Scuffle, though, going 10-2 with notable wins against Purdue and Kent State, who are both ranked in the current InterMat poll at No. 24 and No. 25, respectively. Old Dominion also boasts three ranked grapplers at 125, 141 and 197 pounds. At Sunday’s match, the key match-ups will come at 141 and 197 pounds. Virginia’s No. 19 Brent Jones will face Old Dominion’s No. 15 junior Jesse Strawn, and Virginia’s No. 17 Nick Nelson will face Old Dominion’s No. 7 senior Ryan Williams.Though the Cavaliers will face some stiff competition Sunday, Virginia coach Steve Garland said he is confident that his team will come ready to perform to the best of its abilities.“I believe in my kids and the guys we are putting out there,” Garland said.The Cavaliers should be well prepared for the level of talent they will have to take on, as they have already faced six top-25 opponents this season. One of the opponents was Kent State, which the Monarchs defeated 18-15 at the Virginia Duals earlier this season. Despite losing all six matches to a team its upcoming opponent beat, the Cavaliers hopefully have learned from such mistakes and are a different team than they were earlier this season, Garland said.“We have wrestled some of the best teams in the country and that is what we need: experience and confidence builders like that,” Jones saidVirginia will have to use that experience and confidence to overcome a lackluster start to its season after receiving a preseason ranking of No. 23, the highest in program history. Key injuries to important players have left the team without its full lineup — a factor that could again come into play Sunday against the Monarchs.“If you looked at our lineup on paper before the season — holy macaroni!” Garland said. “We thought the sky was the limit, but with the disappointment, you also have to take into account that some things happened that were out of our control.”Perhaps most significantly, Virginia lost all of its 125-pound wrestlers for the season. As a result, sophomore Wyatt Anderson rejoined the team in a starting role, and Garland has also been forced to replace redshirt junior Ross Gittomer, who was one of three Cavaliers to go to the NCAA Championships last year.“We are piecing it together with anything we can find out there,” Garland said. “We are a different team than we were a couple weeks ago. Heck, I told these guys in the locker room we are a different team today than we were three days ago.”How the team fares Sunday, then, is dependent on whether the lineup can overcome those key injuries and get past Old Dominion with a squad cobbled together with replacement players and other wrestlers reeling from a disappointing start to the season. Garland said he is confident that the Cavaliers will be able to tackle this difficult task, adding that the best is yet to come for Virginia.“Maybe I am delusional,” he said. “But I am really excited for finishing off the ACC schedule and getting to the ACC Tournament.”
(01/29/09 8:18am)
Virginia Tech.When spoken, these two words make many Cavaliers cringe and grimace. This sentiment is shared by the Virginia wrestling team, which will take on the Hokies Saturday in Richmond at the Rumble on the River. Before the action against Virginia Tech, the squad will face George Mason Friday in Hopewell, Va.The Cavaliers (8-7, 0-1 ACC) have split with the Hokies (15-1, 0-0 ACC) in Virginia coach Steve Garland’s first two years, and they will be looking to avenge last season’s disappointing performance during which the Cavaliers lost 16-18, despite being favored in nearly every weight class. The Hokies have had an impressive season up to this point, earning a No. 13 ranking in the country. They finished fourth at the Southern Scuffle in Greensboro, N.C. earlier this season, while the Cavaliers placed seventh. The Hokies also have two wins against top-25 opponents, recently upsetting No. 6 Central Michigan in Mt. Pleasant, Mich. last Sunday and beating No. 17 Michigan the day before in Ann Arbor. The Cavaliers will have their hands full this year if they hope to play spoiler to the Hokies; Virginia finds itself in the opposite position it was in last season, with the Hokies now ranked higher and favored in most of the weight classes.“We are out for blood this year because of what happened last year,” senior Rocco Caponi said. “We were supposed to beat them. On paper we were a better team, and when it came down to wrestling on the mat, we weren’t that day. It is a bit of a vendetta this year.”The match against Virginia Tech Saturday will be the final dual meet against the Hokies for senior starters Caponi, Mike Sewell and Peter Ferrara. Since the trio has been on the team, the Cavaliers have gone 2-1 against the Hokies with wins in 2006 and 2007. Recently, the Cavaliers have had the Hokies’ number, beating them in four out the last six years. It will be their last chance to leave their mark on what is perhaps the biggest school rivalry in Virginia.“Not only would a win against Tech mean a lot for us as a team, being able to come together and support each other and pull through in the face of adversity and all of these setbacks, but it would [mean] so much to me being a senior,” Ferrara said.Caponi and Ferrara hope the match will be payback for losses suffered last year as well as earlier this season. Ferrara, who wrestles at 149 pounds, will face No. 20 Hokie freshman Pete Yates, to whom he lost earlier this season at the Southern Scuffle. Caponi, meanwhile, had a disappointing loss last season at the Rumble on the River. He was No. 9 in the country at the time and was upset 5-2 by then-freshman Tommy Spellman, who he will likely face Saturday.“It is also a bit of a personal match for me to make up for that loss,” Caponi said. “Every dual meet from here on does mean a lot because it is my last season. It is always nice to have bragging rights for after this year.”Before the Cavaliers can even think about bragging rights, however, they will participate in a tilt with another in-state opponent, George Mason (4-6-1, 0-2 ACC). The matchup will mark the Patriots’ first match against an ACC opponent since the team fell 22-18 to Virginia Tech in George Mason’s season opener.Between the two matches, the Cavaliers hope to be able to pull off a hallmark win — they have yet to record a victory against a top-25 foe — to give them momentum going into the ACC Championships after a disappointing loss to North Carolina last weekend. “We need a spark right now,” Garland said. “Our guys have so many injuries, it’s really starting to weigh on the hearts and minds of our wrestlers. It will be nice to see us come out and upset these guys.”
(01/28/09 6:35am)
Often clouded by the thrill of victory on the playing field in collegiate athletics today is the “student” in the term “student-athlete.” Danny and Kyle Artusio, identical twins on the Virginia wrestling team, however, uphold their titles as student-athletes while maintaining positive attitudes and strong work ethics.“If we are going to put our money where our mouth is and say we value character, they should mean a whole lot to the team because they are two of the most high-character guys I have ever met in my life,” coach Steve Garland said of the Artusios. “I am not talking about guys that I have coached; I am talking about people in general that I have ever met.”The Artusios are first-year Education School graduate students pursuing their teaching certificates to become high school math teachers. The two brothers began their collegiate careers at Lord Fairfax Community College before coming to the University.“Wrestling was my biggest interest in high school,” Kyle Artusio said. “I also wanted to go to a good academic school. U.Va. fit both of those so it was a perfect match.”Danny joined Kyle at Virginia when he was not accepted to James Madison’s music program. While at Virginia, the Artusio brothers have left their mark not only on the mat, but in the classroom and through community service. The two have also been named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll two of the last three years, continuing their academic success from their time at James Wood High School in Winchester, Va., where both were named valedictorians.Outside of the classroom, the brothers are very involved with their church, teaching Sunday school every week, and Kyle is a member of Fellowship of Christian Athletes. While “student” gets lost in the term “student-athlete” for some, it nearly overshadows the “athlete” part for these brothers because they are so involved in their academics and other extracurricular activities. Danny and Kyle — who wrestle at 165 and 157 pounds, respectively — have not posted particularly impressive career records — Danny: 26-21, Kyle: 22-27. However, the brothers’ contributions to the team go beyond wins and losses. The wrestling team awarded Kyle the first John Pegues Character Award last year, which was established to honor a wrestler who was not starting but still showed character and set an example for everyone else, Garland said.“I personally hope my daughter grows up to be like those two someday,” he said. “I think the world of them.”As with many sets of identical twins, the brothers have similar tendencies and styles.“It sounds cliché, but they are both pretty much the same wrestler except that one leads right leg and one leads left leg,” Garland said.And, as with nearly all identical twins, it is difficult to distinguish between them, but Garland has found a way.“Their characteristics of how they present themselves are a lot different once you get to know them,” Garland said. “You know immediately it’s Kyle because of the seriousness on his face. Danny, as soon as you see him, he smiles ear to ear.”Each brother tries to separate himself from the other. Kyle has said he is smarter, taller and better-looking. Danny meanwhile, said he is the better wrestler because he is in the heavier weight class at the moment. The competitive nature of their relationship is not lost on Garland, though he knows the Artusios keep things in perspective.“They scrap a little bit, but there is a deep love and respect there, too,” Garland said.Their dedication to others spills over from their personal relationship with each other. “He is such a big part of my life,” Kyle Artusio said. “I got to take a piece of home with me. It’s hard to say what I would be like without him.”
(01/23/09 6:35am)
The Cavalier wrestling team will begin its conference schedule this weekend against North Carolina in Chapel Hill Friday before squaring off against non-conference opponent Campbell Saturday.Virginia (7-7) will have to contend with a North Carolina team (6-6) that finished ahead of it at the Southern Scuffle hosted by UNC-Greensboro earlier this season, earning a fifth-place finish to the Cavaliers’ seventh. Meanwhile, the Campbell Camels finished a dismal 27th out of 28 teams at the same invitational. Virginia and North Carolina have shared four opponents this season. While both squads suffered losses in three of the four matchups, Virginia managed a 23-15 victory against a Michigan State team that defeated the Tar Heels 18-12. On the other hand, Virginia dropped its recent match against Rutgers, 15-28, even though the Tar Heels pinned the Scarlet Knights by the count of 33-3 in November.The Cavaliers started the season on the road, facing five top-25 programs away from the friendly confines of Memorial Gymnasium. They were unable to record a victory in the matches but nevertheless gained valuable experience that might aid them in the ACC and National tournaments.“My ultimate priority is to get the best competition possible,” Virginia coach Steve Garland said.By wrestling top-notch competition, the Cavaliers have built confidence that could help them in their quest to secure the program’s first ACC title since 1977 — a firm goal since the beginning of the season. Several injuries to the squad during the year, though, have required that a number of grapplers step up and assert themselves.“There is a lot of fight left in this dog,” Garland said. “Even though we are maimed, hurt and limping, we are still tough, and our kids aren’t giving up.”The Cavaliers have had several key performers, including redshirt junior Brent Jones, senior Rocco Caponi and sophomore Chris Henrich. Jones and Caponi surround Henrich in what Jones called the Cavalier mat men’s “death row trio,” and each has made significant individual contributions this season. Jones has posted a 20-4 record and a No. 19 national ranking in the 197-pound weight class, while Caponi earned ACC Wrestler of the Week honors for his performance during the weekend, specifically for reaching the century-mark in wins for his career. This is the fourth time Caponi, now 102-30 for his career, has earned the conference honor during his time at Virginia and it also is the fourth time a Cavalier has earned the accolade this season. “We’ve had some guys do some great things,” Garland said. “We have also had some major setbacks because we cannot get that momentum going without our full lineup in.”Henrich, meanwhile, perhaps has contributed the most. The sophomore, ranked 10th in the country at 174 pounds, has gotten off to a near-perfect start, posting a 26-1 record with his only loss coming in the title match at the Southern Scuffle. He also is the only Virginia wrestler to hold an unblemished dual record with 14 wins this season.“My goal is to not lose a match for the rest of the season,” Henrich said. “I said the same thing last year and I believe this year I can actually do it. I believe very strongly that I can win out the rest of the season and become a national champ.”
(01/20/09 5:26am)
The Virginia wrestling squad made its home debut Saturday at Memorial Gymnasium and continued on its home turf Sunday. Virginia improved its record to 7-7 (0-0 ACC) on the season, splitting its matches Saturday with a victory against UNC-Greensboro 27-13 and a loss to Rutgers 15-28. Virginia fell behind 10-0 in both matches, in part because Virginia had to forfeit in the 133-pound bouts as a result of an injury sustained by redshirt freshman Matt Bonson earlier in the week.“I think we wrestled phenomenally against UNC-Greensboro,” coach Steve Garland said. “I was so proud of the way our kids fought back from adversity. [In] the Rutgers match we did not necessarily wrestle bad, we just got beat in some weight classes.”The Cavaliers were without the services of redshirt junior Ross Gitomer as well, who is out for the year. Freshman Wyatt Anderson has rejoined the team because the Cavaliers have lost all of their 125-pounder wrestlers for the season to injuries. The Cavaliers were able to overcome this handicap against UNC-Greensboro, but were unable to against Rutgers. “With Ross [Gitomer] and [Matt] Bonson in the lineup, that is a different match,” Garland said. “We just have to work around the injuries as best we can.”The highlight of the weekend was senior Rocco Caponi winning his 100th career match as a Cavalier with a 5-4 victory against UNC-Greensboro’s Mikal McGee.“It has been a goal since I was real young,” Caponi said. “It is not something everyone gets to experience. It makes you think of all the hard work it takes to get there.”Caponi becomes just the sixth wrestler in Virginia history to reach the century mark. He currently has 102 career wins, having also recorded wins during the weekend against Rutgers and Appalachian State. He is currently tied with Jim Harshaw and Matt Roth for third on Virginia’s all-time wins list and needs just 10 wins to move into a tie for second place.“I’m really proud of him,” Garland said. “It’s a big milestone in his career. He has been trying to get that 100th win for two weeks. It was nice for him to get it over with.”Junior Brent Jones and sophomore Chris Henrich also helped carry the Cavaliers this weekend, with two wins apiece Saturday, in the 197-pound and 174-pound weight classes, respectively. They were both able to record wins Sunday against Appalachian State as well, as Virginia trounced the Mountaineers 35-9. The Cavaliers won the final eight weight classes against the Mountaineers and were able to coast to an easy victory. No. 10 Henrich improved his record to 26-1 on the season as he recorded a technical fall just 25 seconds into the second period. No. 19 Jones pinned his opponent in the first period as he recorded his team-leading 10th fall of the season, giving him 32 for his career, which leaves him just two short of the Virginia record held by Scott Moore.These Cavaliers will look to continue their recent success when they open ACC play Friday at North Carolina.
(01/14/09 5:00am)
The Cavalier mat men’s successes during Winter Break were marred by several losses as they continued their toughest schedule in program history, falling to 5-6 on the season while sustaining several injuries and dropping out of the top 25 for the first time this season.Virginia wrapped up 2008 limping away from the Dec. 29 and 30 Southern Scuffle with a seventh-place finish despite missing four key wrestlers because of injury, most notably senior All-American Rocco Caponi and junior Ross Gitomer, who was lost for the season. No. 10 sophomore Chris Henrich fared well at the Scuffle, placing second at 174 pounds, but suffered his first loss of the season after starting 23-0. No. 20 freshman Jedd Moore, meanwhile, earned a fourth-place finish in the 157-pound weight class as he continued his stellar start to his collegiate career. Sophomore Nick Nelson, junior Brent Jones and Gitomer rounded out the Virginia place-winners at the competition. Jones posted his 29th career fall at the Scuffle, moving him into sole possession of second place on Virginia’s all-time falls list.“Some of our individual weight classes have outperformed what our expectations were,” coach Steve Garland said. “We didn’t win the war at that tournament, but we won a lot of individual battles.”So far this season, the freshman class — especially Moore — has been the driving force behind much of the team’s success. The freshman class also garnered an individual honor during Winter Break: Matt Bonson was named ACC Wrestler of the Week after his three wins at Virginia Duals. This marks the second time a Cavalier freshman has received the honor, with Moore having been recognized earlier this season.“The freshman class has done an excellent job coming right in and not taking crap from anyone, stepping right in and doing what they have to do,” Henrich said. “It has motivated the rest of us as well.”At the Virginia Duals, the Cavaliers split matches against Navy and Clarion Jan. 9 and lost to No. 24 Kent State Jan. 10. Virginia fell in a hole early against Navy after forfeiting the bout at 125 pounds because of injuries and was not able to recover. In the second match, though, the Cavaliers won six of the nine bouts en route to soundly beating Clarion. Once again, the Cavaliers could not overcome a forfeit in the 125-pound division against Kent State despite wins from Jones and Moore.“It has been hard to tell [how good the team is] because we have been so choppy,” Garland said. “We’ve had some guys do some really great things, but we have also had some major setbacks because we cannot get that momentum going without our full lineup in.”Despite their mediocre record, the Virginia mat men have put on impressive performances on the road against top-25 opponents. The Cavaliers have shown they can persevere and remain positive despite not having their full lineup in for most of the season. The goal for Garland and the team from the beginning of the season has been to perform well at ACCs and at Nationals. The team is not overly concerned with its dual meet record considering the circumstances.“The key is going to be seeing how our nationally ranked guys pan out,” Garland said. “ACCs and Nationals is what matters. Our goal is to do the best we can at the dual meets. The wins will come.”
(12/03/08 5:55am)
The toughest schedule in program history combined with no home matches until Jan. 17 has led to a tough start for the Cavalier wrestling team. Virginia has battled hard this season, with its four losses coming against teams ranked in the top 20.The Cavaliers have seen impressive performances from several wrestlers, showing the potential the team has to win the ACC. Freshman Jedd Moore and sophomore Chris Henrich have both been named ACC Wrestler of the Week this season, becoming the first Cavaliers to earn the honor since last February. Despite their lackluster record, the Cavaliers (4-4) have shown improvement every step of the way. Coach Steve Garland has been preaching that the team’s record does not matter and that he is only concentrating on getting the team into the best position possible to advance to the NCAA Tournament.“There is always room for improvement; nobody is perfect,” senior Rocco Caponi said. “We have been improving so much in every aspect of the sport.”The No. 24 Cavaliers had a strong performance this past weekend at the Northeast Duals, going 2-1 by beating Harvard and Bucknell both with wins in seven of the 10 weight classes and losing to then-No. 7 Oklahoma State.“It’s a loss, and obviously you are always upset with a loss,” Garland said. “I was happy with the way our kids competed.”Junior Brent Jones racked up two falls in his bouts against Harvard and Bucknell, giving him 26 career falls and moving him into a tie for third place on Virginia’s all-time falls list. He needs only two more falls to reach second place. Henrich, meanwhile, continued his unblemished start to the season and improved to 12-0 with three wins during the weekend. Redshirt freshman Matt Bonson recorded an upset in the 133-pound division against Oklahoma State’s No. 11 Tyler Shinn. This was Virginia’s only win against the Cowboys’ stellar lineup that featured six ranked wrestlers. Virginia eventually fell, 33-7.“I’m really proud of the team,” Caponi said. “They have wrestled really hard. Every time we step on the mat you can tell the attitude is improving, and we are just getting more and more confident as the team is progressing.”That budding confidence may have been supported by the Cavaliers’ effort to build off their experience. Junior Ross Gitomer and Caponi have tried to help stabilize this young group of wrestlers, who need to grow into their roles and adapt in order for the Cavaliers to succeed this season.“We are young.” Garland said. “We’ve got time to figure it out.”The team must remain focused and concentrate on advancing to the NCAAs and possibly winning an ACC Championship.“Our tenacity could use a boost here and there,” Caponi said. “We have been improving the attitude of the team year after year, and that is just the next step for us.”Virginia will take a short break for finals and part of Winter Break, but the team will head to the Southern Scuffle in Greensboro, N.C. for matches Dec. 29 and 30.
(11/21/08 6:06am)
The Virginia wrestling team will continue to hit the mat hard this weekend as it takes on No. 14 Penn State and American International College at the Sprawl & Brawl in Binghamton, N.Y. While the No. 21 Cavaliers are fresh off hard-fought losses against longtime wrestling powerhouses, No. 9 Illinois and No. 12 Wisconsin, at the ACC/Big Ten Clash last weekend, their stiff season schedule is just getting underway. The squad, however, remains undaunted by the tough competition, confident and eager to face ranked opponents away from home.“The level of our competition makes up for not having a home match until [January],” Virginia senior Rocco Caponi said. “As long as the competition is good, the home matches can be put on hold for a while.”Despite falling to Wisconsin (25-15) and Illinois (39-7) on the road last Saturday, the Cavaliers (1-2) were proud of their performance and continue to have an optimistic outlook on the season.“It showed we can hang with some of the best teams in the country,” coach Steve Garland said. “In most weight classes we actually outwrestled them.”No. 14 sophomore Chris Henrich is one such grappler who has exceeded expectations for the Cavaliers. Wrestling in the 174-pound weight classification, Henrich won all three of his matches last weekend; his dominance on the mat not only improved his record to 7-0 on the season but also earned Henrich his first ACC Co-Wrestler of the Week honors.“He deserves it,” Garland said. “The kid is a hammer. He has been the biggest bright spot of the whole team. He has actually improved more than we would have expected.”In addition to Henrich, Garland has managed to accumulate a crop of young talent during his three-year tenure as the Cavaliers’ head coach. Freshman Jedd Moore, Virginia’s headline recruit coming into the season, has already established himself as a future prime-time performer for the Cavaliers with his early season win at the Michigan State Open Nov. 9. Although he has displayed his obvious talent on the mat, Moore still has much to learn about the technique required to wrestle successfully at the collegiate level.“Jedd Moore technically is not used to being in a bottom position,” Garland said. “It’s one of those situations where he was so good in high school, he just stood everybody up. We can’t fix heart, but you can fix technique.”While the Cavaliers hope to have enough heart to hang with another top-25 opponent, Penn State (0-1), Sunday, they are not overly concerned with wins and losses at such an early point in the season. Virginia’s main focus is just to continue to improve and to perform to the best of its ability.“The first semester is just a means to an end,” Garland said. “The record I am not worried about. I’m concerned with our guys competing and improving, which I think they are. I am not doing this for my career record; I am doing this to get my guys into the position to be All-Americans and national champs.”
(11/12/08 9:14am)
As the Virginia field hockey team awaited the seeding announcement for the NCAA Field Hockey Tournament in the depths of John Paul Jones Arena last night, there was a sense of madness in the air — November Madness. Though not highly publicized, it felt as if March had come early for the Cavaliers, as Virginia was anxious to see who it would be matched up with in the first round. The Cavaliers received their third straight bid under coach Michele Madison and are paired with in-state rival James Madison University in their 15th NCAA Tournament appearance.Coincidently, the Cavaliers have already played JMU this season, losing a heartbreaker in Harrisonburg 1-0 in overtime. The No. 12 Cavaliers finished fourth in the ACC, while the No. 4 Dukes won the CAA Tournament, beating Old Dominion 1-0. The Cavaliers secured their at-large berth in the tournament with a second win against Duke last Thursday in the first round of the ACC Tournament.“To beat a team like Duke two times in a row was big,” Madison said. “We were able to create multiple scoring opportunities to put them away.”Despite losing to Maryland in the semifinals 3-2 in overtime, the team regained confidence that had been shaken by losses in five of its last seven games. “It gave us a lot of confidence,” junior forward Traci Ragukas said. “We were losing close games and we knew we had to pick it up. It’s now or never. We know that we have to go and put everything out there now and that is what we did at Duke.”The games against Duke and Maryland are just two of the challenges Virginia has had to face this season. Its schedule is rated as the toughest in the country according to fieldhockeycorner.com. Meanwhile, the Dukes’ strength of schedule is rated as 17th in the country.“We played the No. 1 schedule in the country,” Madison said. “That has helped us get ready. We know we are ready, we have seen the best.”Eight of Virginia’s opponents received bids to the tournament. Virginia and JMU have shared eight opponents this season, with both teams losing to Wake Forest and North Carolina. “We know we can compete with the best teams in the country,” freshman midfielder Paige Selenski said. “We went into overtime with Maryland twice. We lost but we showed we can compete with anybody, it was a good confidence booster.”The Cavaliers will have to keep up their stellar play of late to advance deep into the tournament. Selenski, who was named ACC Freshman of the Year Sunday after the conclusion of the ACC Tournament, will need to continue her high-scoring ways to propel the Cavaliers to victory. Another key player for the Cavaliers will be fifth-year senior goalkeeper Amy Desjadon, who has the experience and desire to carry the team. She has seen the majority of minutes in goal this season. On the other side of the field, the Cavaliers will have to deal the No. 1 goalkeeper in the country when they take on JMU. Junior Kelsey Cutchins leads the nation in goals against average and save percentage. Cutchins shut out the Cavaliers in their last meeting earlier in the season.The winner of the Virginia-JMU game will play the winner of the Wake Forest-American game Sunday at 2 p.m.
(11/07/08 6:01am)
Expectations are through the roof as the Virginia wrestling team is set to start its season this weekend.“If we don’t have at least three All-Americans, I am going to be distraught,” coach Steve Garland said.This is how confident the Cavaliers are as they begin their season. Last year’s campaign saw several program firsts: beating two teams from the Big Ten — usually considered the premier conference in wrestling — for the first time ever as well as beating Lehigh for the first time. The Cavaliers are hungry to improve this season and are looking to achieve more program firsts. Entering the season, the Cavaliers are ranked No. 23 in the country by InterMat, the highest and first ranking in the program’s history. To accompany their ranking, the Cavaliers will also face their toughest schedule in program history, as well. The Cavaliers are led by Garland, a young coach in his third year at Virginia who has seen improvement in each of his previous two seasons. The Cavaliers welcome back starters in eight of the 10 weight classes and are looking for the freshman class to make a big impact. Garland has been able to bring in three straight top-25 recruiting classes. Most notable from this year’s class is Jedd Moore, who won the Eastern Michigan Open this past weekend, wrestling in the 157-pound division. “He was one of our biggest recruits last year,” Garland said. “We couldn’t be more excited about Jedd.”While the freshman class is highly touted, the experienced veterans will have to carry the team through the year. Virginia has three wrestlers ranked in the top 25 in their respective weight classes: No. 16 junior Ross Gitomer at 125 pounds, No. 16 sophomore Chris Henrich at 174 pounds and senior No. 9 Rocco Caponi at 184 pounds. All three made it to the NCAA Championships last season and look to return this season.“Rocco Caponi and Chris Henrich are the two guys we depend highly upon,” Garland said. “Every big dual meet we will look to those guys for wins. They are the heart and soul of the team. Ross Gitomer is our most vocal leader; he is a phenomenal worker.”The Cavaliers, who are ranked second in the ACC behind No. 17 Maryland, will need everyone to step up this season as they face their toughest schedule in program history, facing six top-25 teams in dual matches, three of which are in the top 10. One of Virginia’s most notable opponents will be 34-time national champion Oklahoma State.“Rocco Caponi was one of the main catalysts for me designing the schedule the way I did,” Garland said. “He needs to wrestle the best, win or lose and improve from that.”Caponi has won two ACC titles in the 184-pound division and has made three trips to the NCAA Championships. The team’s success this year will depend largely on Caponi. The Cavaliers’ first and foremost goal is to win an ACC title, as the team was inches away from winning it last year, losing to Maryland by just two points. “Our goal is the same as it is every year: to win an NCAA title,” Caponi said. “As for the team, it’s trying to get every single person to NCAAs and to win our first ACC title since the 1970s.”The Cavaliers will kick off their season at the Michigan State Open this Sunday in East Lansing, Mich. The Cavaliers do not have a home match until Jan. 17 when they take on UNC Greensboro and Rutgers in a double dual meet.
(11/06/08 7:22am)
In collegiate field hockey, conference opponents might face each other twice in regular and postseason play, but those teams rarely match up in back-to-back games, let alone twice in one week in the same city. When the No. 12 Cavaliers head to Durham, N.C. to take on No. 5 Duke today in the first round of the ACC Tournament, however, the two teams will recreate the matchup that took place Saturday in Durham.Virginia (12-7, 2-3 ACC) had a hard time closing out its season, losing five of the last seven games, but the Cavaliers recently have shown some signs of improvement. They were able to win 4-3 against Duke (14-4, 2-3 ACC) on the road Saturday, improving their road record to 2-5.“It’s [going to] be tough because they have seen our game and how we play,” senior midfielder Inge Kaars Sijpesteijn said. “It’s always tough to beat a team twice.”Freshman back Floor Vogels was named ACC Player of the Week Tuesday for her performance against Duke Saturday. Vogels scored the game-winning goal, her sixth of the season, while contributing an assist in the game, which secured the Cavaliers’ No. 4 seed in the ACC Tournament. The goal by Vogels was her third game-winning goal of the season.Sijpesteijn and freshman forward Paige Selenski have received individual accolades for their performances this season, as both were named to the All-ACC team along with 15 other players in the conference. Selenski leads the team with 39 points on 16 goals and seven assists, while Sijpesteijn has contributed eight goals and four assists. This is the third straight year that Sijpesteijn has received the All-ACC honor, and this is the first season since Virginia field hockey’s 1999 campaign that the Cavaliers have placed more than one player on the All-ACC squad.The winner of the Duke-Virginia game will take on top seed Maryland Friday. If they are to advance further in the tournament, the Cavaliers need to return to the form that helped them start the season 10-2.“You need 11 people on the field,” senior goalkeeper Amy Desjadon said, “Everyone needs to stick to the game plan and have faith in it, even if there are moments when it’s not working. You just have to keep plugging along because that is what sets us apart from the other teams and it’s what makes us better.”The Cavaliers may be regaining their stride at the right time and finding some of the swagger that made them one of the most feared teams in the country.“We have to get back into that rhythm,” Desjadon said. “We just need to stick to our game plan and not rest for a single minute.”The Cavaliers also will benefit from the return of several injured players unable to play for the last couple weeks of the regular season. Most notably, junior forward Lauren Elstein will return after missing the last six games with a broken clavicle. Elstein is currently tied with Selenski for second on the team in assists. Her presence on the field will help a Cavalier offense that lately has been inconsistent, as the team was shut out in two of its last five games.“The team that comes out with the mentality to win [has the advantage],” Virginia coach Michele Madison said. “It’s a whole new season; last week has nothing to do with this week, and that’s the mind-set we have to have.”
(10/28/08 6:00am)
Tennis has the Williams sisters, and football had the Barber twins. These sibling rivalries, which must have made for a highly competitive home environment, seem to be the recipe for success. Each of these families has been in the public spotlight and has seen huge accomplishments. Three siblings — let alone triplets — who are also talented athletes, on the other hand, seems almost impossible.Meet the Jennings sisters: Rachel, Tara and Erin attend Virginia, Duke and Princeton, respectively, and play on their schools’ field hockey teams. They attended Emmaus High School in Macungie, Pa., a state that has come to be known as one of the field hockey hubs of the United States. The women’s success on the field and in the classroom can be traced back to their childhood and growing up with each other.“I think they feel that [competition] made them get where they are,” their father, John Jennings said. “If they didn’t have the other two that they were competing against, they might not have achieved everything they have achieved.”They are about as close as any siblings can get; they shared the same room for nearly their entire lives. This has helped them remain close and competitive.“It [competition] caused so many fights,” Virginia freshman back Rachel Jennings said. “We weren’t normal sisters who loved each other; we competed over everything.”Before the Jennings sisters started playing field hockey, they played soccer and basketball competitively. They went to the AAU Nationals in basketball and won the State Cup in soccer. Up until college, their father said his daughters did not lose 15 total games throughout their lives in all the sports they played. For most people, this is enough success to encompass a lifetime, but not for the Jennings sisters. They have been surrounded their entire lives with the success and positive influence of their family and friends. As they progressed through high school, they decided to try something new and gave field hockey a shot; the rest is history. Despite being triplets and similar in many ways, each plays a different position.“We are all at the same [playing] level,” Rachel Jennings said. “We play different positions so it varies. We all [worked] together really well [in high school]; none of us really stuck out.”Among the many accolades the girls collected throughout high school, one of the most noteworthy was a state championship for Emmaus in 2006. As a result of their athletic and academic achievements in high school, they were not limited in their choice of colleges. Rachel and Tara were both two-time All-American selections, and Erin was an Academic All-American.“Since they were 6 years old, they said they were going to different colleges,” John Jennings said, noting the sisters’ friends were surprised when the triplets decided to split up and go to different universities. “The girls always wanted to be separate and more unique.”College would be the first time the girls would spend an extended period of time apart.“It’s weird right now not playing with them because I’ve played with them for 18 years now and all of a sudden we are playing against each other,” Duke freshman midfielder Tara Jennings said.Tara and Rachel play in the ACC, while Erin plays in the midfield in the Ivy League at Princeton. All three schools are currently ranked in the top 15 in the country. Coincidently, Duke and Virginia will play each other this weekend in Durham, N.C. Tara and Rachel are looking forward to being on opposite sides of the field for the first time in their lives.“It’s going to be really competitive when we play each other,” Rachel Jennings said. “We already have a bet on the game.”Erin said she hopes to face either Duke or Virginia in the NCAA Tournament later this year.Despite going to three schools that are relatively far away from each other, the sisters stay in contact and enjoy keeping up with their sisters’ teams and personal statistics.“We all follow each other’s records and make fun of each other, like who has the better record,” Erin Jennings said. “It’s more competitive now, now that we are on different teams.”As the girls experience collegiate success on and off the field, they will not forget where it all started. They developed their desire to be the best they can be by pushing one another and supporting one another for 18 years.“They are three driven girls who are very bright and excel at whatever they do,” John Jennings said. “They will tell you that if it was not for each other, they might not have achieved as much in field hockey and they might not have gotten the grades they got.”