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(10/28/10 5:07am)
Last season, the Virginia swimming and diving teams won their third consecutive conference championships and recorded top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships. But the Cavaliers did not achieve one of their main goals: beating Florida, which finished fifth at the NCAAs.
(04/20/10 5:21am)
Earning the top rank in the nation was not the culmination of the Virginia women's rowing team's season. It was just the beginning.
(03/30/10 5:15am)
For the second year in a row, the Virginia men's swimming and diving team earned 10th place in the country at the NCAA Championships. The team's placement marks the third time it has broken top 10 since 2003 but fell short of last year's ninth-place finish - the program's best performance ever.
(03/22/10 5:39am)
Virginia women's swimming coach Mark Bernardino said before this year's NCAA Championships that a top-10 finish would be "very special for our program."
(03/02/10 7:12am)
The Virginia swimming and diving program has added a second three-peat to its repertoire. The women took the ACC title home from Chapel Hill, N.C. Feb. 20, and the men were quick to follow when they seized the crown Saturday.
(02/24/10 7:05am)
The Virginia men's swim team heads to Chapel Hill, N.C. today seeking its 13th ACC Championship title since 1978, the year coach Mark Bernardino first took the reins at Virginia.\nHeading into today's events, however, the Cavaliers trail Florida State by 135 points after the Seminoles got off to a quick start in the men's diving events held last week.
(02/23/10 7:14am)
The Virginia women's swim team won its third consecutive ACC Championship title this past weekend in Chapel Hill, N.C., marking the eighth time it has earned the crown.
(11/10/09 5:04am)
Despite what coaches considered a lack of mental discipline, the Virginia men's and women's swimming and diving teams swept Kentucky in Charlottesville over the weekend.
(11/06/09 5:00am)
Breaking 10 pool records at an away meet is a rare and exceptional feat for most teams, but for the Virginia men's and women's swimming and diving teams, that feat - performed Oct. 21 at Virginia Tech's War Memorial Pool - is simply a starting point.
(11/04/09 6:54am)
The UNC Invitational at Chapel Hill, N.C. is expected this weekend to attract a collection of the toughest competitors from across the country, including the Virginia women's tennis team.
(10/28/09 5:06am)
Successfully contributing to an athletic team requires more than simply showing up to practice and performing well in competition.
(10/22/09 5:01am)
All eight members of the Virginia women's tennis team have earned spots at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Atlantic Regional tournament, which begins today in Blacksburg. The best players in the region will compete for a spot in the ITA National Indoor Championships.
(10/20/09 4:41am)
With 21 freshmen filling its already talent-laden roster, the Virginia men's and women's swim teams head into the season with what coach Mark Bernardino said he believes to be one of the program's deepest lineups in history. Considering the Cavaliers are the defending ACC champions, Bernandino's sentiment alone should be enough to make the rest of the conference tremble, including in-state rival Virginia Tech, who will host the squad in its first ACC meet this season tomorrow.
(10/01/09 6:42am)
Two Cavaliers will represent the Virginia women's tennis team next week at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American Championships in Los Angeles.
(09/22/09 5:13am)
The Virginia women's tennis team successfully defended its turf this past weekend at the U.Va. Fall Invitational at the Snyder Tennis Center.
(09/17/09 5:35am)
In collegiate tennis, fall competition is considered by most a highly individual sport as opposed to the team-based spring competition. At the close of tournaments such as the William & Mary Invitational last weekend, individual winners are announced in place of one winning team.
(09/11/09 6:26am)
The Virginia women's tennis team ended its 2008-09 season with a 4-1 NCAA match play loss to eventual national champion Duke, recording a 14-10 final record. A summer removed from that disappointing finish, the Cavaliers will seek revenge this weekend on the Blue Devils' home turf.
(09/02/09 8:42am)
In 2008, the Virginia women's golf team lost to defending national champion Duke by one stroke at the ACC Championship. Despite the loss, the team's performance in that final round helped give the Cavalier women the needed motivation to defeat other conference rivals.\n"To be ahead of Duke for the majority of the tournament and just to lose by one made us say, 'Hey, this is where our program is and where we are to be at all times,'" coach Kim Lewellen said. "It gave the girls the confidence and the goals to go out there and work hard for it, and they did and continue to do that,"\nThe team finished eighth at the 2009 NCAA tournament - the program's best NCAA Championship finish ever. In April of last season, the team placed second at the Bryant National Championship, and junior Calle Nielson's first place all-around performance at March's LSU Classic helped the team to record its lowest score in history and finish atop the leader board.\n"Calle is an outstanding ball-striker and overall has every component of the game," Lewellen said.\nThe team ranked No. 4 in the final 2008-2009 poll, and with Lewellen's determinist coaching qualities the Cavaliers do not plan to stop there.\nNielson attributes the Cavalier's impressive performances to their specified training regimens, in which each player focuses solely on her weaknesses.\n"One of [Calle's] weakest points last fall was her putting, so through the off-season we worked extremely hard on her putting, gave her some putting drills, a little bit of a different way to think through her putting," Lewellen said.\nThe results are telling: Nielson recently dropped an average of four strokes per round.\nNielson "had a stroke average of about 76 in the fall, and then in the spring it dropped significantly, which adds up to a 12-shot drop in every tournament," Lewellen said. "Twelve shots is a difference between first place and 10th place. It can be a huge factor when you drop a scoring average of that magnitude."\nSenior Whitney Neuhauser also made significant improvements from the spring of her sophomore year to the fall of her junior year, dropping her scoring average by four to five strokes.\n"Having her and Calle do that within the same year was one of the biggest contributions to improving that much in our NCAA finishes last year versus the year before," Lewellen said.\nAdditionally, the squad's scores in its inter-team qualifying rounds were some of the lowest Lewellen has ever seen in her time at Virginia.\nNielson credits the team's growth to Lewellen. The 2009 East Region Coach of the Year brings a lot of energy to practice sessions and tournaments, which helps drive the team, Nielson said.\nNielson's improved play and her No. 6 finish at the 2009 NCAA Tournament highlights Lewellen's influence on the team.\n"To have someone that's coaching you to motivate you to that extent makes a huge difference," Neilson said. Lewellen "took my game to the next level."\nAfter the departure of several seniors in the spring and the arrival of three freshmen in the fall, the 2009 Virginia squad will be put to the test this weekend at the NGCA Championship in Florida, one of only four of the team's events this semester.\n"You always miss the seniors," Lewellen said. "They set a precedent of excellence, they set a precedent of work ethic. You can definitely see that in the girls that are here and they're teaching that to the first years"
(04/23/09 5:37am)
The Virginia women’s tennis team has three weeks to pinpoint the weakest aspects of its game and transform those aspects into winning ones before the NCAA Tournament.The Cavaliers have struggled as of late, and their failure to move past the ACC Tournament quarterfinals only further hampered the team. The demanding in-conference competition, though, also helped identify what the players need to change and the urgency with which they need to do so.Virginia (13-9, 5-6 ACC) faced off against Boston College (7-14, 2-9) in the first round April 16, advancing with a 4-1 victory. All three doubles teams and the top five singles players assisted in the Cavaliers’ second win against Boston College since they beat the Eagles 6-1 March 1.Virginia moved forward in the bracket and then played Duke for the second time this season in the quarterfinals. The resulting 4-0 Blue Devil shut-out echoed the Cavaliers 7-0 loss to the Devils (23-3, 10-1) April 4. “The reality is we’re not, right now, as good as Duke,” Virginia coach Mark Guilbeau said. “And at some point, we’ve got to put a whole season together, and a pre-season, and a whole period of time that makes us strong enough to go start to finish, and be [as good as] Duke. We should be one of the top-four seeds in our conference and be playing for the semifinals or the finals of this thing.”With less than a month until the NCAA Tournament, players said the team has plans for quick improvement.“It’s going to be the little places that we really have to tighten up on, and that’s what teams that win the ACCs do really well,” freshman Lindsey Hardenbergh said. “Each court knows exactly what they’re doing, and you’re not going to be given a bunch of free chances or a lot of opportunities in case you screw up. You have one or two and you have to be able to execute.”Guilbeau said Virginia will be dedicating practice time to honing its ability to both serve and return aggressively and intelligently.“We’ve talked about it a lot but I don’t think we’ve really, really agreed to the degree of attacking we need to,” Guilbeau said. “We’re going to try to do that very, very aggressively, even at the expense of missing a number of balls ... I think we’d be a better team right now, if all of our serves were second serves more or less, most of the time, and didn’t have so many consistency problems, or low percentages, or worst-case double faults.”The same way the serve acts as the starting block for each point, a team’s warm-up session is something that can set the tone for an entire match. After warming up on the same courts as the competition in Cary, N.C. last week, the Cavaliers saw room for improvement.“We’re not talking about perfect technique, or this grip, or that strategy,” Guilbeau said. “We’re just talking about making the balls at the beginning and trying to get in that habit of not accepting misses. Our kids are too okay with missing shots.”Georgia Tech, ranked No. 4 in the ACC, warmed up next to the Cavaliers, providing a stark contrast to Virginia.“From the beginning, [Georgia Tech was] making 50, 100, sometimes 300 balls,” Guilbeau said. “That’s something, again, we’ve asked for from the beginning. It’s always a good time to maybe remind your team to step up and do that better, and again, just not settle for such a low standard in terms of the most important part of this game which is making a lot of balls.”The development of bad habits is something that has plagued the Virginia women this year. To perform well at the NCAAs, the team needs to return to a higher standard of performance in both general and technical aspects of the game.“We’re putting [strategies to break these habits] in place definitely for long-term, but we’re hoping it can happen immediately,” Guilbeau said.Selections have yet to be determined, but the Cavaliers already have formulated a good idea of the competition they will see in the opening rounds of the tournament.“We’ll definitely play a team that’s more and less had the same ups and downs that we’ve had, so it’s going to be a tough first match,” senior Amanda Rales said. “And then we’re probably going to play one of the top teams in the whole tournament the next round, so, I mean, we’re dealt a tough hand for ourselves. But that’s just more motivation for the girls who are going to be here next year, so that they don’t get into the same position.”Though the Cavaliers have some tough challenges ahead of them, they hope to make the adjustments to their technique that will give them a chance to compete for a national title.“We have some tremendous opportunities to make it better and to finish in the best way we can,” Guilbeau said. “That’s what we intend to do, and the three weeks will definitely be used full-force. We’ll do everything we can.”
(04/15/09 5:37am)
For Virginia women’s tennis coach Mark Guilbeau, team success is more than just winning and losing.“How well they treat each other and how they care for each other and how they push each other at times, and how they strive for a common goal is going to ultimately mean more to them than anything that they take from here,” Guilbeau said.A victory along the way serves to help build team morale, and after last weekend’s wins against Wake Forest and N.C. State, Virginia has set itself up for a strong performance at the ACC Championships beginning Thursday in Cary, N.C.Without last weekend’s matches, the Cavaliers (12-8, 5-6 ACC) would have been in a less than ideal position heading into championship season. After the pair of 5-2 victories against the two ACC foes from North Carolina, however, the team has proven it can successfully adjust to lineup changes. No. 7 Virginia, No. 5 Florida State, No. 6 North Carolina, No. 8 Virginia Tech, No. 9 Wake Forest, No. 10 Boston College, No. 11 Maryland and No. 12 N.C. State comprise the competition in the first round. No. 1 Miami, No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Clemson and No. 4 Georgia Tech await Thursday’s winners in the quarterfinals to be played Friday.Entering the tournament as the No. 7 seed, the Cavaliers will face Boston College (7-13, 2-9 ACC) in the first round and could potentially matchup against Duke should they advance past the Eagles.“If we just execute and just be a lot tougher than we have been — who knows — we could definitely reach our goal,” senior Amanda Rales said.Though Virginia’s season began with several question marks in the starting lineup because of offseason issues — two girls quit from last season — and an influx of freshmen, the team’s chemistry has improved of late.“It’s become clearer than ever where we all stand, and it’s together,” Guilbeau said. “It’s really good. The team has shown so much commitment and support, especially over the last few days. There’s always challenges out there ... The team is maybe stronger than ever right now.” Seniors Rales and Maggie Yahner have witnessed tremendous team growth this spring — more so than in past seasons.“I couldn’t be happier with the team we have on the court right now and with our coaches,” Yahner said.The Cavaliers’ confidence in their recently shuffled lineup will be put to the test in the first round against Boston College.In the teams’ regular season matchup, the Cavaliers managed to top the Eagles 6-1 at home for their third straight victory en route to what would become a season-high six-match streak. Virginia swept all three doubles matches and five of the six singles matches.Yahner was still recovering from knee surgery at the time, however, and was not part of the singles lineup. She did, however, pair with freshman Claire Bartlett to earn an 8-1 win at No. 2 doubles.”In doubles, I feel like I’m playing the best that I have at this program,” Yahner said. “In singles, I’m kind of just getting back. I’m glad to be in, and I’ll definitely be in for the Tournament, so hopefully I’ll peak there.”Guilbeau said he has full confidence in the senior despite her lack of playing time during the regular season.“She knows exactly what she’s doing,” Guilbeau said. “She’s worked extremely hard, but you have to make sure you pace through some things, and pick your spots — even in practice. It’s good to see her healthy and moving well – that’s a big part of anyone’s game. Maggie deserves that health.”With one more week remaining in their collegiate playing careers, Yahner and Rales have worked to instill the team’s values in freshmen like Emily Fraser, Claire Bartlett, Lindsey Hardenbergh and Karoline Steiro.“This season has now reached a point that’s greater than winning or losing,” Guilbeau said. “There’s, I think, some determination from the team and some commitment there that’s so strong, I think as a coach, and the I think the players feel the same way. We’re committed to winning, but I think that they’re giving so much, that there’s nothing that a win or a loss is going to overshadow what’s going on before the matches.”