The streaking No. 27 Virginia women’s tennis team will look to continue its stellar play this weekend when it travels to North Carolina to take on two of the nation’s elite tennis programs.
Back in January 2007, before I could grow more than a creepy strip of blond peach fuzz above my lip and when all I knew about the University was that its main building looked sort of like a brown Jefferson Memorial, I attended the New Orleans Saints’ 39-14 drubbing at the hands of the Chicago Bears at the NFC Championship game.
From the moment the Virginia basketball team learned its season would culminate not in its second straight NCAA berth but rather in the NIT, the team set its sights on making the trip to historic Madison Square Garden that had eluded them earlier in the year. Wednesday’s season-ending 75-64 loss to Iowa at John Paul Jones Arena once again snuffed out those hopes, but the result was far more painful this time around.
The No. 9 Virginia women’s lacrosse team is now 11 games into its 2013 season, and though the Cavaliers have registered wins over No. 16 Loyola (Md) and No. 19 James Madison, they have yet to prevail in the ACC. With losses to No. 1 Maryland, No. 3 North Carolina, and No. 6 Duke, Virginia finds itself in last place in the conference. This Saturday’s game at ACC rival Boston College presents an opportunity for a Cavalier breakthrough.
The No. 8 Virginia baseball team played Towson Wednesday night, but you may not have known that from a quick look at the field. With their school’s name blacked out in protest of a recent decision to cut the program, the Tigers likely played at Davenport for the final time. Behind a solid start from freshman Trey Oest, the Cavaliers closed out the series in impressive fashion, taking a 7-1 win.
A thorough clobbering of No. 70 UNC followed Friday’s tight defeat of No. 8 Duke preserved the team’s undefeated record last weekend. The Cavaliers now look to continue the streak as they host No. 54 Virginia Tech Thursday.
After starting the season undefeated through February, the No. 17 Virginia men’s lacrosse team has lost four of its five games in March and will close out the disastrous month by opening conference play Saturday against No. 2 Maryland at Klöckner Stadium.
Two and a half weeks ago, Charlottesville bid farewell to its basketball team. After scrambling to erase a 17-point deficit and edge Maryland 61-58 in overtime March 10, Virginia left John Paul Jones Arena and a regular season-closing 17-game home win streak behind for the next weekend’s ACC Tournament — presumably before moving on to the NCAA Tournament.
For the first time in years, the No. 17 Virginia men’s lacrosse team began its season as an underdog. Ranked No. 7 in the preseason, there was no question that the team was talented, but after losing so much offensive firepower and leadership from last year’s squad, the Cavaliers were picked to finish last in the ACC by both the media and the coaches.
An 18-inning performance at third base would be taxing enough for most players, but for Nick Howard, his job was not yet over. Less than 24 hours after Saturday’s double-header win, the sophomore took the mound as No. 8 Virginia’s starter in Sunday’s finale, firing 4.1 innings and batting seventh to lead a crucial sweep of N.C. State.
In her first two seasons on the No. 9 Virginia women’s lacrosse team, junior goalkeeper Liz Colgan logged a grand total of 124 minutes, 24 seconds in net, or about the length of two complete games. She saved seven of 44 shots on goal and registered a 1-1 record. When starting goalie senior Kim Kolarik went down with a broken hand earlier this month, though, Colgan was again called into action. And despite her past struggles in limited playing time, her teammates held no reservations about her ability to succeed.
With the conclusion of the third round of March Madness this past weekend, the remaining teams get the next few days to concentrate on surviving the Sweet 16. The losing teams, however, will head back to the drawing board and spend the offseason formulating a plan to go deeper in next year’s tournament, part of which may include the firing of a head coach.
The top-ranked Virginia men’s tennis team remained unbeaten over the weekend as it downed No. 8 Duke 4-3 and No. 70 North Carolina 6-1.
The No. 32 Virginia women’s tennis team continued to roll this weekend, easily defeating No. 72 Boston College and No. 55 Virginia Tech to stretch its win streak to four.
The Virginia softball team dropped three close battles against Maryland this weekend by scores of 6-5, 9-6, and 6-5. In each game, the Cavaliers put up strong showings on offense but simply could not contain the Terrapins’ explosive bats.
The Virginia men’s and women’s track teams opened the long outdoor season last Saturday with the Virginia Cup at Lannigan Field.
After Shane Larkin drilled a stepback 3-pointer with a minute remaining for a 57-55 lead, East Region No. 2 seed Miami benefited from a blown out-of-bounds call on the ensuing Illinois possession to escape with a 63-59 victory Sunday.
Though both squads found themselves ranked among the NCAA’s best teams, the Cavaliers owned a 1-4 record against fellow top-ten units and the Blue Devils were winless in just one try. Following Duke’s 13-7 win against the Cavaliers, the teams’ situations appear less analogous.
Behind dominating pitching and timely hitting, the young Cavaliers put together an impressive sweep of the Wolfpack at Davenport Field and have staked a strong claim as one of the top ten teams in the nation.
Following their tremendous performance over three days at the NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, redshirt senior Jedd Moore and redshirt sophomore Nick Sulzer will have their name added to the short list of All-American wrestlers in Cavalier program history.
