Patrick Mitchell The majority of the regular season already has passed for the Virginia Swimming and Diving team, and now it is time to prepare for the post-season.
The rocky road through ACC play hasn't been very smooth for the Virginia men's basketball team. Coach Pete Gillen thinks his offense is turning out, but the defense -- well, if anyone finds it roaming lost around Charlottesville, Gillen probably would be grateful for its safe return to University Hall. The Cavaliers quickly have turned a 9-2 start into a 10-9 (1-7 ACC) struggle with eight games left to play.
It turned out to be a good thing that I waited until the spring of my third year to start on my language requirement.
To sports enthusiasts and journalists, following sports is like following the ebb and flow of the tide: The college sports season starts with football in the fall, slowly eases into basketball in the winter and eventually ends with baseball in the spring. However, actual athletes follow a completely different schedule, one in which they are rarely afforded the luxuries of off days and down time. Saturday, the Virginia men's lacrosse team will emerge from an eight-month "hibernation" to take on the fourth-ranked Naval Academy at 1 p.m.
Ask any basketball players what crowd-pleasing move they would use to change a game's momentum and grabbing a rebound would probably not crack the top ten. Although far less flashy than an alley-oop, dunk or no-look pass, rebounds routinely make the difference for many teams, especially in the ultra-competitive world of ACC women's basketball. Nobody is more keenly aware of this fact than Virginia coach Debbie Ryan, who has molded her team into a rebounding force over the past several games.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- When Donnie McGrath saw a hole, he pounced. The junior guard peeped nine in Virginia's zone defense last night, and he made the Cavaliers pay for every one. McGrath scored 27 points on nine for nine shooting from beyond the arc to lead his Providence Friars past Virginia, 98-79, at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence. "Shooting nine for nine is tough to do when no one's in the gym," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. McGrath had Virginia's zone defense to thank for his performance, which tied an NCAA record for three-point percentage in a game. "I think we attacked the zone pretty well," McGrath said.
Junior Doug Stewart earned ACC Tennis Player of the Week after serving up two individual wins and helping the Cavaliers rack up two 7-0 victories against 44th ranked Minnesota and 59th Old Dominion. Stewart, ranked 19th in the nation, had a tough matchup to open the season against 7th ranked player Iwar van der Merwe of Old Dominion.
The defending national champions were picked first in Lacrosse Magazine's preseason poll. In second place is Princeton, the two-time defending champ that Virginia took down in the 2004 NCAA tournament. Virginia will return nine starters this season looking to defend its crown.
PROVIDENCE, RI Praise for Pete Gillen has been hard to come by in Charlottesville these days. The city of Providence, on the other hand, still has a lot of love for the current Virginia head coach. When Gillen was introduced before tip-off last night, he received a warm reception from the Friar faithful.
It's funny what happens when you rest your hopes on the whims of eighteen-year-old boys. Most of these boys have been the center of attention for years.
Next season will officially mark the first year in which Virginia football coach Al Groh has a team that was completely recruited by his coaching staff.
If you follow Virginia sports at all, you've surely heard "coaching change," or some form of that phrase, being tossed around since late December.
After finishing last season at 5-8, many may have wondered what had gone wrong with the Virginia men's lacrosse team.
The Virginia women's basketball team has been full of surprises this year. Whether it has been the play of Virginia's talented freshmen or the team's turnaround from last year's disappointing record, this team has been anything but ordinary. The biggest surprise for the Cavaliers this year, however, could be the emergence of senior Jocelyn Logan-Friend.
Following a career-high 26 points and 12 rebounds last Friday against Virginia Tech, Virginia senior LaTonya Blue was awarded her first career ACC Player of the Week Monday. Later that night, Blue justified the honor as she dropped 24 points en route to a 77-62 Virginia upset of No.
Virginia freshman Sean Singletary sat in a leather chair in the team lounge surrounded with tape recorders and television cameras following Saturday's 110-76 drubbing at the hands of North Carolina. He had some words for his teammates. "The coaches are telling us what to do," Singletary said.
Virginia senior Luke Anderson was awarded his fifth ACC Swimmer of the Week of the season for his stellar performances last weekend against Florida.
They are both the same size, 6'2". They are practically the same weight, 185 and 170 pounds, respectively.
"Abandon every hope, ye who enter here." That inscription, compliments of Dante's Inferno, should be inscribed above every entrance to University Hall. In recent years, the life of a Virginia basketball fan has become a tortured existence.
Even with the depth of the Virginia men's tennis team, junior Doug Stewart has been able to stand out from the rest.
