Since coming to Charlottesville in 2010, coach Mike London has maintained a consistent attitude towards building a stronger program: you have to play the best to be the best.
When I was eight years old, I watched my recreation league soccer coach bench a teammate for scoring a goal and jeering the keeper. “Put yourself in her shoes,” we were told. “You wouldn’t want anyone making fun of you, so don’t make fun of them.”
The hype for the Virginia football team coming into this season largely surrounded the promising sophomore quarterback David Watford and the Cavaliers’ star recruit, freshman running back Taquan “Smoke” Mizzell. All that talk, much like the game, was stormed on Saturday against BYU.
The No. 20 Cavaliers put the kibosh on a decidedly sloppy start with a more promising end, emerging from slumber to post a 2-0 victory over the No. 19 Red Storm in their second game of the season.
The Virginia cross country team kicked off their season on Friday by hosting the UVa Duels at Panorama Farms in Earlysville, Va.
Welcoming seven new players as well as another back from injury, the Virginia volleyball team opened their season this weekend, hosting the Jefferson Cup at Memorial Gym. The women defeated Marshall in their first match 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 29-27) Friday, and continued their success Saturday with a 3-1 win against James Madison (25-23, 23-25, 25-15, 26-24) and a 3-0 win against Montana (25-16, 25-22, 25-23). From the outset, the Cavaliers received great production from the newcomers.
The Cavaliers (2-0) opened up the year with a 3-2 win against Louisville, who was pegged to finish third in the Big East, and followed up that performance with a 4-2 victory against No. 6 Penn State Sunday
The No. 5 Virginia women’s soccer team added two more dominating performances to its resume this weekend, handily defeating ninth-ranked Penn State and Richmond to extend its season-opening unbeaten streak to four games. The Cavaliers outshot their opponents a combined 55 to 17 and allowed just one goal to the Nittany Lions over the weekend.
It’s been a difficult preseason in terms of wading through what proportion of the hype surrounding Virginia football this year might be true and what share was just that — hype. Although one game isn’t a large enough sample to make any definite conclusions, the blurry image of the 2013 Cavaliers became marginally clearer after their gutsy 19-16 win against Brigham Young.
Five hours in, the headlines had been written. Three quarters of progress on defense and special teams were undercut late in an infuriating Virginia loss that brought back unfavorable memories of 2012.
With his team trailing, 2-1, Salandy-Defour pushed forward, searching for a shot on goal. His charge, however, was curtailed by Louisville junior goalkeeper Joachim Ball.
This weekend’s lineup looks packed, with Virginia football’s opening game against BYU, men’s soccer’s season-opener and Cavaliers’ volleyball taking on Marshall, James Madison and Montana as part of the Jefferson Cup.
When Virginia opens the season Saturday against Brigham Young, fans may recognize many familiar faces with the offense returning seven starters.
Last year featured a tale of two defenses for Virginia. There was the defense that was fourth in the ACC and No.
Here’s a look at Virginia’s 2013 adversaries by the numbers: 3: Brigham Young finished third in total defense in 2012 to advance to a bowl game for a fourth consecutive season.
Coaches across the country have expressed concern about the proliferation of fast-paced spread offenses. But will the faster pace really change everything about the game.
Another year at the University of Virginia has begun and we must once again awaken from the throes of summer to balance classes, clubs, social events and my personal favorite, sports.
Roster turnover is inevitable in collegiate sports. Athletes have but four brief years to compete before moving on to larger and greater things. The Virginia men’s and women’s cross country teams are dealing with this harsh reality as they begin the 2013 season without several key contributors from past seasons.
The Virginia volleyball team’s first season under coach Dennis Hohenshelt last year was not an easy one. With effectively only 12 players available for much of the season — severely limiting depth at most positions — the team stumbled to a 9-22 record, and a dismal 3-17 in the ACC. However, the return of an injured veteran and the arrival of seven new players should allow the team to erase the bad memories of 2012 and become serious contenders in the conference.
Six freshmen and four sophomores started last year for the Cavaliers, and this year, with the team ranked 25th in the preseason NSCAA Coaches Poll, Virginia coach George Gelnovatch expects to rely on youth once more. For the on-the-cusp Cavaliers to take a step forward, Virginia’s sophomores must be anything but sophomoric.
