Lesson learned
By Fritz Metzinger | June 2, 2013What to conclude about building a successful college football program in the wake of Phillip Sims’ departure from Virginia.
What to conclude about building a successful college football program in the wake of Phillip Sims’ departure from Virginia.
Phillip Sims is no longer on the Virginia football roster and will leave the University after completion of his summer school session, coach Mike London announced Friday. The Chesapeake, Va. native appeared in all 12 games at quarterback during his sophomore season after transferring from Alabama.
The Virginia men’s tennis team capped a perfect season Tuesday with a 4-3 win against UCLA to earn its first NCAA Championship in program history.
In the final action of the regular season, the No. 7 Virginia baseball team saved its best for last.
Final exams may have put the No. 8 Virginia baseball team on hiatus, but the break did nothing to stop its momentum.
After a trying season both on and off the field, the Virginia men’s lacrosse team left Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium May 30, 2011 as NCAA Champions. The title was the program’s fifth ever and fourth during coach Dom Starsia’s reign at Virginia, which began in 1992.
Neither the Virginia football team or basketball team roared out of the gate, but by the end of two whirlwind seasons, both found themselves playing on a stage that at one point seemed unattainable. London’s second season culminated in a New Year’s Eve matchup in front of 72,919 fans at the Georgia Dome in the Chick-fil-A bowl. Bennett, meanwhile, led Virginia to the Big Dance for the first time since 2007 while winning 22 games overall — the most in 29 years.
If there were one word to describe coach Brian O’Connor’s tenure at the helm of the Virginia baseball team, it would be “consistent.” In just 10 seasons in Charlottesville, O’Connor has lifted the Cavaliers from irrelevancy to national prominence, and his success has been almost unparalleled by any other program around the country. The 2013 campaign has been no different for Cavaliers.
Just more than three months after dropping a preseason game against a mid-tier CAA opponent, No. 2 Virginia ousted No. 1 Akron in a penalty shootout to claim the program’s sixth NCAA national championship and first under longtime coach George Gelnovatch. The title marked the first of the four varsity national championships Virginia has acquired since the Class of 2013’s arrival and highlighted the 2009-10 athletics season.
The Virginia men’s lacrosse team entered last weekend’s ACC Championship needing a pair of wins to finish above .500 and be eligible for an at-large selection to the NCAA Tournament. And though the team managed to notch its first ACC win of the season Friday, its upset bid ran out of gas midway through Sunday’s championship game against North Carolina, effectively ending a difficult season for the Cavaliers.
After a stunning performance against Florida State last weekend, the No. 5 Virginia baseball team came out unusually flat against Virginia Tech this weekend, dropping two of three games for just their second ACC series loss of the season. The Cavaliers picked up a 15-6 win Friday, but were swept in the Saturday doubleheader, 5-3 and 11-6.
For only the second time in his 21-year career at Virginia and for the first season since 2004, coach Dom Starsia leads his squad to the ACC Tournament needing to win out in order to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
As the final seconds ticked away from Virginia’s NIT quarterfinal game, coach Tony Bennett wrapped Jontel Evans in a hug.
Tuesday night felt like a microcosm of the Virginia baseball season — an overpowering performance fueled by timely offense, shutdown pitching and fundamental defense.
Since Brian O’Connor became head coach at Virginia in 2004, the phrase “in-state rival” has become an oxymoron.
When I picked up my one of my first few copies of the Cavalier Daily upon arriving on Grounds in 2010, it seemed like an innocuous act.
The Virginia softball team bounced back from a rough weekend by sweeping Liberty in a doubleheader Wednesday afternoon. The 7-3 and 7-6 wins give the team some momentum heading into their final regular season series against Virginia Tech.
Now with 103 straight conference victories, the team heads to the ACC Tournament in Cary, NC. The Cavaliers (21-0, 8-0 ACC) have won the tournament eight times since head coach Brian Boland’s arrival. After completing yet another phenomenal season, this weekend could very well mark the ninth title of the Boland era.
Thursday afternoon in Chapel Hill, Virginia (8-8, 1-4 ACC) will play Duke (11-4, 2-3 ACC) for a second time, this time in the ACC Tournament’s first round. The winner will face No. 1 Maryland, the tournament’s top seed, in Friday’s semifinal.
In a year in which the No. 13 Virginia women’s tennis team broke school records, toppled the nations top-ranked team and threatens to make a deep run in the postseason, it heavily relied upon three new faces.