Unfortunately for Virginia, a setback Saturday against No. 8 Duke dropped the team back to two games below .500 – a situation where every game is becoming more and more critical. On Wednesday night, the No. 16 Cavaliers (4-6, 0-3 ACC) will again have a chance to get back on track when they face Old Dominion at home (3-6).
I will argue until I’m blue in the face with Super Bowl supporters, World Series apologists and BCS nutjobs alike that March Madness is the best show we put on all year. But what people tend to forget is that the frequency of upsets is exactly what makes it so.
The No. 2 Virginia baseball team travelled to Coral Gables, Fla. this weekend for a three-game series against the Miami Hurricanes. The Cavaliers lost by six runs in the Saturday-night opener but fought back for a pair of tightly contested victories to improve to 6-0 in weekend series on the year.
Four minutes remained in a lopsided game. After recording his second block of the game and prolonging a night that rendered Memphis an ant underneath a giant Virginia defensive magnifying glass, Mike Tobey gathered the ball at the top of the 3-point arc with oodles of time remaining on the shot clock and his defender hanging back in the lane.
The No. 8 Virginia men’s lacrosse team routed in-state foe VMI with a final score of 21-3. The Cavaliers are now 21-0 versus VMI, going back to 1949 when the series began.
The eighth-ranked Virginia men’s lacrosse team is back in action tonight, as VMI comes to Charlottesville. The Cavaliers have never lost a game to this in-state foe, owning a spotless 20-0 record with an average margin of victory of more than 17 goals going back to 1949.
The No. 6 Virginia women’s tennis team won both conference matches this weekend, improving to 6-1 in ACC play. After the Cavaliers (12-5, 6-1 ACC) defeated No. 22 Notre Dame, they welcomed new rival Pittsburgh to Charlottesville for the first time. Virginia shut out the Panthers to complete the weekend sweep.
Virginia track and field began the outdoor portion of their season Saturday with the Virginia Cup at Lannigan Field.
In the final minutes of Virginia’s victory against No. 8 seed Memphis, ‘Sweet 16’ chants filled the stadium. The 78-60 effort earned the top-seeded Cavaliers a trip to Madison Square Garden and the eighth Sweet 16 appearance in program history, and first since 1995.
After an exhilarating victory Wednesday against James Madison Wednesday, the No. 14 Virginia women’s lacrosse team paid a visit to Durham, N.C. to battle No. 8 Duke Saturday afternoon. Despite holding the lead after 50 minutes, the Cavaliers fell 16-11 and are still seeking their first ACC win this season.
The Virginia women’s swimming team concluded a successful season under first year coach Augie Busch with an 11th place finish—earning 123 points—at the NCAA Championships on the backs of some stellar performances by underclassmen. Over the three days of competition that stretched from Thursday until Saturday, Virginia broke four school records and earned three All-American honors as well as four honorable mention All-American accolades. It was the Cavaliers’ best finish at the meet since they placed ninth in 2010. For the second straight year, Georgia was crowned national champions.
The No. 7 Virginia men’s tennis team traveled to the state of North Carolina this weekend for a pair of ACC matches, handily defeating No. 6 North Carolina 7-0 and No. 13 Duke 5-1.
No. 12 Virginia wrestling competed at the NCAA Championships in Oklahoma City over the weekend. At the end of the three day tournament, the Cavaliers (18-3, 5-1 ACC) stood in a tie with Old Dominion for 23rd place with 18.5 points.
The 10th-ranked Virginia men’s lacrosse team snapped its two game losing streak Saturday, defeating No. 11 Johns Hopkins. The Cavaliers trailed the Blue Jays for the majority of the second half, but were able to force overtime thanks in large part to a brilliant performance by freshman goalkeeper Matt Barrett, who made 16 saves.
Trailing Coastal Carolina 31-21 late in the first half — the largest deficit faced by a No. 1 seed against a No. 16 seed since 1989 — the Cavaliers were not playing their game. More alarming, according to coach Tony Bennett, though, was the “bickering” between the Virginia teammates.
The No. 1 seed Virginia men’s basketball team just scraped by in their opening round game of the NCAA tournament, beating No.
Whatever coach Tony Bennett said during halftime, the Cavaliers came out the break a changed team, quickly closing the gap and taking the lead, and Virginia would hold on for a 70-59 win to advance to Sunday’s game against No. 8 seed Memphis.
Virginia softball welcomed Fordham to The Park for a Thursday evening doubleheader. The two teams split the day, with the Cavaliers (4-22, 1-10 ACC) taking the first game 9-2 and the Rams (13-15) winning second 8-2.
Virginia junior second baseman Branden Cogswell led off the bottom of the first inning of the No. 5 Cavaliers’ Thursday afternoon game against Princeton with groundball that rocketed off the lip of the infield grass for a surprise single. He accepted a free pass from junior right-hander Nick Donatiello to lead off the third. Two innings later, he squared up a second base hit, once more in Virginia’s first at-bat of the frame.
The Skinny: Following a tight 4-3 loss to No. 3 UCLA, the Cavaliers travel to North Carolina for a pair of matches against ACC rivals the Tar Heels and the Blue Devils.
