Returning champs face pressure of repeat performance
By Adrian Vigil | April 29, 2005All year long, the Virginia women's lacrosse team has had to operate knowing there was a target on its back.
All year long, the Virginia women's lacrosse team has had to operate knowing there was a target on its back.
This weekend's ACC Men's Lacrosse Tournament will resonate with hopes for revenge. Whether it is Maryland hoping to avenge its 10-2 regular season loss to Virginia, Virginia looking for redemption after a 17-2 shellacking against Duke two weeks ago, or North Carolina looking to get its first conference win of the season, everyone is out for someone else's head. For Virginia, this weekend's tournament held at M & T Bank Stadium in Baltimore could mean the difference between a No.
In a month usually dominated by Major League Baseball and the NBA playoffs, there is one weekend in April when these two sports are pushed into the background in favor of America's new favorite pastime. It may be months before the beginning of the NFL season, but millions of sports fans were glued to ESPN last Saturday -- as they are on the third Saturday of every April -- to see where last season's NCAA football stars will begin their pro careers. Virginia fans got to see the selection of seven Cavaliers in this year's draft, the highest number in school history.
With the end of the season in sight, the Virginia softball team is heading down the home stretch -- literally. With only five games remaining on the schedule, the Cavaliers host Sacred Heart today at 3 p.m.
Riding the wave of a six-game winning streak, the Virginia baseball team (30-13, 9-10 ACC) travels to No.
Since the NFL Draft began in 1936, 134 Virginia players, including those from this year's class, have been selected to play in the NFL.
Some days -- no matter the heart, accuracy or will of David -- Goliath is going to come down and come down hard. Wednesday at The Park, Virginia played the role of Goliath and Mount St.
Athletes always say they want to leave everything out on the field. As I write my final column, I have similar sentiments -- not leaving any thoughts unwritten as I recap my time here. When I first undertook a weekly column, I thought it would be a piece of cake.
Senior Matt Street's three-run homerun in the bottom of the sixth inning broke a previously close game wide open, and the Cavaliers went on to defeat William & Mary 9-4 at Davenport Field last night. "Coach Mac [Kevin McMullan] just told me, pretend like the infield's in, get a sac fly," Street said.
Hidden behind goals, assists and points scored in the box score, face-offs won is a statistic that can easily be ignored.
Last weekend, football fans witnessed the annual NFL Draft in which 255 players were selected in seven rounds.
I swore when I took over as a columnist there was no way I'd write a narcissistic, sentimental fourth-year column. But, since all I can think of is the Green Bay Packers' frustrating NFL draft and my history term paper, I'm left with a slightly sentimental fourth-year column.
Flying high after a stunning sweep of No. 7 ranked Georgia Tech, the Virginia baseball team is ready to tangle with the No.
Working as a sports columnist for the Cavalier Daily is an interesting niche. That each column is adorned with a small, full-color headshot has created more than a few awkward social interactions.
The No. 8 seed Cavaliers earned a birth into the 63-team 2005 NCAA Women's Golf Championships. In just the team's second season, Virginia has finished in the Top 10 six times this season, including a tie for third place at the ACC Championships April 17.
Gene Cross was named assistant men's basketball coach yesterday. Cross, a former assistant coach at DePaul under current Virginia head coach Dave Leitao, spent six seasons as an assistant coach at Illinois-Chicago.
Many children grow up with dreams of becoming the next Michael Jordan, Larry Byrd or Shaquille O'Neal.
California girls have a reputation of just wanting to have fun. The Virginia Cavaliers softball squad certainly isn't doing much to downplay that notion. Six of the 18 players on the softball squad are from California, and two more hail from the west coast.
Breaking the previous school record of six in 1948, 1997 and 1999, Virginia had seven players selected in this past weekend's NFL Draft. Of the seven, only two former Cavaliers were selected Saturday during the draft's first three rounds.
Who is Ricky Stokes? Sadly most common sports fans will not be able to recognize him by name, but he is the man behind an amazingly long list of accomplishments. Former Virginia basketball player (1981-84) and current East Carolina head basketball coach, Stokes has been an example of success on both the court and the bench. As a player, Stokes was a member of the glory Virginia teams of the early '80s that dominated the ACC.