The Virginia field hockey team opened ACC play Sunday with a 1-0 loss to No. 17 Boston College. The Eagles got on the board 13 minutes into the game and never relinquished the lead.
Sports writing for the Cavalier Daily is a funny thing. Prior to last week, I had this vision that when people saw my smiling face above a column, they chuckled and turned the page.
In Al Groh's eyes, a player usually doesn't start to come into his own until his third year. Two years as a newcomer breed familiarity; two years of breeding familiarity builds the confidence that Groh needs to see out of a veteran player. As last semester's spring practice turned to training camp, and training camp turned to the season opener, the question of which Virginia receiver was going to be Marques Hagans' go-to guy was about as certain as the status of Ahmad Brooks' knee. Of the three main receivers being tracked on radar as the Western Michigan game approached, only senior Ottowa Anderson had tallied more than 60 career receptions -- and he had spent the entirety of 2004 selling La-Z-Boys in Norfolk. Fontel Mines showed promise as a big body receiver in the prior season, but had that big body taken out of commission early.
Seeing as 95 percent of the headlines from the Syracuse game referenced Al Groh's infamous "Risky Business" quote, our football coach may now be under the illusion that he could pose as the next Hollywood hunk. I guess I'll have to be the one who bursts his bubble, because Tom Cruise, Sr.
DURHAM, N.C. --With the score tied at halftime and the teams appearing to be evenly matched, it was clear something fundamental had changed for the No.
Behind four Marques Hagans touchdown passes, three of which came in the third quarter, Virginia soundly defeated Duke, 38-7, Saturday to win its inaugural ACC Coastal Division game.
No. 12 singles player Somdev Devvarman defended his title in the fall invitational tennis tournament hosted by Virginia this weekend.
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- With six minutes left in the first half, the situation was looking dire for the Virginia men's soccer team.
Halfway through the season is a good reflection point for a team, a time to look around, see how far the team has come since the beginning, and, if necessary, see how far a team has to go.
Recently, there have been many ill words spoken of the Virginia football team. Many fans are feeding on a growing sense of skepticism about the true ability of this football team, and the Cavaliers have given fans plenty of reason to doubt. The team is barely beating inferior opponents.
The motto of the Atlantic Coast Conference is "A Tradition of Excellence ... Then, Now and Always." Nowhere is that motto exhibited more clearly than in the strength of the six schools which have field hockey programs. "For the past five or six years, clearly [the ACC] has been one of the top conferences in the country," Virginia coach Jess Wilk said.
Entering its first weekend of conference play, the Virginia women's volleyball team prepares to face the vastly improved N.C.
From here on out, the phrase "early-season tune up" is being officially retired. The preseason is over
The recent expansion of the ACC has garnered much attention, as a traditionally basketball-oriented conference has stepped up into the elite of the power football conferences with the addition of Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College.
I am not one to knock on Major League Soccer. I think it's more entertaining than people give it credit for and the quality of play continues to get better each year.
NORFOLK -- It had to happen sometime. After pitching five straight shutouts to start the season, the Virginia defense finally showed cracks in a seemingly concrete facade.
For the first time this season, the University of Virginia women's soccer team substituted its regular goalie, junior Christina de Vries.
Steve Young had to do it. Tom Brady had to do it. And now Kai Parham's doing it. What did all three of these people have to do?
Don't be fooled by the spandex shorts, the ponytails and the high-fives. If you think volleyball is a sport for the beach or a backyard barbecue, watch Virginia's Stephanie Everett dive for a potential dig, crashing headlong into the team bench and then running right back into the action. You might also notice Sarah Kirkwood, who wrapped up a painful hand injury halfway through last weekend's championship game, not only return to the action, but serve another five aces. These girls might not be playing a contact sport, but they're some of the toughest athletes in Charlottesville. "There's not a lot of person-to-person contact in volleyball, but it is pretty physical because they're always jumping, running, diving for the ball, hitting the floor," volleyball trainer Katie Serenelli said. On the basketball court, players prefer to stay on their feet.
The ACC announced Monday that two Cavaliers received conference Player of the Week honors. Senior kicker Connor Hughes, who contributed nine points to Virginia's 27-24 win at Syracuse, was named Specialist of the Week.
