For the Virginia football team, playtime is now over. The team will get its first true test of the season this Saturday when it travels to College Park to take on the Maryland Terrapins. The Terrapins (2-2), while not members of the ACC elite, still represent a step up in competition.
The Virginia field hockey team improved its record to 6-4 with a 3-1 win against the Longwood Lancers yesterday. The Cavaliers played an intense game with a new offensive strategy, which at times seemed unsuccessful but resulted in a win for Virginia nonetheless. Virginia's Katie Phillips, a senior from Texas, was the leading scorer with two goals.
I'm tired of all of this gloom and doom talk when it comes to the Virginia men's basketball program.
Football games are won and lost in the trenches of the offensive and defensive lines. During the 2004 season, the Cavalier offensive line won the battle with opponents' defensive lines almost every game.
There is no denying the strength of ACC field hockey, but to find the best under-21 play in the world, you would have to travel about 5,000 miles south to Santiago, Chile. Unfortunately, you are also two weeks late. The BDO Hockey Junior World Cup recently finished with South Korea defending its title with a 1-0 win over Germany in the final. The real story, though, was the resurgence of the long-dormant American team, led by Virginia's Mia Link and Katherine Blair. The United States rallied to a seventh-place finish out of 16 teams, after finishing 14th in 2001.
As the men's soccer season reaches its midpoint, heavy legs and decreasing stamina become a major concern for the Cavaliers. Fortunately, the team has been sparked by outstanding play from junior reserve midfielders Ian Holder and Will Hall.
As the youngest of three, born into a family that comes together most animatedly when discussing a TV show or sports, I can tell you that the beginning of fall is the time when we become especially alive. Since fall officially fell last Thursday, nary a day has gone by during which I haven't received a phone call, text message or e-mail from somebody in my family -- just to talk sports. Yea, we're weird, but don't fault us for that.
The University of Virginia volleyball team began ACC play this weekend with a win over N.C. State and a loss to North Carolina. The Cavaliers traveled to Raleigh Friday and claimed a 3-0 (30-23, 30-18, 30-22) victory over the Wolfpack, Virginia's 20th consecutive win over N.C.
Junior linebacker Kai Parham and freshman guard Branden Albert both won ACC player of the week honors for their showing against Duke. Parham shared Defensive Lineman of the Week honors and Albert shared the Rookie of the Week award. Parham led the team with 12 tackles, including five for a loss.
Virginia's cross country teams traveled to Cary, N.C. this weekend to compete in the Great American Cross Country Festival.
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.
