Let's take a fast and furious spin through the world of UVa spring sports and catch up on everything that's been happening around Grounds and elsewhere in the various NCAA tournaments.
Baseball: Going into last weekend, I wrote that UVa was 31-17 and 14-10 going into its home series against Georgia Tech. Well, now it is 35-18 and 18-11. The Cavs took two of three from the Yellow Jackets. They were supposed to play Richmond at home Tuesday, but it was canceled due to rain. This weekend, the 'Hoos are hosting Virginia Tech. Thursday, they rolled fairly easily over the Hokies, 8-3. On Friday, the going was tougher as the Wahoos found themselves down 3-0 after the first inning. However, four runs in the eighth gave them a 6-5 lead. Tech tied it in the top of the ninth, and then Jack Gerstenmaier drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom to lead the Cavs to a 7-6 win. Unless the weather has other plans, the teams finish up the series and the regular season today at 4 p.m. The ACC tournament begins Tuesday in Durham, N.C. Virginia will be either the No. 3 or No. 4 seed, a far cry from last year when it had to win the play-in game to get into pool play. The Cavs are up to No. 9 in the Baseball America poll and are in good position to host a regional in Charlottesville. Running the table and winning the ACC tournament could put the Cavs in position for a national top-8 seed, meaning they would automatically host a super regional if they advanced out of their regional.
Men's tennis: No. 1 overall seed UVa topped Oklahoma State, 4-2, in Tulsa, Okla., to advance to the NCAA tournament quarterfinals for the 12th consecutive year Friday. The Wahoos will face No. 9 seed Florida on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Tulsa. The 'Hoos beat the Gators, 5-2, in April. Despite not having the best record in the nation at 27-4, Virginia is the top seed. A couple streaks did end this season for UVa, though. It had won 140 consecutive ACC matches but actually picked up three conference losses this year. First, UVa lost to UNC, 4-2, in the national indoor tournament finals, then it lost to UNC in the regular season, 4-3, and finally, the Cavaliers fell to Wake Forest in the ACC tournament championship, 4-3. The day before the Wake loss, Virginia had rallied to beat UNC, 4-3, in the ACC tourney semifinals. The loss to the Demon Deacons meant a team other than UVa won the ACC tournament for the first time in nine years (2006 was last non-UVa champ).
Women's tennis: No. 14 seed UVa picked up one of the bigger wins in program history Thursday, defeating No. 2 seed UNC, which was 31-2, by a score of 4-2 to advance to the NCAA tournament quarterfinals for the second time in three years. The Tar Heels had beaten the Cavs, 4-3, during the regular season and 4-1 for the ACC tourney title. Virginia faces No. 5 seed Vanderbilt today at 1 p.m. in Tulsa. The Commodores beat UVa, 4-0, in the national indoor tournament. Virginia has never advanced to the semifinals. Two years ago, Virginia was beaten 4-2 in the quarterfinals by Stanford.
Men's lacrosse: No one seems to know what is going on with this program. On Tuesday, the publication Inside Lacrosse said longtime coach Dom Starsia, winner of four national championships, was being forced out, or at the very least, his contract, up in January, would not be renewed (getting fired in other words). But now, reports the past couple days appear to say there is actually a three-year contract extension on the table for Starsia. It is difficult to discern what happened here, but now it is best to wait for an official announcement from UVa. The prominent thought in lacrosse circles seems to be that Starsia was indeed going to "step down," but then either athletics director Craig Littlepage and others got together and changed their minds, or the information was leaked ahead of time by angry UVa lacrosse alums, which got the attention of the administration and caused them to instead back off on getting rid of Starsia. No matter what, a bad PR look for UVa, which has had a few over the past few years. Virginia completed another lackluster year at 7-8, missing the NCAA tournament for the second time in four years. The Cavs have yielded disappointing results since their last title in 2011. Despite being a legend and despite what actually happens, it probably is time for Starsia, who is 64, to go.
Women's lacrosse: The Cavaliers finished the season 9-9 and lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Johns Hopkins.
Men's golf: This year, Virginia participated in the Franklin, Tenn., Regional, and finished fifth, just edging Washington by one stroke to be the final team from the region to make the NCAA championships, which start next Friday in Eugene, Ore. The championships consist of 30 teams. Last year, UVa was 18th.
Women's golf: The women snuck into the championships, too, landing in sixth place in their regional in Palo Alto, Calif., grabbing the final berth. After day one, UVa was in second, but dropped after that. The women's championships are in Eugene, Ore., as well and started Friday. UVa, which finished 20th last year, was in eighth after the first day. In April, the Wahoos won the ACC title for the second year in a row in Greensboro, and Lauren Coughlin captured the individual championship by two strokes.
Track and field: The men finished third and the women fourth at the ACC championships. The NCAA East Preliminary Rounds are in Jacksonville starting next Thursday. The NCAA championships are in early June in Eugene, Ore. UVa had two individual champions at the ACC championships: Cleo Boyd for the women in the 10,000 meters and Hilmar Jonsson for the men in the hammer throw. Jonsson set a Virginia and facility record in Tallahassee, Fla. with his effort. His throw of 234 feet, 8 inches was third best in the NCAA this season.
Rowing: The only team that was close to matching the ACC success of men's tennis at UVa was rowing. Last week, the team won its seventh consecutive ACC crown at Clemson. The NCAA championships begin next Friday in Gold River, Calif.
Softball: One constant at UVa on the bad side of things is softball. The program just isn't good and hasn't been since at least I started attending in 2006. Coach Blake Miller resigned after the end of the year, his third. Virginia went 18-33 this year with a 7-14 mark in the ACC. Miller was 42-116 in Charlottesville.
Baseball: Going into last weekend, I wrote that UVa was 31-17 and 14-10 going into its home series against Georgia Tech. Well, now it is 35-18 and 18-11. The Cavs took two of three from the Yellow Jackets. They were supposed to play Richmond at home Tuesday, but it was canceled due to rain. This weekend, the 'Hoos are hosting Virginia Tech. Thursday, they rolled fairly easily over the Hokies, 8-3. On Friday, the going was tougher as the Wahoos found themselves down 3-0 after the first inning. However, four runs in the eighth gave them a 6-5 lead. Tech tied it in the top of the ninth, and then Jack Gerstenmaier drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom to lead the Cavs to a 7-6 win. Unless the weather has other plans, the teams finish up the series and the regular season today at 4 p.m. The ACC tournament begins Tuesday in Durham, N.C. Virginia will be either the No. 3 or No. 4 seed, a far cry from last year when it had to win the play-in game to get into pool play. The Cavs are up to No. 9 in the Baseball America poll and are in good position to host a regional in Charlottesville. Running the table and winning the ACC tournament could put the Cavs in position for a national top-8 seed, meaning they would automatically host a super regional if they advanced out of their regional.
Men's tennis: No. 1 overall seed UVa topped Oklahoma State, 4-2, in Tulsa, Okla., to advance to the NCAA tournament quarterfinals for the 12th consecutive year Friday. The Wahoos will face No. 9 seed Florida on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Tulsa. The 'Hoos beat the Gators, 5-2, in April. Despite not having the best record in the nation at 27-4, Virginia is the top seed. A couple streaks did end this season for UVa, though. It had won 140 consecutive ACC matches but actually picked up three conference losses this year. First, UVa lost to UNC, 4-2, in the national indoor tournament finals, then it lost to UNC in the regular season, 4-3, and finally, the Cavaliers fell to Wake Forest in the ACC tournament championship, 4-3. The day before the Wake loss, Virginia had rallied to beat UNC, 4-3, in the ACC tourney semifinals. The loss to the Demon Deacons meant a team other than UVa won the ACC tournament for the first time in nine years (2006 was last non-UVa champ).
Women's tennis: No. 14 seed UVa picked up one of the bigger wins in program history Thursday, defeating No. 2 seed UNC, which was 31-2, by a score of 4-2 to advance to the NCAA tournament quarterfinals for the second time in three years. The Tar Heels had beaten the Cavs, 4-3, during the regular season and 4-1 for the ACC tourney title. Virginia faces No. 5 seed Vanderbilt today at 1 p.m. in Tulsa. The Commodores beat UVa, 4-0, in the national indoor tournament. Virginia has never advanced to the semifinals. Two years ago, Virginia was beaten 4-2 in the quarterfinals by Stanford.
Men's lacrosse: No one seems to know what is going on with this program. On Tuesday, the publication Inside Lacrosse said longtime coach Dom Starsia, winner of four national championships, was being forced out, or at the very least, his contract, up in January, would not be renewed (getting fired in other words). But now, reports the past couple days appear to say there is actually a three-year contract extension on the table for Starsia. It is difficult to discern what happened here, but now it is best to wait for an official announcement from UVa. The prominent thought in lacrosse circles seems to be that Starsia was indeed going to "step down," but then either athletics director Craig Littlepage and others got together and changed their minds, or the information was leaked ahead of time by angry UVa lacrosse alums, which got the attention of the administration and caused them to instead back off on getting rid of Starsia. No matter what, a bad PR look for UVa, which has had a few over the past few years. Virginia completed another lackluster year at 7-8, missing the NCAA tournament for the second time in four years. The Cavs have yielded disappointing results since their last title in 2011. Despite being a legend and despite what actually happens, it probably is time for Starsia, who is 64, to go.
Women's lacrosse: The Cavaliers finished the season 9-9 and lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Johns Hopkins.
Men's golf: This year, Virginia participated in the Franklin, Tenn., Regional, and finished fifth, just edging Washington by one stroke to be the final team from the region to make the NCAA championships, which start next Friday in Eugene, Ore. The championships consist of 30 teams. Last year, UVa was 18th.
Women's golf: The women snuck into the championships, too, landing in sixth place in their regional in Palo Alto, Calif., grabbing the final berth. After day one, UVa was in second, but dropped after that. The women's championships are in Eugene, Ore., as well and started Friday. UVa, which finished 20th last year, was in eighth after the first day. In April, the Wahoos won the ACC title for the second year in a row in Greensboro, and Lauren Coughlin captured the individual championship by two strokes.
Track and field: The men finished third and the women fourth at the ACC championships. The NCAA East Preliminary Rounds are in Jacksonville starting next Thursday. The NCAA championships are in early June in Eugene, Ore. UVa had two individual champions at the ACC championships: Cleo Boyd for the women in the 10,000 meters and Hilmar Jonsson for the men in the hammer throw. Jonsson set a Virginia and facility record in Tallahassee, Fla. with his effort. His throw of 234 feet, 8 inches was third best in the NCAA this season.
Rowing: The only team that was close to matching the ACC success of men's tennis at UVa was rowing. Last week, the team won its seventh consecutive ACC crown at Clemson. The NCAA championships begin next Friday in Gold River, Calif.
Softball: One constant at UVa on the bad side of things is softball. The program just isn't good and hasn't been since at least I started attending in 2006. Coach Blake Miller resigned after the end of the year, his third. Virginia went 18-33 this year with a 7-14 mark in the ACC. Miller was 42-116 in Charlottesville.
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