On Tuesday, the Virginia men's tennis team won its third consecutive national championship by downing North Carolina, 4-2, in Athens, Ga. It was the Cavaliers' fourth title in five seasons and the 25th team championship in Virginia athletics history.
Of course, what is extra special about this victory is that the Wahoos sent coach Brian Boland out a winner. If you'll recall, in late March UVa announced in Boland was leaving Charlottesville for an opportunity with the USTA. So this is a fantastic way to cap Boland's awesome career at the school.
J.C. Aragone clinched the match for UVa with a 7-6 (2), 6-2 win over Jack Murray. Virginia also got singles wins from Alexander Ritschard and Collin Altamirano. Virginia took two of the three doubles matches for that point as well.
To get to the final, Virginia defeated Monmouth, Columbia, Florida, Texas, and Ohio State.
In addition to the team title, Thai-Son Kwiatkowski has advanced to the semifinals of the singles tournament. In the third round, he defeated the top seed in the 64-player tournament, Ohio State's Mikael Torpegaard, 6-1, 7-6 (3). In the quarterfinals Saturday, he beat Christopher Eubanks of Georgia Tech, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Today in the semifinals at noon, Kwiatkowski faces Stanford's Tom Fawcett.
As I mentioned, this was Boland's final season with the team, and on Wednesday, Virginia announced that it hired Andres Pedroso to be the next coach of the program. Pedroso was the associate head coach under Boland from 2010-2014, so he was an integral part of the first outdoor NCAA championship for UVa, and is a worthy successor to Boland. After the 2014 season, Pedroso left to coach privately in South Florida.
Baseball: Virginia ended its regular season winning six straight ACC series against Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, Florida State, Miami, and Georgia Tech, landing the No. 4 seed for the ACC tournament in Louisville.
Virginia was the top team in a pool with Clemson and Duke. The Wahoos lost to the Blue Devils, 4-3, on Thursday, effectively ending their stay in the tournament, because Duke had beat Clemson on Wednesday. The two wins for the Devils put them in Saturday's semifinals. UVa still had to face the Tigers on Friday, but that game was meaningless in regards to the tournament. Virginia did win that one though, 10-2, leaving a good final impression on the NCAA tournament selection committee, which probably did not view the game as meaningless for its own tournament.
Virginia (42-14) is expected to be one of the top-16 seeds in the tournament and host a regional, but is not expected to be a top-8 national seed, meaning if the Cavaliers win their regional, they would go on the road for the super regional round. The regional hosts will be announced today, and the entire field will be set Monday.
The most pressing concern for Virginia right now is pitching availability. Both Adam Haseley and Noah Murdock, who have emerged as UVa's top pitchers this year, have not been starting for a few weeks because of arm injuries. Haseley, the center fielder when not on the mound, has still been playing in the outfield. Coach Brian O'Connor's most recent comments seem to indicate he thinks they won't be be available to throw in the NCAA tournament. That would be a big blow for the Cavaliers, whose strength this year has already been at the plate. Hopefully they can both go, or Virginia can advance behind its offense and they can return at some point.
Of course, what is extra special about this victory is that the Wahoos sent coach Brian Boland out a winner. If you'll recall, in late March UVa announced in Boland was leaving Charlottesville for an opportunity with the USTA. So this is a fantastic way to cap Boland's awesome career at the school.
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| Virginia celebrated its third straight NCAA title Tuesday and fourth in five years. |
J.C. Aragone clinched the match for UVa with a 7-6 (2), 6-2 win over Jack Murray. Virginia also got singles wins from Alexander Ritschard and Collin Altamirano. Virginia took two of the three doubles matches for that point as well.
To get to the final, Virginia defeated Monmouth, Columbia, Florida, Texas, and Ohio State.
In addition to the team title, Thai-Son Kwiatkowski has advanced to the semifinals of the singles tournament. In the third round, he defeated the top seed in the 64-player tournament, Ohio State's Mikael Torpegaard, 6-1, 7-6 (3). In the quarterfinals Saturday, he beat Christopher Eubanks of Georgia Tech, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Today in the semifinals at noon, Kwiatkowski faces Stanford's Tom Fawcett.
As I mentioned, this was Boland's final season with the team, and on Wednesday, Virginia announced that it hired Andres Pedroso to be the next coach of the program. Pedroso was the associate head coach under Boland from 2010-2014, so he was an integral part of the first outdoor NCAA championship for UVa, and is a worthy successor to Boland. After the 2014 season, Pedroso left to coach privately in South Florida.
Baseball: Virginia ended its regular season winning six straight ACC series against Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, Florida State, Miami, and Georgia Tech, landing the No. 4 seed for the ACC tournament in Louisville.
Virginia was the top team in a pool with Clemson and Duke. The Wahoos lost to the Blue Devils, 4-3, on Thursday, effectively ending their stay in the tournament, because Duke had beat Clemson on Wednesday. The two wins for the Devils put them in Saturday's semifinals. UVa still had to face the Tigers on Friday, but that game was meaningless in regards to the tournament. Virginia did win that one though, 10-2, leaving a good final impression on the NCAA tournament selection committee, which probably did not view the game as meaningless for its own tournament.
Virginia (42-14) is expected to be one of the top-16 seeds in the tournament and host a regional, but is not expected to be a top-8 national seed, meaning if the Cavaliers win their regional, they would go on the road for the super regional round. The regional hosts will be announced today, and the entire field will be set Monday.
The most pressing concern for Virginia right now is pitching availability. Both Adam Haseley and Noah Murdock, who have emerged as UVa's top pitchers this year, have not been starting for a few weeks because of arm injuries. Haseley, the center fielder when not on the mound, has still been playing in the outfield. Coach Brian O'Connor's most recent comments seem to indicate he thinks they won't be be available to throw in the NCAA tournament. That would be a big blow for the Cavaliers, whose strength this year has already been at the plate. Hopefully they can both go, or Virginia can advance behind its offense and they can return at some point.
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