Men's Lacrosse Draws No. 2 Seed

Virginia's quest to repeat as the National Champions in men's lacrosse begins this weekend in a familiar place: Klockner Stadium. The Cavaliers drew the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and the first round games are held at the home field of the higher seed. UVa (12-3) faces Delaware on Sunday at 5 p.m.

The Blue Hens (11-5) won the CAA Championship to earn a spot in the event. Delaware is making its fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament. Cav coach Dom Starsia called them a "very dangerous lacrosse team." Virginia does hold an 8-1 edge all-time in the series with the Blue Hens.

The winner will meet No. 7 seed Maryland or UMBC in the quarterfinals May 20 in Annapolis, Md.

This Week In Recruiting
By Chris Horne

Patrick Patterson ...

Huntington's (W.V.) 5-star power forward prospect Patrick Patterson is expected to announce his decision within the next week and a half. The 6-8, 235-pound senior, who is considering Duke, Florida, Kentucky, Virginia, and Wake Forest, has until May 16 to sign a national letter of intent.

As reported on the EDGE last week, Patterson is no longer considering West Virginia. According to Patterson's mother Tywanna, he could narrow his list by a few schools before he makes his final decision. The Sabre will check back with Patterson this week for the latest including a possible decision date.

Southern Invitational ...

Patterson is Virginia's lone remaining target in the 2007 recruiting class. Heading to Charlottesville this weekend will be a number of 2008 targets, as the Southern Invitational is back. The Invitational is an AAU tournament annually held at the University of Virginia.

6-8 forward Ed Davis, a 5-star recruit out of Benedictine (Richmond, VA), is expected to be there along with the rest of his Boo Williams Summer League teammates. At last check, Virginia and Connecticut were the top two schools for Davis, who may narrow his list of schools to five over the next month or so. Davis is also considering Clemson, Georgetown, Louisville, Michigan State, UNC, and Virginia Tech. He has been offered by all of these programs.

Stay tuned for more on potential UVa targets throughout the weekend, as The Sabre will be there to cover the event.

Football recruiting ...

Matt Mihalik, a 6-7, 270-pound offensive line recruit out of Gilmour Academy (OH), has earned the attention of Notre Dame and Tennessee. Coaches from each of these two programs have stopped by Gilmour during the evaluation period, though neither has offered. Penn State and Stanford are among the other programs expressing interest as well.

Of course Virginia, the program Mihalik has committed to, has stopped by as well. The top junior remains firmly committed to the Cavs and plans a return visit to Charlottesville this summer for camp. For more on Mihalik, stay tuned to the EDGE for a recruiting update later today.

Chesapeake (Tuesday) and Virginia Beach (Wednesday) will host their skills camps, in which college coaches are able to attend to see prospects run specific drills (though not tests such as the 40-yard dash). The Sabre will be at each camp and we plan to provide a full report on each day.

Chris Horne, our resident recruiting expert, provides updates throughout the week for Edge subscribers about UVa's commitments and recruiting targets in football and men's basketball. To sign up for an Edge subscription, please check out the Sabre Edge Sign Up and Information Page. If you're already on board as an Edge subscriber, click the links below to catch up on recruiting.

Sabre Edge recruiting updates from the past week ...

Barber Drawing UVa, ACC Interest
Edison (Alexandria, VA) junior wide receiver Ben Barber made unofficial visits to Penn State and Virginia last month. He'll make visits to other programs in the ensuing months, including a trip to Rutgers for a Nike Camp on May 13. The 5-10, 190-pound wide receiver prospect is anxious to show what he can do in New Jersey in two weeks.

Patterson Decision Expected Soon
With the final day of the men's basketball regular signing period fast approaching, it shouldn't be long now until one of the top 2007 class prospects in the country makes his decision. 6-8, 235-pound Patrick Patterson, a 5-star power forward recruit out of Huntington High School (W.V.), is expected to choose from one of five finalist in the next few weeks.

Q&A with DT Nick Jenkins
Good Counsel (Wheaton, MD) defensive tackle Nick Jenkins is one of UVa's most highly rated recruits in the 2007 class. Rated a 4-star prospect by national recruiting services Rivals.com and Scout.com, Jenkins led Good Counsel to back-to-back appearances in the WCAC championship. He discusses his stellar high school career, why he chose Virginia over offers from 30 other programs including Florida and Penn State, his plans for his first season, his work ethic and more in the latest edition of "Q&A."

More updates since the last SabreMail ...

• Cordy Glenn Drawing ACC, SEC Attention
• UVa Impresses Pantale with Recent Visit
• Cavaliers Offer Freeman

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The Sabre is happy to announce that we added a brand new sports message board to the site! Tennis fans now have their own home to talk about the Cavaliers. The highly ranked and National Championship contending men's team and the on the rise women's team receive as much chatter as many of the Hoos' spring sports so it was time to create a home for the discussion.

In the early weeks, the Tennis Message Board has featured talk about the men's team's ACC Tournament title, recruiting, all-time doubles teams, and the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Get in the swing of things on the Tennis Message Board.

The Best Seat in the House

TheSabre.com's ongoing relationship with "The Best Seat in the House" continues this spring with new host Jay James. The Best Seat features the best radio discussion of the Hoos and includes guests from every corner of the Wahoo athletic world. The Cavs' coaches and student-athletes are frequent guests on the show along with expert analysts from all across the sports landscape. Learn more about the show by clicking on the logo below!

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To learn more, please contact [email protected].

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To learn more about SportsWar network sponsorship opportunities, please contact [email protected] and visit the SportsWar media guide www.sportswar.com

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Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

Sean Singletary

• Virginia to Open 2008 Football Season at Home vs. USC: The Virginia football team will open its 2008 season at home against Southern California on Aug. 30 at Scott Stadium both schools announced. Virginia will play the second game in the series during the 2010 season at The Los Angeles Coliseum on September 11. The 2008 match-up will be the first meeting between the Cavaliers and Trojans in football.
• Singletary and Wigger Honored As Virginia's Top Athletes: Sean Singletary (men's basketball) and Leah Wigger (women's golf) were honored as Virginia's top male and female athletes for the 2006-07 academic year at Virginia's annual awards dinner Wednesday (May 2) at the John Paul Jones Arena. Singletary received the WINA Award as the top male athlete and Wigger received the IMP Award as the top female athlete.
• NCAA Regional Tickets on Sale for Baseball Season Ticket Holders: Virginia baseball season ticket holders can now pre-order all-session ticket books for a possible NCAA Baseball Regional tournament. Season ticket holders can place their order by calling the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office at (800) 542-8821 or by logging on to their online account at virginiasports.com before the priority seating date of May 14. All-session ticket books for the NCAA Regionals will go on sale to the general public on May 16.
• Von Borsig Named to All-ACC Golf Team: Virginia sophomore Conrad Von Borsig was named to the 2007 All-Atlantic Coast Conference men's golf team the league office announced. The squad is selected by the ACC's head coaches.
• Rubeor Receives UVa's Gray-Carrington Award: University of Virginia men's lacrosse player Ben Rubeor has been awarded the University's Gray-Carrington memorial scholarship, one of the highest honors given to a UVa student.
• Kerney Makes Significant Gift To Virginia Athletics: Patrick Kerney, a former All-America defensive end at Virginia and currently a member of the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League, has made a significant gift to the Virginia Athletics Foundation for improvements to the football program. The gift from Kerney is designated for a $3 million renovation project at the athletics department's McCue Center.
• Lewellen Named Virginia Women's Golf Coach: Virginia athletics director Craig Littlepage announced that Kim Lewellen has been named the Cavaliers new women's golf coach. She succeeds Jan Mann who announced her retirement in February. Mann directed the program for its first four seasons, including berths to NCAA Regional Championships the past three years and a 13th-place finish at the 2005 NCAA Championships.

To read the full stories or gather more information on Virginia athletics, check out Virginiasports.com.

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Issue No. 225 - January 20, 2006

This Week In Recruiting
By Chris Horne

UVa landed two commitments this week and both project for the safety position. Sunday night, Edgewater (Orlando, FL) 3-star prospect Michael Parker verbally committed to the 'Hoos over Wake Forest and offers from Clemson, Georgia Tech and South Carolina. Parker has good size at around 6-2, 185 pounds, and he was electronically timed at 4.6 in the 40-yard dash at the Nike camp in Miami last year.

"Coach Groh told me he really liked the way I hit," Parker told TheSabre.com earlier this week.

Parker, who attended UVa's summer camp in 2005, earned second-team all-Central Florida honors by the Orlando Sentinel for his senior year performance.

6-1½, 192-pound Winston Churchill (Bethesda, MD) standout Matt Leemhuis camped at Virginia as well, but only received an official offer from the 'Hoos several weeks ago. Leemhuis racked up 100 tackles and had three interceptions his senior season, earning second-team all-metro honors from the Washington Post.

Leemhuis, who also camped at UVa last summer, chose the Cavs over California. He made an official visit to Cal on the weekend of January 6 and had a great time, but felt UVa was in his heart in the end.

"Virginia was always my number one school," Leemhuis said. "It was my gut feeling. I felt comfortable there. My whole family is on the East Coast, so they can all come and watch my games. Cal is just a little too far. And a point that Virginia made was what would I do if I couldn't play football anymore...would I fit in wherever I was? I think I'm a UVa guy. I have a lot of friends who go to UVa. I had a great time at Cal, but I just went with my gut feeling."

The commitments of Parker and Leemhuis bring Virginia's total to 22 for the 2006 class. Virginia could take at least five more players, possibly more.

Coming Soon

The Sabre has you covered when it comes to Hoo news. Here are a few of the articles to expect on the site in the coming days:

• A bunch of Huey Virginia's Treat Huey is a key part of the Virginia men's tennis team's success this season - he might be a key figure in the revitalization of American tennis too.
  
• Oh Henry! Virginia's Tim Henry seems to be in the right place at the right time quite often for the baseball team.
  
• Top Regional Match-Ups UVa signed Southern Cal to a home-and-home series, but why isn't there a marquee regional opponent on each season's football schedule to fill in at the old Virginia Tech slot? The Sabre's Kris Wright looks at some dream regional rivalries for the Hoos.
  

In Case You Missed It ...

Sabre articles since the last SabreMail

Best Seat in the House: Jon Oliver On USC
Jon Oliver, an Executive Associate Athletics Director at the University of Virginia, helped put together the Virginia football team's home and home series with Southern Cal. How did the pieces fall in place to play the Trojans? Is it the sign of a scheduling trend? Is coach Al Groh excited? Oliver joined substitute host John Freeman on The Best Seat in the House to talk about the USC series.

Dave Leitao's Media Q&A , Part 2
While Dave Leitao and the men's basketball program wait for the decision of highly regarded recruit Patrick Patterson, the offseason is in full swing for the players already in the Cavalier orange and blue. The long-awaited Part 2 of Leitao's season-ending media session will help you stay in the basketball mood as May rolls through Hooville.

Coach Boland's Sabre Q&A No. 5
The Virginia men's tennis team has earned the right to host an NCAA Tournament Regional for the fourth consecutive year. The Charlottesville pod features four teams from the state as Hampton, Old Dominion, and Virginia Tech also received slots in the bracket. With the NCAA Tournament up next, UVa coach Brian Boland tackles some more Sabre user questions.

Lambert Closing In On Record
I've learned over the last three seasons not to ask pitching coach Karl Kuhn about how he envisions using his new pitchers when they arrive in Charlottesville. I don't need to because I know the answer. "The players will define their roles," he tells me. Enter Casey Lambert, who needs one more save to break the ACC's career record.

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