Commonwealth Day Concert

For the first time ever the University of Virginia Cavalier Marching Band and the Virginia Tech Marching Virginians will give a joint concert on Friday, Nov. 23, the night before the annual Commonwealth Day football game between the two universities.

The bands will unite in a musical celebration with traditional school songs and highlights from this season's halftime shows. The grand finale will have both bands perform as one powerful 550-piece sound of Virginia.

The concert begins at 8 p.m. Feature twirlers and drum majors will be available at 7:30 p.m. for those interested in autographs.

Proceeds from the concert, which is sponsored by Virginia National Bank and MoneyWise, will go to the Ryan Clark Memorial Fund and the Cavalier Marching Band Fund.

For more information, you can check out this page or The Sabre home page for an audio preview.

This Week In Recruiting
By Chris Horne

Basketball recruiting ...

The Early Signing Period for Men's Basketball begins on Wednesday and lasts through next Wednesday, November 21. All three of UVa's commitments - G Sylven Landesberg, C John Brandenburg and C Assane Sene - are expected to sign within this period.

Though team rankings have yet to come out, Virginia's class is expected to be highly rated. The 6'6", 190-pound Landesberg, a star out of Holy Cross High School (Flushing, N.Y.), is rated a 4-star recruit by Rivals.com and Scout.com. Rivals currently rates him as the 54th best prospect in the country, while Scout considers him to be the 38th best overall recruit.

Brandenburg, a 6'11", 235-pound prospect out of De Smet Jesuit (St. Louis, MO), is also rated a 4-star prospect by the two main national recruiting sites. He is rated the 68th best prospect in the country by Rivals and the 81st best by Scout.

Sene, a promising prospect, is rated a 3-star recruit by Rivals and Scout. The 7'0", 230-pound South Kent (CT) prospect could rise significantly with a standout senior season.

Stay tuned to the coming weeks for analysis on Virginia's 2008 class of signees as well as a look at how the rest of the ACC has done in the early going.

Football recruiting ...

Though Virginia has its bye week this weekend, the recruiting trail will still produce some news. Gateway (Monroeville, PA) standouts Shayne Hale and Cameron Saddler are scheduled to make official visits to Michigan this weekend. The weekend will certainly be alive in Ann Arbor - the Wolverines host Big 10 rival Ohio State.

This will be the second official visit for both prospects. Hale, a 5-star linebacker, and Saddler, a 3-star WR/KR/PR, each visited the University of Virginia on the weekend of November 3. In case you missed it, check out updates last week on each prospect. We will be sure to check back with these two following this weekend as well.

In case you missed it, be sure to check out last week's updates from Virginia's 17-16 win over Wake Forest. Included are reports on Hale and Saddler, WR A.J. Price, Henry Clay (Lexington, KY) senior WR Aaron Boyd and junior OL Samuel Simpson, Deep Run junior DE Jake Snyder, and more.

South Lakes (Reston, VA) wide receiver A.J. Price has busted out on the recruiting scene. Last week, the 6-4, 170-pound standout received official offers from Michigan and Penn State. Price made an unofficial visit to Virginia for the Wake Forest game, but as of late last week the Cavs hadn't offered. That could change soon as the staff no longer has the luxury of waiting to offer Price.

Stay tuned for more on this situation this week. If UVa does offer, it could be in pretty solid shape based on our last update with Price.

Game Balls ...

6'0", 190-pound running back Torrey Mack rushed for two touchdowns (25, 20) and hauled in 64-yard touchdown reception in Stratford's 49-8 win over Nonnewaug. The win moves Stratford to 8-1 on the season.

Billy Schautz and the rest of his Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.) teammates captured a 43-7 win over Red Bank Catholic in the first round of the Non Public, Group 4 state playoffs. Bergen Catholic will now face Will Hill-led St. Peter's Prep this Saturday at 1:00. St. Peter's is coming off a 59-21 first round win over Camden Catholic.

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 ...

A.J. Price Lands Two Major Offers
Two days, two major Division 1A scholarship offers for South Lakes (Reston, VA) wide receiver A.J. Price. The 6-4, 170-pound senior, still in what has been a breakout season, is enjoying a breakout week on the recruiting trail.

5-Star Linebacker Discusses UVa Official Visit
Along with teammate Cameron Saddler, 5-star linebacker recruit Shayne Hale also made an official visit to the University of Virginia this past weekend. The 6-3, 220-pound Gateway (Monroeville, PA) senior enjoyed the entire experience, but if there was one highlight it would likely be how well he got along with the players.

Saddler Discusses Key UVa Experience
One of Virginia's top remaining targets in the 2008 recruiting class, Gateway (Monroeville, PA) ATH Cameron Saddler finally returned to Charlottesville this past weekend for an official visit. Saddler, a 5-7, 155-pound speedster, made his first and only visit to Virginia back in February. How was his most recent experience?

More recent recruiting updates on The Sabre ...

• Class of '09 Profile: Deep Run DE Jake Snyder
• Episcopal Junior QB Checks Out UVa
• Henry Clay Prospects Impressed by UVa
• Phoebus Star Junior up to 3 Offers
• Dunn Makes Unofficial

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The Sabre's Chris Long Tracker

Keep up with senior Chris Long's statistics, articles, and award nominations all in one place on The Sabre. (Click here.)

This past week, Long made the cut on two award lists.

The senior defensive end was named one of the eight semifinalists for the fourth annual Lott Trophy. The other semifinalists are Arizona cornerback Antoine Cason, Colorado linebacker Jordon Dizon, LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, USC defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis, Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis, Illinois linebacker J Leman, and Kentucky linebacker Wesley Woodyard. "This is an outstanding group of candidates and I'm proud of each and every one of them for how they handle themselves on and off the football field," said Ronnie Lott.

He was also one of just four finalists for the 2007 Rotary Lombardi Award. The announcement was made today by the Houston Rotary Club. The other finalists include defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey of LSU, linebacker James Laurinaitis of Ohio State, and offensive tackle Jake Long of Michigan. This year's winner will be announced Dec. 5 in Houston at the annual Lombardi Trophy Awards Dinner which features all four finalists.

Newslink - Your One Stop Shop for UVa News

TheSabre.com provides an excellent service for the Virginia fan base that you may not know about: Newslink. Sabre NewsLink provides you with links to the daily news on your Hoos. Our staff checks the Internet each morning to locate and link to articles from various online media sources from around the state and beyond. We even throw some interesting ACC news to let you know what the Hoos' opponents are up to. Sabre NewsLink is updated every morning, 365 days a year!

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Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

• Cavaliers Earn Bid to NCAA Championships: The ACC Champion Virginia men's cross country team drew an at-large bid to the NCAA Cross Country Championships and will compete in the 2007 finals on Monday, Nov. 19 in Terre Haute, Ind. Cavalier All-American Emily Harrison, who finished second at the NCAA Southeast Regional on Saturday (Nov. 10) and earned All-American honors in 2006, will also compete after earning an automatic invitation with her runner-up finish at the regional competition.
• Rales and Yahner Win Doubles Title at UNC: The Virginia women's tennis team concluded its fall schedule this weekend with pay at the Kitty Harrison Invitational hosted by the University of North Carolina. Highlighting the tournament for Virginia was the doubles team of Amanda Rales and Maggie Yahner, which went 4-0 to take home the title.
• Five First-Place Finishes Highlight UVa's Rivanna Romp: The University of Virginia rowing team finished first in the women's varsity eight, women's novice eight, women's four, women's double and women's single on Sunday at the 2007 Rivanna Romp. Teams from Georgetown, Miami, Ohio State, Tennessee and Texas competed in the regatta, held at the Rivanna Reservoir.
• Wrestling Has Big Day at Brute/Bearcat Open: The Virginia wrestling team had a solid day Saturday at the Brute/Bearcat Open in Binghamton, N.Y., as four wrestlers reached the championship match of their respective weight classes. Rocco Caponi highlighted the Cavaliers' big day by winning the title at 184 pounds, defeating Cornell's Nate Holly, 8-5, in the final. In all, the Cavaliers had placewinners in eight of the 10 weight classes.
• Cavaliers Fall to Penn State 3-2 in NCAA First Round: The Cavalier field hockey team fell 3-2 in a hard-fought battle to No. 8/9 Penn State today in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Field Hockey Championships held in College Park. Virginia's Inge Kaars Sijpesteijn notched a goal and an assist, sandwiching them around three Nittany Lion goals in the loss.
• Men Finish Unbeaten in State College: The Virginia men's swimming and diving edged Penn State (183.5-169.5) and defeated Michigan State (233.5-117.5) Saturday in University Park, Pa. The women notched a 2-1 record at the quad meet, downing Michigan State (262.5-90.5) and Purdue (238-115) but falling to the host Nittany Lions (218-134). The win improves the men's record to 4-1 overall while the women are now 4-2 in dual meets this season.
• Virginia Wins Season-Opener Over Longwood, 62-49: Virginia built an early lead and then finished strong to defeat Longwood, 62-49, Saturday night in John Paul Jones Arena. Enongé Stovall and Aisha Mohammed both turned in double-double performances to lead the Cavaliers, who won their season-opening game for the third year in a row.
• Cavaliers Fall to North Carolina in Penalty Kicks: The 10th ranked Virginia women's soccer team was eliminated in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament with a 4-2 penalty kick shootout loss to fourth ranked North Carolina following a 1-1 draw. With the tie, Virginia is now 11-3-6 on the season, while the Tar Heels move to 16-3-1.
• Tunji Soroye Has Knee Surgery: Tunji Soroye, a senior center on the Virginia men's basketball team, had arthroscopic surgery on Nov. 8 to correct cartilage damage in his left knee. Soroye is expected to be out 6-8 weeks.
• No. 21 Virginia Falls At No. 1 Wake Forest, 3-1: Ross LaBauex scored his third goal in as many games, but the 21st-ranked Virginia men's soccer team fell on the road to top-ranked Wake Forest, 3-1, at Spry Soccer Stadium Friday night.

For more Hoo news or to read full releases, check out Virginiasports.com.

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Issue No. 264 - October 23, 2006

Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

J.R. Reynolds and the Cavs were picked to finish 8th in the ACC by the media.

• Virginia Picked To Finish Eighth In ACC Preseason Poll: The Virginia men's basketball team is picked to finish eighth in the 12-team Atlantic Coast Conference for the 2006-07 season in a preseason poll of media representatives attending the ACC's 2006 Operation Basketball event on Sunday (Oct. 22) at the Grandover Resort & Conference Center.
• Virginia's Lindsay O'Bannon Selected to Play in Senior All-Star Game: Virginia field hockey student-athlete Lindsay O'Bannon has been selected to participate in the National Field Hockey Coaches' Association's Division I Senior All-Star Game. The game will take place as part of the festivities at the Finals Weekend, held at Wake Forest University, on Saturday, Nov. 18.
• Cavaliers Fall in Extra Time to No. 2 Wake Forest: The University of Virginia field hockey team scored at 66:23, breaking up the five-game shutout streak by No. 2 Wake Forest, but the Cavaliers still fell to the Demon Deacons 2-1.
• Cavaliers Conclude Run at ITA Regional in Semifinals: Play concluded Sunday at the ITA Mideast Regional at the University of North Carolina, with two Cavaliers having their run reach the semifinals. Treat Huey fell in the singles semifinals, and the team of Huey and Lee Singer fell in the doubles semifinals.
• Shorthanded Cavaliers Fall at Maryland: The Virginia women's soccer team suffered its second consecutive loss, falling to Maryland 2-0 Sunday night at Ludwig Field. The Cavaliers, who played with ten players for 80 minutes, could not hold back the Terrapins, and dropped their record to 9-6-2 (4-4-1 ACC), while Maryland improves to 5-8-4 (1-5-3).
• Cristman's Hat Trick Lifts No. 2 Virginia to a 3-1 Win over Hokies: Senior forward Adam Cristman registered the first hat trick since 2000 by a Cavalier to lead No. 2 Virginia to a 3-1 win over No. 19 Virginia Tech (10-5-1, 2-4-1 ACC) in front of a record crowd of 2,711 fans at the Hokie Soccer Stadium Friday night. Cristman's hat trick was the first one in 142 games for Virginia (13-2-0, 5-2-0 ACC), who increased its lead in the Comcast Commonwealth Challenge, 2.5-.5.

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:

• UVa Hosts Howard The Cavaliers face their second basketball opponent of the young season this week. The Sabre will be there to provide coverage.
• Looking Back at Miami Each week, the Sabre breaks down the previous week's contest. Stay tuned for JHoo's 10 Things I Learned Against Miami, Greg's Game Grades, Inside the Game, and more.
• Basketball Previews The Cavs have a win under their belt, but The Sabre will continue to preview the men's basketball team and what to expect this season.

In Case You Missed It ...

Sabre articles since the last SabreMail

Cavs Win 10th Straight Opener
Early season games in college basketball often are ragged around the edges. Careless turnovers, defensive lapses, and sporadic shooting all can be part of the equation. Virginia's season-opener with Vermont on Sunday was one of those games. The Cavaliers experienced all of the ups and downs of a typical November contest, but still won comfortably, 90-72, against the competitive Catamounts.

Farewell Bashing: Cavs Crush Canes
MIAMI - Of all the places and all the games to break the program's so-called Florida curse, the Orange Bowl finale for the Miami Hurricanes wouldn't seem like the obvious choice. But the 2007 Cavaliers have been nothing if not surprising. Virginia ended an 0 for 15 streak in the state of Florida on Saturday night, spoiling the Orange Bowl's farewell celebration in the process. UVa's 48-0 win proved to be Miami's worst home loss since a 70-14 defeat against Texas A&M in 1944. It was also the Hurricanes' first home shutout since losing 3-0 to Auburn in 1974.

In Focus: Mikell Simpson
Before Virginia's game at Maryland on Oct. 20, sophomore Mikell Simpson had all but disappeared from the football field. There had been talk about Simpson being the Percy Harvin of the Cavaliers in a newly innovative hybrid role. There were even joking references to being a "secret agent" for the offense because the hybrid players weren't on the season-opening depth chart. Then poof. A re-appearing act for the ages.

UVa At Miami Scouting Report: Special Teams
Virginia's Chris Gould has been a valuable piece of the special teams puzzle this season. Obviously, his game-winning kicks against Middle Tennessee State and Connecticut provided the winning margin in those games. But he's also been a clutch performer with his pooch punting, an important piece of Virginia's victory against Wake Forest last week.

UVa At Miami Scouting Report: Miami Offense
In Larry Coker's first two seasons as Miami's head coach, the Hurricanes averaged 41.6 points per game, 189.5 yards rushing, and 272 yards passing. In Coker's final four season, UM netted 141.2 yards rushing and 215.5 yards passing, including last year's 116 yards rushing and 197 yards passing. It's easy to understand why, unlike a lot of new coordinators who often retain some systems and schemes, new Miami offensive coordinator Patrick Nix scrapped the spread offense and read-option. But as expected, the results have been mixed in year one.

UVa At Miami Scouting Report: Miami Defense
The Miami Hurricanes were anxious to return to action last week against North Carolina State. They were coming off a bye week and they had completed one of the most exciting come-from-behind victories in school history against FSU the week prior. But that renewed confidence fell by the wayside with a 19-16 overtime loss to the surging Wolfpack. Over the last five games, the generally stout UM defense has struggled, giving up 352.8 yards per game.

2007-08 MBB Preview: Schedule Analysis
In college football, figuring out who receives a postseason bowl invitation is pretty straight forward. Teams with at least a 6-6 record are eligible and most conferences have bowl tie-ins, meaning only a handful of destinations are likely. College basketball on the other hand? Now that's a different story. The Sabre breaks down Virginia's schedule and the most likely route to the NCAA Tournament.

Freshmen Discuss the UVa Experience
Virginia's 2007 men's basketball recruiting class consisted of four recruits, including three guards and one forward. Just several days until their first ever regular season game as members of the Virginia Cavaliers, freshmen Mustapha Farrakhan, Jeff Jones, Mike Scott and Sammy Zeglinski took some time to discuss their college experiences, their freshmen seasons, Dave Leitao, the John Paul Jones Arena and much more.

Greg's Game Grades '07: Wake Forest
It's not "Greg's Game Grades" this week, it's "Reader's Game Grades" as Sabre Edge subscribers stepped in and took on the role of game graders. What they saw was an inconsistent day from the offense, a less than average effort from the special teams, and a pretty solid performance from the defense. Here is the report from Virginia's 17-16 victory against Wake Forest this weekend.

10 Things I Learned Vs. Wake
What a great weekend. On top of my oldest son's team winning a big game, Navy snaps its losing streak against Notre Dame in dramatic fashion. Son wins. Navy wins. Notre Dame loses. And toss in a Maryland loss for good measure. Yep, a pretty good weekend ... oh yeah, and UVa won another game too. By a single point. Again. When it comes to that win, I hardly know where to begin.

Inside The Game: Wake Forest
Virginia quarterback Jameel Sewell came through in the clutch once again Saturday. On the game-winning march against Wake Forest, he completed 3 of 5 passes, including a drive-extending throw to Maurice Covington on 4th-and-2 at the WFU 24. He also ran the ball three times, gaining 21 yards. Before that drive, Sewell had gained 26 yards on 6 carries and completed 17 of 38 passing attempts. Groh was impressed that Sewell could overcome an up-and-down day to lead his team to victory.

More recent updates on The Sabre ...

• Wes' Ways To Win - Miami
• Blog Banter: Miami Q&A
• The Hawk's Nest - Returning Punts
• Photo Gallery: Virginia 124, Carson-Newman 65
• Tuesday Press Conference Notes - Miami
• Blog Banter: Waiting In Line Edition
• Photo Gallery: UVa 17, Wake Forest 16

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