Tennis Eyes Title Today

Official Release
UVa Athletic Media Relations

The Virginia men's tennis team advanced to the championship match of the 2008 ITA National Team Indoor Championships with a 4-2 win over No. 5 Mississippi in a semifinal match Sunday afternoon at the Nordstrom Tennis Center. The Cavaliers (10-0) took the doubles point and then rallied from losing five first sets to win three singles matches.

Virginia advances to the second National Indoor Championship final in school history. In their debut in the event in 2005, the Cavaliers reached the final but fell to top-ranked Baylor 4-1. Sunday's win also marked the third time in the past four years that Virginia has defeated Ole Miss at the National Team Indoors. In 2005, Virginia scored a 4-1 semifinal win over the Rebels and last season scored a 4-3 win over Mississippi in the quarterfinals.

The Cavaliers will play No. 3 Ohio State in Monday's final. The Buckeyes downed No. 2 Georgia 4-1 in the other semifinal. Match time today is 3 p.m.

Make sure to follow the No. 1 Cavaliers with your fellow Hoo fans. The Sabre's Tennis Message Board is hopping during matches and constant scoring updates are posted.

This Week In Recruiting
By Chris Horne

Football recruiting ...

The University of Virginia football program will host a junior day on Sunday, Feb. 24, and a number of talented prospects are expected to be in attendance.

Deep Run (Glen Allen, VA) standouts Antone Exum and Jake Snyder, Sherando (Stephens City, VA) quarterback Ross Metheny, Brookville (Lynchburg, VA) tight end/wide receiver Logan Thomas, Stone Bridge (Ashburn, VA) brothers (QB/ATH) Patrick Thompson and (DL) Zach Thompson plan to be in attendance, TheSabre.com has confirmed. With the exception of Metheny and Patrick Thompson, every other prospect has received a scholarship offer from UVa. Richland-Northeast (Columbia, S.C.) defensive end Chris Bonds, one of the top defensive line prospects in the South, may make the trip to Charlottesville as well according to head coach Jay Frye.

According to reports, Lackey (Indian Head, MD) star defensive back Darrell Givens, Good Counsel (Wheaton, MD) linebacker/fullback Jelani Jenkins, The Hun School (Princeton, N.J.) offensive lineman/defensive lineman Anthony LaLota and Chancellor (Fredericksburg, VA) running back/linebacker Dominique Wallace plan to be in Charlottesville that day as well. Givens and Jenkins will be two of the most highly recruited players in the state of Maryland for this class, while Wallace holds an offer from the University of Virginia. LaLota reportedly holds offers from Maryland, Michigan State, Rutgers, Stanford and Virginia.

We will work to compile a list of expected visitors by Sunday, so stay tuned to TheSabre.com for more. We'll also provide coverage of the day, including reaction on the day from the players that made the trip.

Among the handful of 2009 class articles produced on the EDGE last week were pieces on Deep Run stars Exum and Snyder. UVa has had an official offer out to the 6-4, 235-pound Snyder since November, while the 6-0, 210-pound Exum scored an offer last week. Virginia Tech has also offered both players.

Exum plays quarterback and safety for head coach Greg Kendall, but he is being recruited by the Cavaliers staff to play wide receiver or defensive back. A tremendous athlete, he is averaging over 20 points per game for Deep Run's varsity basketball squad as well.

We will follow up with both players after Sunday's junior day, so stay tuned.

While much of the focus is on the 2009 class, Virginia coaches are also considering a late addition to the 2008 group. Harrisburg (PA) defensive back Josh Potts is getting a look from the Virginia staff. We will continue to check in on this situation, so stay tuned.

Basketball recruiting ...

For those who missed it, University of Virginia 2008 signee Sylven Landesberg is expected to be a 2008 McDonald's All-American selection. Landesberg, a 6-6, 195-pound guard/forward out of Holy Cross High School (Flushing, N.Y.), is averaging 27 points, 12 rebounds and almost four assists per game this season.

Stay tuned for more from Sylven this week on his selection.

DeSmet Jesuit (St. Louis, MO), which features UVa 2008 recruit John Brandenburg, saw its eight-game win streak come to an end last Wednesday, when it fell to St. Charles West 64-56. Brandenburg, a 6-11, 235-pound center, recorded 29 points (11-22 FG, 6-7 FT) and 10 rebounds in a losing effort. He helped DeSmet rebound on Saturday, scoring 23 points in a 50-40 win over St. Louis University High School.

Brandenburg, who is averaged 13.2 points per game this season, has helped DeSmet to a 17-9 record.

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 ...

GW's Wilson One of the State's Best
George Washington (Danville, VA) running back David Wilson saw playing time as a sophomore in 2006, but he wasn't the featured running back because of the depth the Eagles already had in place. Wilson's time to shine came in the 2007 season opener. With top junior fullback Tahron Goods out with an injury, the 5-11, 190-pound speedster needed to be a big-time playmaker at running back for head coach Dan Newell's squad. He didn't disappoint.

Hermitage Standouts Add Offers
Hermitage High School (Richmond, VA) football standouts Theron Norman and Duan Perez-Means figure to be two of the more highly recruited players in the state of Virginia's 2009 recruiting class. Norman, a 6-3, 185-pound wide receiver/safety, and Perez-Means, a 6-4, 215-pound defensive end/wide receiver/tight end prospect, each have at least two Division 1A scholarship offers in the fold already.

More recent recruiting updates on The Sabre ...

• Sherando's Metheny Focused on 2008 Season
• Deep Run Boasts Two Division 1A Recruits
• Logan Thomas Has Options in Football and Basketball
• Top DE Considering Visit to UVa
• Third Stone Bridge Junior Lands 1A Offer
• Deep Run's Snyder up to Two Offers
• Reflections and Analysis on UVa's '08 Class

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Blog Banter: Bob Pruett, Come On Down

I don't know too much about our new defensive coordinator, Bob Pruett. For those of you in my predicament, wikipedia is our friend:

Bob Pruett is best known as the former head football coach of the Marshall University Thundering Herd for nine seasons from 1996 to 2004. During his tenure at Marshall, the Thundering Herd compiled a record of 94-23 (.803 winning percentage), featured two undefeated seasons, won six conference championships, won 5 of 7 bowl games, and captured the I-AA National Championship in 1996. In 2008, Pruett came out of retirement to become the defensive coordinator for Virginia.

During his years in the big boy division, Pruett amassed 5 seasons of double digit wins (including one undefeated season in '99 when they were ranked #10 in the country), plus two more 8-win seasons. His final year at Marshall was not-so-hot: a 6-6 record and a blowout bowl loss to Cincinnati. However, even with that one outlier season, this man has a pretty impressive head coaching record.

Read the full blog entry, which includes newspaper article links about the hire, here.

You can also check out these other Pruett-related entries on the blog: Why did Bob Pruett leave Marshall?, An intriguing hire, New defensive coordinator.

Robert Mahini (Vandy-Hoo)
TheSabre.com

Best Seat Blitz

The Sabre keeps looking for ways to enhance the fans' experience and we've added another feature to the site recently. On the home page, you will find a new daily (most weekdays) audio update on the hottest items in Virginia athletics, courtesy of The Best Seat in the House. The Sabre's long-time audio partner, the Best Seat will provide short (1 to 2 minutes) audio updates each weekday to keep you up to date on the hot topics surrounding the Cavaliers.

Please provide your feedback on this. The Sabre wants to continue to add new and exciting elements to the site, but we want your help in adding features. You can email your thoughts, suggestions, and feedback [email protected]

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Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

• Second-Half Run Sends UVa Past Drexel 11-7: The Virginia men's lacrosse team scored four unanswered goals to break a six-all tie and gain an 11-7 win over Drexel in the season opener for both teams.
• Virginia wins third consecutive match: The Virginia women's tennis team won its third consecutive match, topping Brown 5-2 Sunday afternoon at the Boyd Tinsley Courts at the Boar's Head Sports Club. The Cavaliers improve to 4-3 on the season with the victory.
• Nelson Throws Third Longest Indoor Throw of All-Time in Shot Put: Virginia volunteer assistant track and field coach Adam Nelson, the most decorated shot putter in World Outdoor Championships history, won the Visa men's shot put Friday night at the 2008 Tyson Invitational. Nelson's world-leading throw of 22.40 meters/73 feet 6 inches in the Visa men's shot put is the third-best performance of all time in the shot, and he offered it up in front of the second-largest crowd in meet history at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville. For his efforts, the four-time World Outdoor medalist was named the Team USA Athlete of the Meet, presented by Visa.
• Heineking qualifies to represent Team USA in world championships: Virginia freshman Emil Heineking placed third at the 2008 USA Cross Country Championships at Mission Bay Park in San Diego, Calif., on Saturday afternoon to earn a spot on the 2008 USA Team.
• Four Cavaliers named to ACC academic team: Emil Heineking, Andrew Jesien and Taylor Smith were named to the 2007 All-Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Men's Cross Country Team, while Stephanie Garcia was named to the women's team, as announced Friday by the conference office.
• Cavaliers Victorious Over Virginia Tech, 62-53: Virginia's women's basketball team defeated Virginia Tech, 62-53, on the road Sunday at Cassell Coliseum. Sharneé Zoll registered her first career double-double with 11 assists and 12 points, while Monica Wright led all scorers with 21 points for Virginia.
• Virginia Falls to Western Michigan 3-0: The Virginia softball team wrapped up play at the Kajikawa Classic Sunday, falling to Western Michigan 3-0. It was very much a defensive game, as the Cavaliers were limited to one hit. The Broncos finished with just two hits.

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

Virginia Lacrosse Gear

UVA Bookstores has all the top Virginia lacrosse gear. From T-shirts and sweatshirts to jerseys and practice gear, you can support the Hoos in style with these great items. Check it out today and remember EDGE subscribers receive 10% off of their order!

Issue No. 213 - October 27, 2005

Post of the Week

In a week full of angry rants, here was a good factual analysis...

Subject: Analyzed the game riding out the storm south of Orlando. See inside it you wish.
Posted by: uvagrad on Mon Oct 24 2005 12:04:27 PM
Message: This post is long (sorry), totally out of boredom, and is intended to get thoughts from you about our offense on Saturday. Sure, the defense played well enough to put us in position to win but you could simultaneously argue that we could have done more against the run. In my mind and from the looks of things, others on this board, we lost because of the offense. Therefore, I'm focusing on that side of the ball.

First off, the players deserve some of the fault especially the offensive line. I can't tell you how many times 4 UNC d-linemen blew up plays against our 6 to 7 blockers. I was shocked watching the game again. With all that being said though, the play calling was downright terrible. It was beyond clear that our coaches didn't put our players in situations to make plays and succeed.

Here are some interesting stats for you:

Total plays called: 67
Plays attempted beyond ten yards: 13
Plays attempted over twenty yards: 3
Passes attempted over the middle: 7 (3 of those were 3-4 yard "dumps")
Total sweep plays run: 21

The last number is generous at best since some of our off tackle plays are really run "off TE" and not quite sweeps so they weren't counted. To be fair, not all of the plays were EXACTLY the same but the theme of pulling linemen and trying to run outside with a direct handoff were there for every play. It was interesting to see no "Student Body Right" and "Student Body Left" plays (pitches). All wide attempts were handoffs.

Ron Prince caught a lot of flak for his play-calling vs. UNC.

Here are two plays that still baffle me watching today. The first was in the first half. On 3rd and 3, we tried to run a screen. Of course, UNC blew that play up and Hagans scrambled for a first. Now, I'm not a coaching genius but aren't you supposed to call a screen if you think the defense is coming on a blitz or aggressive stunts? Instead, UNC played the run (go figure on 3rd and 3) and the play was easily defended.

The second play is even more baffling. In the 2nd half, we had a 2nd and 2 from the UNC 43. As predicted, we run a sweep right with Hagans handed off to Peerman at the 50. That's midfield for you mathematically challenged fans, seven yards behind the LOS. As you can guess, UNC was all over the backfield and dropped CP for a 3 yard loss.

Here is another interesting point, after the 30-yard attempt to Ogletree in the first half we ran 19 straight plays either running the ball or passing the ball within 5 yards of the LOS. The 3rd down attempt to MJ in the end zone ended that string.

Since I'm so bored and everyone may not have watched the game, I was going to post every play and result but I don't want to bore you too. No need to spread my misery today.

So, the takeaway point for me is that we have little imagination on offense (at least we didn't on Saturday). There were many of the exact same formations and plays. We didn't test the middle of the field enough. Do you remember seeing the TE stretch play up the middle that we've run so successfully lately? Our plays are very predictable for even the armchair QB. We didn't use all our weapons. We continuously ran the same sweep play over and over again. We ran the wrong play at the wrong time. It's also interesting to note that I didn't see one checkoff from Hagans. Do we ever see one? That could say a lot about who has control and calls the shots.

I know we're supposed to be positive today. Don't consider this post as negative but more about the facts. If I come across negative then I truly do apologize to all who read through this entire post. All I want is to see my Hoos give every team its best shot, week in and week out. When we play not to lose, don't play with "all heart", don't take chances, don't seem to have fun, etc. than it makes it hard for us fans (read, me) to do the same.

Here's to hoping for changes down the road. We have two weeks to make those changes and 1 "practice" game to test them all in real game situations before the stretch run.

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:

• Position Reviews JHoo breaks down the situation at the various positions on the Virginia football team.
• Sabre FanWatch The Sabre FanWatch series returns this week.
• Georgia Tech The Sabre provides coverage of the Hoos' next basketball game.
• Team Outlooks The Sabre looks at the season outlook for some of the spring sports teams.

In Case You Missed It ...

Sabre articles since the last SabreMail

Hoos Halt Skid With Win At BC
A pair of scoring spurts - one near the midpoint of each half - and balanced scoring helped the Virginia men's basketball team snap a seven-game losing streak on Sunday. Sean Singletary, Mamadi Diane, Laurynas Mikalauskas, and Mike Scott all scored in double figures as the Hoos dispatched host Boston College 79-74.

Quick Take With Jeff Jones
Virginia freshman Jeff Jones started the first two ACC games of his career against Wake Forest and North Carolina in the last week. He scored 7 points against the Tar Heels on Tuesday by shooting 3 of 6 from the field and added 2 rebounds and 1 steal without a turnover. What does Jones think of the performance and what lies ahead? Check out this quick take from after the UNC game.

Best Seat In The House: Al Groh
The Virginia football coaches recently wrapped up the 2008 recruiting season with 18 signees joining the program. Head coach Al Groh joined Macon Gunter on The Best Seat in the House to talk about the class and players like Cameron Johnson, Ausar Walcott, Torrey Mack, Billy Schautz, and Riko Smalls. Groh also looked back at the Hoos' successful 2007 season where the team recorded 9 wins and earned a trip to the Gator Bowl. Check out the free audio interview from the Best Seat in the House.

Mikalauskas' Return Provides Spark
There is little doubt that Laurynas Mikalauskas is a crowd favorite at the John Paul Jones Arena. Many of the signs decorating the student section are dedicated to the 6'8" junior and one frequent poster the last two seasons has a panel that alternates between "Leave Lars In" and "Put Lars In." Of course, recently it could have said "Bring Lars Back ... Please!" It's no wonder then that Mikalauskas received a rousing ovation when he reported to the scorer's table on Tuesday night against North Carolina - the fans may have had separation anxiety it had been so long since they'd seen the fiery post player. The fans weren't the only ones happy to see the Lithuanian back in action, though.

Cavs Narrowly Fall To UNC
It was a different story for Virginia on Tuesday night in Charlottesville, but the Cavalier men's basketball team received the same result. UVa hung tough for 40 minutes with fifth-ranked North Carolina, even threatening to pull the upset late, before falling 75-74 at the John Paul Jones Arena. Virginia has now lost seven straight games, the program's longest skid since 2002-03. The Cavs also own their worst start in ACC play since 1976-77, the last time a UVa team opened 1-9 in league play.

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