Devvarman Keeps On Winning

Recent Virginia graduate Somdev Devvarman continued his winning ways in professional tennis this past weekend, taking the singles championship at the Fifth Third Bank Tennis Championships in Kentucky. He didn't lose his serve and ousted Robert Kendrick 6-3, 6-3 for the title. Devvarman entered the event unseeded, but remained unbeaten as a pro. He has climbed to No. 345 in the world despite playing just a few short weeks in the pro tennis ranks. Read more from The Kentucky Herald-Leader in Sabre NewsLink, your everyday source for Virginia news!)

Of course, winning is nothing new to Devvarman. The two-time NCAA Singles Champion ended his Cavalier career on a school-record 36-match winning streak, last losing in the fall of 2007. Overall, he posted a record of 44-1 in this final year at Virginia and tasted defeat just six times in his final two years when he was 88-6.

Devvarman is entered in the $100,000 Vancouver Challenger that begins this week.

This Week In Recruiting
By Chris Horne

Laroy Reynolds' commitment gives the University of Virginia 19 verbal commitments for the 2009 class. Head coach Al Groh has indicated previously that the staff does not plan to take a full allotment - each Division 1A program may only enroll 25 players in a given class - but I believe UVa would go all the way to 25 if the right players wanted to come aboard.

Concord (Wilmington, DE) WR Justin Brown, Latin (Charlotte, N.C.) WR/CB Ross Cockrell, Brooke Point (Stafford, VA) DE/OLB Lanford Collins, Dartmouth (MA) TE/DE Arthur Fontaine, Good Counsel (Wheaton, MD) LB Jelani Jenkins, Trinity (Camp Hill, PA) OL Nick Kindler, Hun School (Princeton, N.J.) DE Anthony LaLota, Meadowbrook (Richmond, VA) OL Morgan Moses, St. Xavier (Cincinnati, OH) DE Pat Muldoon, Henry Clay (Lexington, KY) OL Samuel Simpson, Oscar Smith (Chesapeake, VA) WR Tim Smith, Brookville (Lynchburg, VA) TE/ATH Logan Thomas, St. John's (Washington, D.C.) OL Peter White, Catholic Memorial (Roxbury, MA) OL/DL Brennan Williams, and Woodbridge (VA) running back De'antwan Williams are among the top remaining targets for the Cavaliers.

In terms of position, offensive line is the biggest remaining need and I expect the staff to try to land two more offensive linemen before this class is finished. Do not be surprised if some new offers go out at the position, especially in September, after high schools have gotten several games in. One of those lineman the staff will monitor closely early on in the 2008 season is Brookville's Devin Bolling, a 6-5, 265-pound prospect. We'll have more on Bolling, as well as the latest on top rising senior star Logan Thomas and top rising junior star Zack McCray. Yes ... Brookville is a very talented team.

We also hope to reach St. Xavier (Cincinnati, OH) defensive end Pat Muldoon, who reportedly has narrowed his list to four schools including Virginia. Muldoon made an unofficial visit to UVa earlier this month and was very impressed with the way head coach Al Groh handled the visit. Speaking of visits, UVa is one of a handful of schools Concord (Wilmington, DE) wide receiver Justin Brown expects to visit soon. We'll check in on Justin for more this week as well.

In Reynolds, Virginia scored a 6-1, 207-pound prospect who could potentially play wide receiver, safety or linebacker on the college level. He is a do-everything performer at Maury High School (Norfolk, VA), where he earned all-Eastern District honors at wide receiver and utility last season as a junior. Initially, Reynolds projects as a wide receiver or safety. But, if he gets bigger physically as Maury head coach John Quinerly expects, Laroy could end up at linebacker at Virginia. Frankly, I feel that may fit him best, but we'll have to see.

Reynolds' commitment also gives Virginia another commitment from the famed Tidewater region. The Cavaliers now have three Tidewater commits in this class, including Reynolds, Phoebus safety/outside linebacker LoVante' Battle, and Oscar Smith star defensive back recruit Perry Jones. Virginia remains in hot pursuit of another top Tidewater target in Oscar Smith's Tim Smith, who was featured last week on the EDGE (see links below).

Eleven of UVa's 19 commitments hail from the state of Virginia.

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 ...

Q&A: Centreville OL Commit Luke Bowanko
The offensive line was a big need heading into this 2009 recruiting class. The staff kicked off its o-line recruiting with a commitment from promising rising senior Luke Bowanko, an offensive tackle out of Centreville High School (Clifton, VA). Bowanko's recruitment didn't exactly slow down with his commitment, as two other ACC programs extended offers following his decision. Bowanko discusses those offers, his commitment to Virginia, his upcoming senior season and more in this Q&A.

UVa Lands Another Tidewater Gridiron Commit
Last month, Maury (Norfolk, VA) athlete Laroy Reynolds made no secret that he was leaning heavily towards the University of Virginia. The 6-1, 207-pound rising senior was not able to attend Al Groh's summer camp last month as he had previously planned, but he and Cavaliers primary recruiter Bob Pruett eventually settled on today as an opportunity for the versatile standout to check out UVa. Before heading home to Norfolk this afternoon, Reynolds gave head coach Al Groh some good news.

More on UVa PG Commit Jontel Evans
The University of Virginia men's basketball program picked up its first 2009 class commitment last Friday, when Bethel (Hampton, VA) point guard Jontel Evans pledged to the Cavaliers. The 5-11, 185-pound prospect had also received scholarship offers from Marquette, Old Dominion, Rutgers, VCU and Virginia Tech, but a handful of factors pushed Virginia over the top.

More recent recruiting updates on The Sabre ...

• Morgan Moses Talks Summer Visits, Future Plans
• UVa Stays in Contention with Top DE
• Oscar Smith WR Has Set Four Officials

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Meet the Team Day Set for Aug. 10

Virginia Athletic Media Relations
Official Release

The Virginia football team will hold its popular "Meet the Team Day" this year on Sunday, Aug. 10. Cavalier fans will have the chance to interact with the players on Virginia's 2008 squad and head coach Al Groh. Meet the Team Day takes place at the Carl Smith Center, home of David A. Harrison III Field at Scott Stadium. Players will be available for photos and autographs from 3 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. Gates to the stadium open at 2 p.m.

Olympic Connections

Virginia Athletic Media Relations
Official Release

Nine individuals with connections to University of Virginia athletics are headed to China for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. The group traveling to Beijing includes six former Cavalier varsity student-athletes, one incoming student-athlete, a current Virginia coach and a former club sport participant at UVa.

The former Cavalier student-athletes competing at the games include Angela Hucles (women's soccer), Melanie Kok (women's rowing), Vanja Rogulj (men's swimming), Ruby Rojas (softball), and Lindsay Shoop (women's rowing). In addition, former Cavalier basketball standout Dawn Staley is traveling to China as an assistant coach with the U.S. women's basketball team. Erika Stewart (incoming first year on the women's swimming team), Adam Nelson (graduate student at the Darden School of Business and a volunteer assistant coach with the UVa track and field team), and Wyatt Allen (a graduate of the University and former rower with the UVa men's rowing club team) will also compete in Beijing.

Blog Banter: 2007-2008 wrap up: Men's Tennis

When a team doesn't lose very much, or ever, it's easy to do a recap: the men's tennis team won every single match-up except for its last one. Of course, we were all disappointed that the boys lost for the second year in a row to Georgia in the NCAA Championships (this time in the semifinals), but Somdev Devvarman provided a nice exclamation point to the year by winning a second national championship singles title - back-to-back. I'd say Somdev has cemented his place in the pantheon of Virginia athletics, no?

Anyway, tons of hardware for him and the others in the details. And it's not giving much away to predict that these guys will be near or at the top of the rankings this year.

Read the rest of this entry and find the links to previous wrap-ups too!

Keep in touch with all the hot topics around Virginia athletics on The Good Ol' Blog.

Rob Mahini (Vandy-Hoo)
The Good Ol' Blog

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Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

• Monroe, Sintim Named Preseason All-ACC at ACC Football Kickoff: Eugene Monroe and Clint Sintim have been selected to the Preseason All-ACC football team in voting by media attending the annual ACC Football Kickoff. Monroe, a senior from Plainfield, N.J., enters his third year as Virginia's starting left tackle. Last season he did not allow a sack during the regular season and finished with 20 knockdown blocks despite missing two games due to an injury. Sintim, a senior outside linebacker from Woodbridge, Va., has started the last 37 games, the longest active streak on the team. He led the nation in sacks by a linebacker with nine last year, while finishing third on the team with 77 tackles.
• Schwandt Joins Men's Tennis Coaching Staff: The Virginia men's tennis team has announced the addition of Derek Schwandt to the coaching staff. Schwandt, a former standout at Richmond, will serve as a volunteer assistant coach. "I am honored to be a part of the UVa tennis family, and I am eager to contribute to its continued success," said Schwandt. "The opportunity to work with Coach Boland, Coach Bresky, and such high-level student-athletes is inspiring."
• Inglot Named ACC Men's Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Dominic Inglot was named the 2008 ACC Men's Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year as conference officials announced the All-ACC Academic Men's Tennis Team. Inglot was named to the academic team for the second consecutive year and was joined on it this year by first-year Sanam Singh.
• Pereira and Rales Named to All-ACC Academic Team: A pair of Cavaliers were named to the All-ACC Academic Team conference officials announced. Senior Lindsey Pereira and junior Amanda Rales were among the 21 players named to the team.
• Bungard Resigns From Positions at Virginia: Randy Bungard has resigned as the director of track and field and cross country and head coach of the men's and women's track and field teams at Virginia. Bungard was named head coach of the men's and women's cross country and track and field programs at Virginia in 1997. "There comes a time when change is good," Bungard said. "I have reached that time. I love the University of Virginia and my time here has been the most rewarding professional experience of my life. The student-athletes, coaches, administrators and all of the support staff have been wonderful. I feel good about the state of the program and believe it is primed to move to the next level."
• Selenski, Vittese Selected to U.S. Junior National Team: Incoming first-year field hockey players Paige Selenksi and Michelle Vitese were recently named to the United States Junior National Team. The duo were also selected to the 18-member squad that will represent the U.S. in the Junior Pan American Games in Mexico City this fall.
• Chaudoin Wins Gold With Women's Eight At World Championships: Kelsie Chaudoin, a recent UVa graduate and former All-American rower, rowed with the U.S. women's eight crew that won the gold medal at the Under 23 World Championships in Brandenburg, Germany. Virginia head coach Kevin Sauer served as coach of the crew at the championships. "I couldn't be more proud of this group of women from nine different schools that came together in just a month to pull this off," he said. "Kelsie became a real force in this boat and had a lot to do with its success."
• Two Virginia Signees Win Medals at Junior World Championships: Two incoming freshmen on the Virginia rowing team, Martha Kuzzy and Cara Linnenkohl, won gold and silver medals, respectively, at the 2008 FISA World Rowing Junior Championships, held in Linz, Austria. Kuzzy rowed with the junior women's eight, which made history Saturday by winning the first U.S. gold medal in the history of the event at the championships. In the junior women's single sculls, Linnenkohl took silver, the highest finish of a U.S. junior men's or women's single sculls crew in event history.

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

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Issue No. 200 - July 29, 2005

Post of the Week

Subject: We've come a long way...
Posted by: Mikeysurf on Thu Jul 28 2005 2:07:47 PM
Message: Sometimes it's good to go back in time to put things in their proper perspective. Upon reading so many different posts about concerns over this and that as we head into the season, I began to reflect what life was like back in the mid 70s with the UVa football program.

I remember when we could barely attract 25K on a Saturday afternoon in the mid 70s. Indeed, Sonny (Randle) days were not here again. For those who have only known the good times of UVa football as a result of what GW rebuilt, let's just say if the Sabre was around during the mid 70s I could only imagine how those posts would have read. Matt, Mike, and John would likely have to shut the site down because the majority of today's posters couldn't have handled what we dealt with back then.

In '75, we were a one-point win over VMI from going winless for the season. How does 1-10 sound to you? This was a year that 3 different teams scored over 60 points on us, and one of those teams was Wake Forest.

The next year, we distinguished ourselves with two sparkling wins over Wake and Lehigh by a combined 2 points. During a stretch that started in the 2nd game of '75 to the 7th game of '76 we lost 15 games in a row, with two one point wins over VMI and Wake on each side of the streak that prevented the losing run from being longer. By the way, we lost to VMI that year by 6.

In '77, we lost at Texas by the score of 68-0 and not a single Longhorn starter played in the second half. This '77 UVa team was shut-out 5 TIMES that year and scored 7 or less points in all but 3 games and never produced more than 14 points in any single game. 1-9-1 was our record.

In four football seasons from '74-'77 I saw just 8 wins COMBINED! Talk about not having much motivation to get out of bed for a early afternoon game!!

This was how inept UVa football was before George Welsh took over from Dick Bestwick (who did a decent job for a few years prior to GW's arrival). And to be very frank, the 3-year stretch I highlighted above wasn't even the worst time block in our football history. We won one game from '58 through the '60 season, losing 28 in a row. Many in the media said when Welsh took over that no one could win consistently at UVa, GW did and Groh has continued it.

The fact that UVa now averages almost 61,000 for each home game, breaks its season ticket sales every year, and has a home record attendance of over 63,000 (Miami '04) is almost unthinkable for those of us who remember some of those dark football days of the past.

Groh has not achieved many of the goals he set forth when taking over the job in '01. However, he has energized this program like never before. When you consider where we were less than 30 years ago, it is simply amazing to watch what is now taking place on the field at Scott Stadium each fall.

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 soon:

• JHoo's Summer Reading: JHoo helps take an in-depth look at the football team with the final article in this series.
• Cavalier Conversation: Jed Williams sits down with football coach Al Groh - read the interview and hear the exclusive audio.
• Erinn Thompson: Bailey Stephens caught up with women's basketball recruit Erinn Thompson.
• Ask The Experts: Patrick Kerney joins us to answer some Sabre EDGE subscriber's questions.

In Case You Missed It ...

Sabre articles since the last SabreMail

Sorting Out The ACC
Greensboro, GA - The annual ACC Football Kickoff shindig is held, ostensibly, to satisfy three objectives: feed the media's insatiable appetite for nuggets (football and chicken), allow conference dignitaries a morning of clashing Calloways on the links, and answer a few pressing questions about the season ahead. Yet, the 48-hour football binge left a hollow feeling. Why? Because the one question that everyone cares about - the central theme for even holding such an extravagant dog-and-pony show - is the same question that has everyone vexed. It's so perplexing that the best answer to the question at this early stage is a question itself. Q: "Who's any good in this league?" A: "Who knows!?"

JHoo's Summer Reading '08: Cornerbacks
A year ago, the depth chart at the cornerback position seemed crowded, to say the least. On the message boards, there were discussions all over the place on topics such as which cornerback should be shifted to safety or why a certain incoming recruit was going onto a crowded cornerback depth chart instead of being slotted at wide receiver. Today, however, things have changed. While the talent at cornerback still is fairly deep, the numbers now are a bit tighter and the depth chart a bit more uncertain. But overall, I think there is more reason for optimism than pessimism when it comes to UVa's cornerbacks going into the 2008 season.

Former Cavs Enjoy Start-up Success
This is not your average nine to five job. One day the partners of SportsPage Inc., former Virginia football players Zac Yarbrough, David Fairbrothers, and Kase Luzar, are driving across the state to speak at a basketball camp. The next, they are presenting to investors. Then they have a full slate of meetings with coaches and athletic directors. While this schedule samples many of the activities that the trio partakes in from week to week, it is by no means a concrete schedule. That's because for the former Cavaliers, the job changes every day. There is no normal.

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