Must Read: Fitting Finale for Wright at JPJ

Jeff White, VirginiaSports.com

With 28.1 seconds left, after Monica Wright scored her final point at John Paul Jones Arena, the horn sounded, and fans rose to their feet.

Into the game came Jayna Hartig, and out went Wright, and they hugged as applause filled the arena. Wright then hugged UVa coach Debbie Ryan before working her way down the bench, embracing assistants, teammates and support staffers.

"If you were to paint a picture of a basketball player," Ryan told reporters later, "this is the person that you would paint. You would paint Monica Wright, because she just has all the right stuff on both sides of the ledger."

The ACC and NCAA women's basketball tournaments await Wright, so her college career isn't over. But she'll never again play for the Wahoos at JPJ, the scene of so many spectacular performances by the program's all-time leading scorer (2,474 points and counting). ... The win also locked up the No. 3 seed and a first-round bye in the ACC tournament for the Cavaliers (9-5, 21-8).

Read the full article here.

This Week In Recruiting
By Chris Horne

Football recruiting

A big day is ahead for Virginia football recruiting. Sunday night was a big night, though, as head coach Mike London and the Virginia football program hosted about 50 to 60 recruits. Dinwiddie (VA) duo Corey Marshall and Chris Hall were in attendance Sunday night. Marshall, a 6-1, 255-pound defensive lineman, has been offered by UVa. Hall, a 6-4, 225-pound quarterback/athlete, has not been offered but is drawing serious interest. We'll catch up with both prospects, who also visited Virginia Tech on Saturday.

Owings Mills (MD) offensive tackle Donovan Smith was also scheduled to visit Virginia Tech and Virginia over the weekend. Stay tuned for a feature profile on the 6-6, 260-pound junior, who has been officially offered by the Cavaliers and eight other FBS programs.

We'll check in on other visitors from Sunday night's event but also look ahead to this Saturday, when Virginia will host another junior day. Some top prospects are scheduled to attend. Those with a Virginia offer already in hand include Green Run (Virginia Beach, VA) defensive tackle David Dean, Manchester (Midlothian, VA) offensive lineman Jake Goins, Kempsville (Virginia Beach, VA) linebacker Travis Hughes, Phoebus (Hampton, VA) linebacker Caleb Taylor and Ocean Lakes (Virginia Beach, VA) quarterback/athlete Lafonte Thourogood.

Reportedly, top WR/DB recruit Darius Jennings (Gilman School in MD) plans to be in attendance as well. We'll post a list of confirmed visitors later in the week on the EDGE.

Basketball recruiting

For G K.T. Harrell, F/C James Johnson and F Akil Mitchell, it's time to look forward to being Cavaliers. Harrell's Brewbaker Tech (Montgomery, AL) squad and Mitchell's Charlotte Christian (N.C.) squad fell in respective State Championship games over the weekend, while Johnson's Elsinore (Wildomar, CA) squad fell in the state semifinals last Friday night. We hope to catch up with all three players this week to reflect on the 2009/2010 season and look ahead to the 2010/2011 season, when they will be true freshmen at the University of Virginia.

For G/F Joe Harris and F Will Regan, the high school season continues. Lake Chelan (WA) captured a District 6/7 Championship on Saturday, defeating Freeman 70-56. The 6-6, 200-pound Harris led the way, scoring 36 points and hauling down 11 boards in the win. Up next is a state playoff match-up against Vashon, which features Stanford center recruit John Gage.

Nichols School (Buffalo, N.Y.) defeated Canisius in the finals of the Manhattan Cup and will now move on to the state playoffs in March.

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 ...

Around The State Recruiting Updates
Checking around the state of Virginia, Colonial Forge (Stafford), Manchester (Midlothian) and Osbourn (Manassas) all feature FBS prospects in the 2011 class. We'll begin our updates with Colonial Forge, which is guided by longtime Virginia high school head coach Bill Brown. Coach Brown, whose coaching stints have included Hylton and Potomac, reports that two of his juniors have earned FBS scholarship offers.

Oscar Smith WR Reeling In Big-Time Offers
"Shocked." That was Quinta Funderburk's answer when asked how he felt about the seven official scholarship offers he has received. The 6-2, 200-pound junior, the latest talented wide receiver out of Oscar Smith High School (Chesapeake, VA), boasts official scholarship offers from Alabama, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech and West Virginia.

More recent recruiting updates on The Sabre ...

• Travis Hughes Lands Major Offers
• Oscar Smith LB Awaits First Offer
• Stone Bridge DE/TE Lands Another Offer
• Athletic OL Holds UVa Offer, Hoping For More
• Top LB/RB Impressed By Visit

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Blog Banter: Hoosfootball.com Tackles The 90's

After putting together an all-decade team for the 2000's, hoosfootball.com has shifted the focus to the 90's and the best UVa players from that decade. Some picks were obvious. Shawn Moore and Chris Slade, for instance, easily made the cut. But what about running back? Pick two: Terry Kirby, Thomas Jones or Tiki Barber? Who makes it? Take a look at the all-decade picks and then share your thoughts on The Sabre message boards!

• Offense
• Defense
• Special Teams
• Final Cuts

Keep up with more Hoo news on The Good Ol Blog!

Virginia Wins 13th Conference Championship

UVa Athletics Media Relations, Official Release

The Virginia men's swimming and diving team won its third consecutive and 13th overall Atlantic Coast Conference title and junior Scot Robison was tabbed the meet's most valuable swimmer Saturday at Koury Natatorium in Chapel Hill, N.C.

The Cavaliers finished with 806 points en route to its 11th title in the last 12 years. Virginia claimed first-place honors in eight events, including four of the five relays.

"I'm really proud of the team," said coach Mark Bernardino. "To come into this facility and swim against a team that was as ready and on fire as North Carolina was. I think we took their best shot. I am really proud of them. It is not easy to win a championship in any sport and to think that we've won 11 in the last 12 years and to keep the focus and avoid the complacency that can go with success, that says a lot about our swimmers."

Robison, a native of Charlotte, N.C., won three individual events over the course of the meet: the 50, 100, and 200 freestyle and set ACC and meet records in both the 100 and 200 free races. He was also a member of all four of UVa's winning relay teams. It marks the third consecutive year a Cavalier has been named the most valuable swimmer of the championships; classmate Matt McLean earned the award in 2008 and 2009.

"He has a deep-rooted desire, not just in the ACC, but hopefully to be one of the best in the world," said Bernardino about Robison. "We'll see how he does in this next step. At the NCAA Championships he will be one of the favorites in a couple of events. So we'll see if he is up to facing the pressure of competing against so many Olympians from so many different countries. He's a very special young man. We're lucky he is on our side."

Robison defended his title in the 100 free, finishing with a mark of 42.58. Earlier in the day, he set a league and meet record in the event with a prelim time of 42.42, both NCAA 'B' standards. Teammate Peter Geissinger also picked up all-conference honors with his third-place performance, finishing in 43.61.

"The team championship means more to me than that (MVP)," Robison said. "I'm flattered that the coaches would select me for that. I worked really hard this season and I'm glad it is paying off.

"This championship means a lot because in 2007 Virginia came in here and finished second to Florida State. I wasn't on the team then, but I was here and I saw the looks on those guys faces and saw how disappointed they were. To have the past three years like we have, to come back in this building and kind of avenge that loss and have a complete redo of it is amazing."

Read the full news release here.

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Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

• Men's Tennis Sweeps Tripleheader: The top-ranked Virginia men's tennis team played a tripleheader Saturday at the Boyd Tinsley Courts at the Boar's Head Sports Club, winning all three matches to extend its home winning streak to 59 matches. The Cavaliers downed Wofford, Liberty and Longwood all by 7-0 scores.
• Two Cavaliers Named to Davis Cup Rosters: Two members of the Virginia men's tennis team will represent their nations as the first round of the 2010 Davis Cup takes place this weekend. Junior Sanam Singh has been named to India's Davis Cup Team as they play at Russia in the World Group and first-year Julen Uriguen will lead Guatemala at Mexico in the Americas Group. Singh is joined on the Indian team by former Cavalier All-American Somdev Devvarman.
• Women's Tennis Downs Maryland and Old Dominion: The No. 25 Virginia women's tennis team extended its win streak to five matches with a doubleheader sweep Sunday at the Boyd Tinsley Courts at the Boar's Head Sports Club. The Cavaliers (8-2, 2-0 ACC) downed both Maryland and No. 66 Old Dominion by 7-0 scores.
• No. 1 Virginia Baseball Finishes Off Sweep of Rhode Island: The No. 1-ranked Virginia baseball team finished off a three-game series sweep of Rhode Island with an 8-5 victory Sunday at Davenport Field. The Cavaliers (6-1) scored five runs in the first inning and coasted to their fifth straight win.
• Bocklet and Stanwick Lead No. 2 UVa over No. 18 Stony Brook: Chris Bocklet and Steele Stanwick each scored three goals to pace the No. 2 Virginia Cavaliers (3-0) to a 13-8 victory over the No. 18 Stony Brook Seawolves (1-1), Saturday afternoon in front of a 1,689-capacity crowd at the University Hall Turf Field.
• Seven Cavaliers Score to Lead No. 12 Virginia to Upset Over No. 6 Syracuse: The No. 12 Virginia women's lacrosse team used a balanced attack and stingy defense to upset No. 6 Syracuse, 14-13, Saturday afternoon at the UHall Turf Field. The Cavaliers improve to 2-1. Senior All-American Brittany Kalkstein paced the Cavaliers throughout the entire field - tallying two goals and two assists, in addition to winning nine draw controls to tie a career-high for the school's career record holder. Her total also moves her career mark to 214 - breaking the Atlantic Coast Conference's all-time record of 205 held by Maryland's Dana Dobbie from 2007-08.
• Andrews and Laffan Win ACC Titles in Final Day of Conference Championships: The Virginia track and field team concluded competition Saturday at the 2010 ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by Virginia Tech. The Cavaliers captured two more individual conference titles, earning five All-ACC performances and shattering one school record. Throughout the weekend, Virginia won two relays and three individual titles and finished with 13 all-conference performers. Sophomore Maureen Laffan and freshman Robby Andrews each won their first-ever individual ACC titles in the shot put and 800m, respectively, while junior Adams Abdulrazaaq shattered the school record with his all-conference finish in the 60m hurdles.
• Virginia Beats GW 6-0 to Conclude Cavalier Invitational: The Virginia softball team (4-7) beat George Washington 6-0 on Saturday to conclude play at the Virginia Invitational in Newport News. Senior Nicole Koren threw a complete game with seven strikeouts in the winning effort.

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

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Issue No. 254 - Aug. 14, 2006

Post of the Week

Subject: I just wanted to say THANK YOU!
Posted by: VintonVAHOO on Mon Aug 7 2006 4:13:06 PM
Message: As many of you read on Tuesday, I was working on my jet ski at SML, and there was a spark from the battery which caught gas vapors on fire and blew me off the jet ski and burnt my face, eyes, chest, lungs, and right arm. I was rushed to Bedford hospital then air lifted to UVA Tues. night. I woke up the next day not really knowing what was going on with a breathing tube in and so much morphene.

I had visitors but like I said I was pretty much out of it until Olsen, Deyon, Hamilton, and Fontel all came in to see me. I tryed my hardest to jump out of bed but it didnt work and I couldn't talk. They said a prayer with me and then Hamilton said "I heard you were going to the PITT game" and I nodded yes, he then said "we're going take care of them for you, I promise."

Like Kris said everyone is quick to criticize athletes but things like this that they do goes completely overlooked. These guys dropped what they were doing and rushed to the hospital.

Thanks a whole lot to everyone for the thoughts and prayers and especially to Kris and HOOSWILD for arranging for the players to come visit me, you guys have no idea how much that lifted my spirits. I've still got a lot of healing an rehab ahead of me but I'm here and that's all that matters!

Check Out SabreMail #254.

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:

• ACC Breakdowns: The Sabre's popular ACC scouting reports are now joined by follow-up articles from Cvillehoops13. Make sure to check it all out.
• No. 1 Baseball: The Sabre is headed out to Davenport to catch up with UVa against JMU.

In Case You Missed It ...

Sabre articles since the last SabreMail

Blue Devils Handle Hoos
Though the Hoos matched up with the Blue Devils without Sylven Landesberg on Sunday night, Duke's superior roster was quickly apparent. It took just 8:34 of regulation for the No. 5 Blue Devils to open up a 16-point advantage that would grow as large as 27, and the season-high crowd of 13,663 sat quietly as the Hoos dropped their seventh contest in a row to Duke 67-49, ending a trying February for the program.

Defense, Spurlock, And Other Hot Topics
I'll be honest. I have no idea what unique angle to search for when it comes to writing about this Virginia losing streak. After all, it's a bit of a broken record. Inconsistent defense. Inconsistent shooting. Consistent results. Add Sunday night's 67-49 loss to Duke as the latest game to follow the pattern. So rather than focus solely on the defense and shooting themes, I thought I'd do some scattershooting - hat tip to my old Daily Progress boss Jerry Ratcliffe on that one - about the hot topics surrounding the Hoos.

ACC Scouting Report: Duke
Trying to end a six-game losing streak is no small task and pulling it off against the No. 6 Duke Blue Devils makes it seem even more difficult. Feeding off what should be a raucous crowd in a prime time match-up could also be exactly what this Virginia team needs to gain confidence and put an end to the current slide. Let's take a look at the scouting report on the Devils.

Breaking Down The Losing Streak
The Cavaliers headed to College Park with a 5-4 league record to take on Maryland but the team that took the court in the Comcast Center didn't resemble the crew that had shown so much promise during the first nine games of conference play. Including the debacle in College Park, the losing streak has grown to six with four double-digit defeats in recent contests. I'm going to do my best to explore what happened in those games, what has changed for this team in that period, what problems were factors in all four contests, and take a look at what is going on each side of the ball and what, if anything, can be done about it.

Shabaz Leaps Into Leadership Role
When Michael Shabaz was seven years old, he had an insight. And not one about Power Rangers, Tinker Toys, or how to pack his lunch in the morning. "I realized I had some talent for the game," Shabaz said. The game Shabaz speaks of, of course, is tennis - and he certainly did have talent for it.

Hurricanes Hand Another Loss To Hoos
During Virginia's losing streak, coach Tony Bennett has tried just about everything to get his team back on track. He's tried tweaking the starting line-up. He's experimented with a zone. He's benched his best player for a prolonged period. Against Miami on Tuesday night, Bennett not only shuffled the starting line-up yet again and shortened the rotation but the Hoos dropped their sixth straight contest 74-62 to Miami at the BankUnited Center.

10 Things About The New Coaching Staff
The Mike London era has begun, and a new staff is now in place. There already has been a lot of discussion about the changes but before we leave the subject - and with Spring practices right around the corner, I am anxious for football - I cannot help but chime in.

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