Introducing "The Cutting Edge"

Last week, TheSabre.com asked its fans to help name a new feature appearing on Sabre TV ... well the votes are in! Fan votes decided that the new segment will be called "The Cutting Edge" as Sabre TV gives you a look at some of the hot topics around UVa athletics. The show, currently hosted once a week by Miranda Mason on Thursdays, will bring you updates, interviews, and more with the Cavaliers.

Here are the first two episodes. Make sure you check out our Sabre TV page each week for new episodes and other video segments about the Hoos.

This Week In Recruiting With Chris Horne

Virginia men's basketball is expected to host 7'0" center Joel Embiid on an official visit this weekend. The Rock School (Gainesville, FL) product made official visits to Texas and Kansas the previous two weekends. Florida and Marquette round out Embiid's top five, and he is expected to visit both of those schools as well before making a commitment.

Embiid, a native of Cameroon, only has played competitive basketball for 18 months.

"He is very coordinated, so he is running, jumping, and moving his feet at a high level," Rock School head coach Justin Harden told TheSabre.com in an interview earlier this month. "He is 6'11" or 7'0." We haven't measured him yet. At his height, he has great coordination. He has a knack for shooting. He has a good touch on jumpers, and he has hit some 3s. He can put the ball on the ground. We have a drill where our players dribble the ball just a few times to try and get by a defender, and he has beat our guards. He has good handle ... a great skill set."

TheSabre.com will follow up with Embiid for more following his official visit.

On the football front, UVa played host to a number of talented visitors this past Saturday. Check out the entire list of those confirmed visitors on the Good Ol Blog (link below), but this week I plan to follow up with senior offensive line target Jaryd Jones-Smith, UVa Good Counsel (Olney, MD) commitments Kirk Garner and Andre Levrone Jr., talented junior offensive lineman Coleman Thomas, and more for updates.

Jones-Smith, a product of West Catholic High School in Philadelphia (PA), was on an official visit this past weekend. Garner and Levrone were in town just to see the Maryland game. Thomas, a product of Fort Chiswell (VA), has scored offers from Virginia, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia.

I'll also check in with Mountain View (Stafford, VA) senior wide receiver/defensive back DaeSean Hamilton for the latest on his recruitment. Hamilton said recently that he may be taking an official visit to Virginia this weekend, so we'll see where he stands with those plans.

As always, also be sure to check out the Good Ol Blog on Mondays for the Week In Review, a look at how UVa's class of 2013 (and one class of 2014 commitment) performed on the high school gridiron the previous week.

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 since the last SabreMail ...

Checking In With Prized OL Recruit Henson
Brad Henson, Jr. has been starting on Monsignor Donovan's (Toms River, N.J.) varsity football squad since his freshman year. Now a senior and only a year away from being a student-athlete at the University of Virginia, the 6'5", 275-pound offensive lineman reflected a bit on his high school career.

More recent recruiting updates on The Sabre ...

• Ocean Lakes Contingent Visits UVa
• UVa Makes Embiid's Final Five

Fans of TheSabre.com and Virginia football, please welcome Please Welcome St. Maarten Cafe as the newest sponsor on the site!

Maartens is the OFFICIAL 2012 football season home in Charlottesville of TheSabre.com and its fans. So if you're interested in a meal before or after the game or if you're looking for somewhere to watch Virginia's away games in Charlottesville, this is the spot! Located on The Corner just off UVa's Grounds at 1400 Wertland Street, the restaurant reopened under new ownership and features four HD televisions with "a view from every seat". Plus, there's a newly added patio for outdoor dining. You can also place carry-out orders for your tailgate if you call in the order in advance.

St. Maarten Cafe is also proud to present TheSabre.com's audio features to fans for FREE. Check out the 2012-2013 season of "Hoos Talking" radio out of Richmond. Tonight's show features football coach Mike London and Sabre recruiting analyst Chris Horne.

Remember, our sponsors help keep the site running so please support them by giving them some of your business. That support helps make TheSabre.com the online authority for Virginia athletics!

UVa's Game This Week At 12:30 p.m.

Virginia's next game will kick off at 12:30 p.m. and will be televised on The ACC Network. The Cavaliers host Wake Forest this Saturday.

UVa's bye week follow this weekend's contest.

Basketball Fan Opportunities

The Virginia men's and women's basketball programs will host free preseason events for the public at John Paul Jones Arena. Admission is free to all preseason events.

This week, the men's team has scheduled two fan opportunities. On Friday (Oct. 19), the Hoos will hold an intrasquad scrimmage from 5:30-6:15 p.m. Gates open at 5 p.m. On Sunday (Oct. 21), it is time for the Meet the Team event and open house from 4-5:30 p.m. Fans can meet the players and tour the practice court, locker rooms, weight room, video services office, and dining hall.

The women's basketball team will hold a similar open house event on Saturday, Nov. 3 from 2-4 p.m. This event will include an open practice and an opportunity to tour the women's basketball practice court and locker rooms in addition to the weight room, video services office, and dining hall.

To read more about ticket pacakges for the UVa basketball teams, click here to read the news release from VirginiaSports.com.

Hoos Talking Airs On Monday Nights

Hoos Talking, TheSabre.com's radio partner from Richmond, is back on the air for its fourth season! The show airs on Monday nights LIVE from 6-7 p.m. on SportsRadio 910 AM (WRNL) in Richmond or on the internet for Hoos outside of the Richmond area.

Tonight's show features UVa football standout Jon Copper and men's basketball assistant coach Jason Williford.

Make sure to check out Hoos Talking on SportsRadio 910 AM (WRNL) or stay tuned to TheSabre.com for archived audio of the broadcasts, presented for FREE by Sabre sponsor St. Maarten Cafe.

Give The EDGE As a Gift!

Give the Perfect Gift to your favorite Wahoo fan this year, an annual subscription to Sabre EDGE! TheSabre.com is your one-stop shop for all UVa sports information, commentary and discussion. Read articles from our excellent staff of sportswriters, including TheSabre.com's editor-in-chief, Kris Wright. Our resident recruiting expert, Chris Horne, will keep you up to date with recruiting from around the state and beyond. No one covers Virginia's premier sports better than TheSabre.com. Take your fanship to the next level with a Sabre Edge subscription! Scroll to the bottom of the page to see what Sabre EDGE has to offer.

Gift Subscriptions are for a full year and cost $59.99. A gift message can be included and you can request a specific date range for the email notification to the gift recipient. All credit card orders are safe and secured through GoDaddy.com Digital Security. Give the Sabre EDGE as a Gift Today!

Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

• Times Announced for Governor's Holiday Hoops Classic: Governor Bob McDonnell announced Thursday the date and game times for the Inaugural "Governor's Holiday Hoops Classic." The 2012 Classic will be held on Saturday, Dec. 22 at the Richmond Coliseum. The event features a doubleheader with the Richmond-George Mason game at 3 p.m., followed by the Virginia-Old Dominion game at 5:30 p.m.
• Penalty Kick Gives No. 1 Florida State an Overtime Win Over Virginia: The top-ranked Florida State women's soccer team took advantage of a penalty kick midway through the first overtime to top No. 9 Virginia 1-0 on Sunday at the Seminole Soccer Complex. The Seminoles (14-0, 7-0 ACC) remained the nation's only unbeaten and untied team, while the Cavaliers fell to 11-4-1 overall and 4-3-1 in the ACC.
• Virginia Falls to Wake Forest, 4-1: The Virginia men's soccer team lost 4-1 to No. 18 Wake Forest Friday night in ACC play at Klockner Stadium. Will Bates scored the Cavaliers' goal in the 79th minute.
• Cavaliers Complete Action at Wisconsin adidas Invitational: The Virginia men's and women's cross country teams competed at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational Friday afternoon in Madison, Wis. The men finished 27th overall out of 45 schools with 639 points, while the women placed 40th with 946. Stanford won the men's race with 135 points, while Iowa State claimed the women's title with 109 points.
• No. 5 Virginia Falls in Overtime at No. 2 UNC: The No. 5 Virginia field hockey team fell in overtime, 3-2, at No. 2 North Carolina, snapping an eight-game win streak. Michelle Vittese and Rachel Sumfest had the two Cavalier goals.
• Volleyball Team Drops Two Matches: The Virginia volleyball team dropped a tough five-set match to North Carolina, 25-18, 21-25, 26-24, 17-25, 15-11, Friday night at Memorial Gymnasium. The Cavaliers were led by senior Jessica O'Shoney, who had 17 kills. In another ACC match, the Hoos won the first set against NC State, but fell 27-25, 19-25, 23-25, 21-25. O'Shoney had 13 kills.
• Nauta Wins Singles Title at Bulldog Classic: The Virginia women's tennis team concluded play Sunday at the Bulldog Classic at the Dan Magill Tennis Center with final round of singles. The Cavaliers played five matches against host Georgia, winning three of them. Stephanie Nauta won the singles title at the tournament as she posted her second top-50 win of the weekend.
• UVa Women's Golfers Finish Fifth at UNC: The 24th-ranked Virginia women's golf team wrapped up the fall portion of its schedule with a fifth-place finish at the Tar Heel Invitational in Chapel Hill, N.C. Virginia shot 5-over 293 during Sunday's final round for a three-day score of 24-over 888. North Carolina won the tournament at 8-over 872.
• UVa Men's Golfers Finish Fifth at Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate: The Virginia men's golf team finished fifth at the 13-team Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate held in Johnson City, Tenn. The Cavaliers shot 3-over 291 during Sunday's final round for a three-day total of 3-under 861. Virginia finished four shots behind tournament champion Missouri.

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

Virginia Headless Horseman Halloween T-Shirt

$10.00-$12.00

Ichabod Crane has nothing on the UVA Headless Horseman Halloween T-shirt! This is a full front-chest imprinted t-shirt. A creepy jack-o-lantern headed Cavalier is riding a horse who is reared up above a V-Sabre pumpkin. Happy Hoolloween is imprinted below in a spooky Halloween font.

Issue No. 20 - Jan. 17, 2002

Virginia beats UNC and Wake

While the Cavaliers struggled a bit at North Carolina last Saturday, they still pulled off a win in the Dean Dome, and that's something to be thankful for no matter how poorly the Tar Heels are playing this season. ACC road wins are few and far between, and the Cavaliers got a "W" in the won-loss column by defeating Carolina 71-67.

The Hoos got back on track and played like a Top 10 team last Tuesday, defeating 14th ranked Wake Forest in University Hall. The Cavaliers fell behind by as many as 11 points early in the contest before Roger Mason and Jermaine Harper started stripping the nets from behind the arc. Travis Watson added another double-double to his collection, by scoring 20 points and pulling down a career-high 17 rebounds. Watson frustrated Wake's Darius Songaila most of the evening, holding him to 11 points (five from the charity stripe) before Songaila eventually fouled out of the contest.

Read SabreMail No. 20 here.

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:

• The Sabre Interview: Mike Ingalls is working on his latest in-depth interview with some of your favorite Hoos. Up next? Basketball star Jimmy Miller.
• Postgame coverage: The Sabre brings you all kinds of coverage following the football team's games. Stay tuned for more articles from the loss to Maryland.
• Pregame coverage: The Sabre prepares you better than anyone for the next game. Make sure to check out the pregame coverage for Wake Forest this week!

In Case You Missed It ...

Sabre articles and blog posts since the last SabreMail

The Sunday Sampler 2012 - Maryland
The Virginia football team continues to struggle on the scoreboard, posting just 20 points in a 27-20 loss to Maryland on Saturday. There are plenty of areas to analyze - offensive line inconsistency, dropped passes, penalties - that contribute to the scoring woes, but the bottom line is that UVa doesn't put up enough points on a regular basis. The Sunday Sampler takes a close look at the offense's issues.

Terps Add To Hoos' Losing Streak
The losses and frustration are starting to mount for the Virginia football team. That's what happens when each week features games plagued by turnovers, critical penalties, poor blocking, dropped passes, red zone inefficiency, big plays allowed, and overall inconsistent play. All of that reappeared once again this Saturday as UVa dropped its fifth straight game, trailing from wire to wire in a 27-20 loss to Maryland.

2012 Watch List: Maryland
The rest of the October schedule features home games for the Virginia football team. The Cavaliers hope some hometown magic can help stop a four-game losing streak after another road loss at Duke last week. In order to get a win, the Hoos must deal with a stout Maryland defense and an offense with a lot of variations. The "Watch List" breaks down some wrinkles to keep an eye on during this week's game.

Mitchell Ready to Step Up
Akil Mitchell has some pretty big shoes to fill this season. With the departure of senior post leaders Assane Sene and Mike Scott, and the transfer of James Johnson, Mitchell now becomes the only true veteran in the post. While Coach Tony Bennett suggests offense will now come from a "committee" of players, there's no doubt Mitchell will be called upon to do a lot of the dirty work in the paint (i.e. rebounding and defense).

Catching Up With The Basketball Freshmen
Justin Anderson, Taylor Barnette, Evan Nolte and Mike Tobey are the newest additions to the University of Virginia men's basketball program, which held its media day on Wednesday. All four freshmen, as well as red-shirt freshman point guard Teven Jones, who enrolled at UVa last January, discussed their impressions of UVa and look ahead to the 2012/2013 season.

Greg's Grades And Trends: Duke, Maryland
The Hoos netted their worst combined grade average of the season as the defense, offense and special teams averaged a dismal 68.5 average. There were some bright spots with the offensive line play and Phillip Sims did some nice things in his debut, but for the most part the issues that have kept the Hoos in the loss column for four consecutive weeks simply have not gone away as we will see in this week's report.

Game Preview 2012: Maryland
Stop the slide. For Virginia, this week's mission is really simple. Stop a four-game losing streak. While the last three opponents during the Cavaliers' skid own a combined 14-2 record, any hopes of salvaging the 2012 season rest on finishing October with two wins in two home games. The next comes against Maryland on Saturday.

Tailgating With Chefhoo 2012: Maryland
As the weather turns cool, I tend to favor hearty braised dishes over light grilled ones. That's not to say that a grill can't be used year round, but it's always good to have another cooking method in your arsenal. This week, we'll focus on how to properly braise a tough piece of meat and turn it into something special.

Bennett's Bunch Ready To Go
The Virginia men's basketball team likely will look much different in March than it does in November. Two factors lead to that hypothesis: injuries and inexperience. Cavalier coach Tony Bennett addressed the challenges presented by those two big I's as the Hoos gathered for their media day on Wednedsay. The UVa coach is looking for another I - improvement - to be the path for this year's team.

Hoos Try To Regroup
Mired in a four-game slump, the Virginia football team has tried to stay positive and focused on small goals to turn the tide. For now, UVa coach Mike London said Monday during his weekly media meeting, the Cavaliers have dialed into this month and the two home games left on the October slate. The Hoos face Maryland this weekend and Wake Forest next weekend before their bye week on the schedule.

JHoo's Things I Learned 2012: Duke
A rough few weeks, eh? No argument there. Breaking down another loss might not be the most fun task, but it is the task before us nonetheless. So let's look a few things that I learned from the Duke game this past weekend.

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