UVa Announces Football Series with Boise State

Virginia Athletics Media Relations Official Releases

Virginia and Boise State will meet in football for a two-game series in 2015 and 2017, the schools jointly announced today. The teams are scheduled to meet Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, in Charlottesville and Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017, in Boise, Idaho.

"We're excited to announce this series with a program that has been exceptional over the last decade," said Virginia Executive Associate Athletics Director Jon Oliver."They've done it with great coaching, solid recruiting and a fearless approach to competition. We are trying to do the same thing and this will be an incredible challenge for us as we continue to build our program. The 2015 and 2017 seasons could end up being two of the toughest schedules in the history of our football program and we hope they will excite and energize our fans, student-athletes and recruits."

Boise State has been one of the most successful BCS football programs over the last 11 seasons. The Broncos havefinished in the top-20 of the Associated Press poll nine times during that span and won nine conference titles since 2002. Over that nine-year period the Broncos have produced a record of 129-15 (.896), appeared in 11 consecutivebowl games and won seven of those postseason contests.

Current Boise State head coach Chris Petersen is 84-8 since taking over the Boise State program in 2006.

This will be the first meeting between Virginia and Boise State in football.

The ACC also announced Monday the 2013 football dates for the conference teams. See below for that information.

This Week In Recruiting With Chris Horne

Blanding To Announce

The eyes of the recruiting world will be on Bayside High School (Virginia Beach, VA) this Wednesday, Feb. 27, at 2:30 p.m. That is when 5-star junior safety Quin Blanding is scheduled to announce his college choice at a press conference.

University of Virginia fans have reason to be optimistic. The Cavaliers football program has signed one prospect from Bayside in each of the past four recruiting classes, including touted running back Taquan "Smoke" Mizzell in the class of 2013. Blanding has also visited Charlottesville numerous times.

Clemson, Florida State, Miami, Michigan, North Carolina, Notre Dame, NC State, Ohio State, Virginia, and West Virginia make up the final 10 Blanding revealed last November. Barring a surprise, one of these schools will be the pick on Wednesday. TheSabre.com will be on hand for full coverage of the event, so stay tuned.

Prospect Day Follow Up

UVa football hosted recruits from the class of 2014 and class of 2015 this past Sunday. I'll have an article up on T.C. Williams (Alexandria, VA) junior defensive lineman/offensive lineman Jeremiah Clarke, who landed an offer from head coach Mike London while attending the event. The 6'5", 270-pound prospect previously earned offers from NC State, Toledo, and UNC-Charlotte.

Throughout this week, I'll be busy following up with those prospects we confirmed to be in attendance.

Basketball Recruiting

Cape Henry Collegiate (Virginia Beach, VA), led by UVa-bound senior point guard Devon Hall, defeated Walsingham, 57-54, this past Saturday to capture the Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools postseason tournament championship. The Dolphins move on to the VISAA Division I state playoffs. CHC, which captured the state title last year, earned a first round bye and will meet the winner of the Trinity Episcopal/Episcopal contest on Wednesday.

Crespi (Encino, CA) fell short in its bid for a CIF Southern Section Division 4-AA title, losing in the semifinals to Serra. Future Virginia point guard London Perrantes, a senior, and the Celts now look forward to the state playoffs, which begin on March 6.

UVa-bound junior wing guard/wing forward B.J. Stith helped Brunswick (Lawrenceville, VA) to a Group AA, Region I, Division 3 championship last week. This Saturday, Stith and the Bulldogs begin their quest for a third straight state title when they take on Loudoun Valley in the first round of the Division 3 state playoffs at VCU.

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.

More recent Sabre recruiting updates ...

Va. Beach WR A Coveted Prospect
Jamil Kamara lived up to the billing as a major college wide receiver prospect last season, his first at Bishop Sullivan in Virginia Beach (VA). The 6'2", 195-pound junior hauled in 40 receptions for 750 yards and 10 touchdowns, earning 2012 first-team VISAA Division II all-state honors for his performance. Kamara played for Princess Anne (Va. Beach) his freshman and sophomore seasons, earning just under 10 scholarship offers heading into his junior season.

Strategy Session 2014: OL, TE, and WR
The latest "Strategy Session" for UVa football's class of 2014 recruiting focuses on the offensive line, tight end, and wide receiver positions. In this feature, I take a look at which players are projected to be on the 2014 season roster, what needs there may at these three positions, and who some of the early targets are.

More recent recruiting updates on The Sabre ...

• Playoff Time For UVa Basketball Recruits
• Blanding Sets Decision Date
• Sabre Scoop: The Latest On Chris Nelson
• Four Schools Stand Out To McMillian

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UVa's Football Schedule Released

Virginia Athletics Media Relations Official Release

The Atlantic Coast Conference released the 2013 football schedules for the 14 schools that will be conference members for the 2013-14 academic year. Virginia's slate features 12 regular-season games, including eight home contests. The schedule marks the first time in Virginia’s history the Cavaliers will play eight home games. Starting times for all contests and the home game designated for Homecomings will be announced at a later date.

"This is a very challenging schedule, but it is the type of schedule I want us to play each and every year," Virginia head coach Mike London said. "We will have to be our best in every practice and every game. With eight home games, our fans can really make a difference. We can't do it without them."

Virginia will play home games against BYU (Aug. 31), Oregon (Sept. 7), VMI (Sept. 21), Ball State (Oct. 5), Duke (Oct. 19), Georgia Tech (Oct. 26), Clemson (Nov. 2), and Virginia Tech (Nov. 30). Virginia will travel to conference games at Pittsburgh (Sept. 28), Maryland (Oct. 12), North Carolina (Nov. 9) and Miami (Nov. 23).

The Cavaliers will have bye weeks on Sept. 14 and Nov 16.

Read the full news release here. Check the other ACC schedule news here and here.

Women's Swimming Wins Sixth Straight ACC Title

Virginia Athletics Media Relations Official Releases

The Virginia women's swimming and diving team captured its sixth consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference Championship on Saturday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, N.C. Senior Lauren Perdue was named the ACC Championships' Most Outstanding Swimmer for the third time in her career.

The Cavaliers, who won their 11th ACC title overall, finished with 832 points, followed by Virginia Tech (536), North Carolina (508), Florida State (497), NC State (438), Miami (389), Duke (246), Georgia Tech (158), Boston College (98) and Clemson diving (12).

"We got off to a wonderful start on Thursday and carried that momentum into the rest of the meet," UVa head coach Mark Bernardino said. "We won a couple of events on Friday and had a bunch of top-three finishes. We had a bunch of top-time performances and what's pretty cool about this team is that there is only one senior [Lauren Perdue] on the scoring team. ... We had a lot of first-year girls that hit some incredibly high levels and a bunch of second- and third-year swimmers who continue to improve and work hard. I didn't know we would have as many young bodies at this meet as we did, but they turned out to be pretty darn good, worked pretty darn hard, faced adversity and raced like veterans."

For Virginia, the six straight titles matches North Carolina (1981-96 and 1991-96) for the most consecutive women's ACC Championships. For Bernardino, this is his 26th conference title at the helm of Virginia. He has won 15 men's titles in addition to the 11 women's crowns.

For more information and complete results, click here.

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.

Monday night's show featured UVa basketball's Bobby Stokes and TheSabre.com's Kris Wright.

Make sure to check out Hoos Talking on SportsRadio 910 AM (WRNL) or stay tuned to TheSabre.com for archived audio of the broadcasts.

Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

• Lavender Sets 400m School Record: The Virginia men's and women's track and field teams each finished in seventh place as the 2013 ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships concluded at Virginia Tech's Rector Field House on Saturday. Jordan Lavender highlighted the final day for the Cavaliers as she shattered the school record in the 400m. Lavender set the school record in the women's 400m with a time of 53.14, breaking the previous record of Lisa Garrett of 54.07 set in 1981 by almost a second.
• No. 6 Virginia Outlasts Stony Brook on Long Island, 13-7: Mark Cockerton scored five goals and the No. 6 Virginia Cavaliers (3-0) outlasted the Stony Brook Seawolves (1-2) on Saturday afternoon. Virginia held a narrow one-goal lead going into the intermission, 6-5, but the Cavalier defense clamped and limited Stony Brook to only four shots in the second half.
• No. 8 Virginia Falls at No. 2 Syracuse: The No. 8 Virginia women's lacrosse team couldn't hold onto a halftime lead, falling 10-9 at No. 2 Syracuse. Virginia held a 5-2 lead at the half, but the Orange came back. Six different Cavaliers scored goals, including Morgan Stephens who logged a hat trick.
• No. 25 Virginia Baseball Sweeps Toledo With 6-3 Sunday Win: The No. 25 Virginia baseball team finished off a 3-game series sweep against Toledo Sunday afternoon with a 6-3 victory at Davenport Field. Virginia improved to 7-0 as relief pitcher Nathan Kirby earned his first college win. In Friday's series-opening victory, Brandon Waddell struck out 15 batters. Brandon Downes blasted a 3-run home run in Saturday's win.
• Women's Tennis Splits Pair Of Matches: No. 16 Virginia ended its three-match losing streak with a 6-1 win over No. 29 Ole Miss in women's tennis action Saturday afternoon, but fell to No. 39 Memphis on Sunday, 5-2.
• Virginia Splits on Final Day of Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic: The Virginia softball team split a pair of games on the final day of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic on Saturday in Palm Springs, Calif. The Cavaliers defeated Colorado State, 7-1, before falling to Stanford, 4-0. The Hoos are 6-7 on the season.

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

Virginia Shamrock T-Shirt

The Virginia Shamrock T-Shirt features a full front chest imprint. A script Virginia is imprinted with a decorative tail outlined in white. A shamrock is imprinted below Virginia by the left chest. This festive St. Patrick's Day style shirt will be a hit at a party or if you just need a little luck.

Issue No. 489 - March 28, 2011

5 Million Gift For New Track And Field Facility
UVa Athletics Media Relations Official Release

Amy Mitchell Griffin, a 1998 University of Virginia graduate and former volleyball player for the Cavaliers, has pledged $5 million for the construction of a new track and field facility at UVa. The Virginia Athletics Department announced the gift on Monday (March 28). The commitment by Griffin allows the athletics department to move forward with the design and construction of a new track and field facility. The Virginia Athletics Foundation (VAF), the fund raising organization for the athletics department, has launched a campaign to raise the remaining amount needed to finance the approximately $14 million project.

Griffin's gift is the largest commitment ever made for an Olympic sport capital project at the University of Virginia. She is a current member of the VAF Board of Trustees and previously donated $1 million in 2006 to support the volleyball program and also funded UVa's new sand volleyball courts.

"The University deserves a top notch track and field facility. I feel we owe it to current and future student-athletes," Griffin said. "I look at it as an important athletic department facility, but more importantly an upgrade for the entire University. I really do hope there are many people in the University of Virginia community, especially former athletes - track and non-track - who see this as a key piece in future athletic success and one that they want to support.

"The new space will allow the track team to compete for championships and will help with recruiting and training for a large number of athletic teams at the University. It is my hope that this project will raise the game for Virginia Athletics in so many ways."

Read SabreMail No. 489 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: Site founder Mike Ingalls is hard at work on his next couple of in-depth interviews. Stay tuned!
• Double Bonus: The men's basketball team continues to play its ACC slate. Editor Kris Wright gives you in-depth analysis after ACC games in a feature called the "Double Bonus" so make sure to check it out.

In Case You Missed It

Recent Sabre articles ...

Cavs Cruise To 15th Straight JPJ Win
Virginia had no interest in deja vu on Sunday against Georgia Tech. UVa established a lead against the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta earlier this month before a late offensive drought helped spark a GT win. There would be no scoring shortage this time, however, as the Hoos closed on a 37-14 run to convincingly win 82-54.

Georgia Tech Primer No. 2 2013
Earlier this month in Atlanta, the Virginia men's basketball team led late before scoring struggles over the last nine minutes allowed Georgia Tech to rally for a 66-60 win. Here are 10 things to consider for Sunday's rematch against the Yellow Jackets. As always, the ACC Primer series is free thanks to No Fear Cavalier!

Double Bonus: Miami
The Virginia men's basketball team fought to the final buzzer on Tuesday night, but Miami made a pair of clutch plays in the final seconds to get a 54-50 win. That left the Hoos with back-to-back ACC losses. The "Double Bonus" takes a deeper look at some of the key themes in the match-up with the Hurricanes.

Slotting UVa's 2013 Recruits
It is no secret that I am a big Cincinnati Reds fan and, as a Reds fan, I always enjoyed spring training. During spring training, after all, all things still were possible. I suppose the same is true right after Signing Day, when a program gains a flood of new talent. Of course, to get the most out of that talent, the staff needs to slot the new players in the right positions ... and that is where I come in, offering advice that is worth exactly ... well ... okay, not so much. But I love offering it anyway. So here we go ...

Hurricanes Edge Cavaliers
Apparently, Miami likes to the play the role of heartbreaker for the Virginia men's basketball team. In 2011, the Hurricanes dealt the Hoos two emotional overtime losses, which included a final-minute collapse in the ACC Tournament. Fast forward to Tuesday night's contest in Coral Gables and Miami delivered another tough setback with the game-winning points in the final 10 seconds of a 54-50 thriller.

Miami Primer 2013
After a barrage of 3-pointers and free throws turned an early lead over UNC into a 93-81 loss at the Dean Dome, the Virginia Cavaliers (18-7, 8-4 ACC) head down to Coral Gables for a Tuesday night showdown with league leading-Miami (21-3, 12-0 ACC). Will the Wahoos start another winning streak or drop their second straight in ACC play? Find out in the Miami Primer.

Double Bonus: UNC 2
Over the weekend, the Virginia men's basketball team gave up the second most points in the Tony Bennett era as North Carolina sprinted to the 93-81 win. Only Washington in the 2010 Maui Invitational scored more when the Huskies scorched the Hoos for 106. What happened? The "Double Bonus" digs into that and more from the Cavaliers' second meeting with the Heels.

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