Cavalier Corner is the publication just for UVa sports fans!
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/114138
program it made the Cherry Hill, N.J., products feel incredibly comfortable at UVa. "The best part of it is that it is like home," Michelle said. "Having family here creates a great environment. It was such a fluid, easy transition for her, for me, for our entire family." Having both of the Vittese sisters in Charlottesville has created some huge UVa fans in New Jersey. "My dad absolutely loves UVa," Carissa said. "He wears like all orange. If he had to follow us around to separate colleges, I don't know what he would have done." Of course, he's not the only Vittese who fell in love with UVa after Michelle arrived. "She was 95 percent of the reason I came here," Carissa said. "When I came to visit her I loved the campus, but knowing I had family in town was definitely one of the perks." Taylor And Sarah Beth Barnette In late February, Michelle and Ross Barnette sat inside John Paul Jones Arena and watched their son Taylor, his teammates and a collection of fans who rushed the court all celebrate the Virginia men's basketball team's biggest win of the season, against Duke. Later that weekend, they returned to the arena to watch their daughter, Sarah Beth, play for the Cavalier women. All in all, it worked out pretty well for the family from Lexington, Ky. But it was never the plan for both Barnettes to wind up at UVa. In fact, they each originally chose different schools. Sarah Beth stayed with the hometown Kentucky Wildcats and Taylor picked Central Florida. But when Sarah Beth decided to transfer, she noticed one of her younger brother's recruiting letters sitting on the kitchen counter. It was from Virginia, and it got her thinking about the Cavaliers. Sarah Beth quickly realized UVa was for her, but the recruiting letter didn't initially sway Taylor. However, when he also decided to look at more schools, his sister had a suggestion for him. "I was like, 'You have to come check it out here,'" she said. Taylor's glad he did. "It's a blessing, really," he said. "When I decided not to go to UCF any more, I found out I loved everything about UVa, and her being here was icing on the cake. Her being here in addition to everything else is just great. I see her every day in the training room, and we can hang out sometimes outside of basketball and we shoot together sometimes." And though they no longer have Sarah Beth playing right in Lexington, it's worked out well for the Barnette parents to have both sharp-shooting siblings playing relatively close, just one state away in Virginia. "They get to come to a lot of games," Sarah Beth said. "Particularly when we are both playing on a weekend, and I think they enjoy that an awful lot." Betsy And Mary Nilan Sometimes having an older sister can completely change your perspective. When Betsy Nilan first started rowing at Saint Joseph High School in Milford, Conn., her younger sister Mary didn't think much of it, despite all of Betsy's success. "It's funny because we have a younger brother, and he and I would joke that rowing wasn't even a sport," said Mary, who is a third-year at UVa and a year younger than Betsy. "But my parents convinced me to give it a try." Give it a try she did, and it was soon clear both Nilans had what it took to row in college. Betsy earned a spot on Kevin Sauer's highly successful Cavalier team, but for a while didn't look like there was room on the roster for Mary to join her older sister at UVa, so she chose to row at Wisconsin. But Mary later got the call from Sauer that a spot had opened up, and she quickly decided to join her sister.