Cavalier Corner is the publication just for UVa sports fans!
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cavalier sports JUNE 2021 11 HOO'S TALKING There's been seven different Coastal winners. Someone has to win it again, we're the defending Coastal champion, and scoring points is directly tied to who's gonna win it. And so we're making an emphasis on playmaking personnel on the offensive side. That does not mean at the expense of the de- fense, but as many good players as we can put on the field that can catch and run and throw — or in Keytaon's case, any of those things — the better we're gonna be." — UVA football head coach Bronco Mendenhall on fourth-year quarterback/wide receiver KEYTAON THOMPSON, who excelled during the spring game ANDREW ABBOTT — BASEBALL The fourth-year pitcher from Republican Grove, Va., tossed the first 7 1 /3 innings in UVA's combined no-hitter versus Wake Forest May 14. In his final home game in a Cavalier uniform, the left-hander walked just two and struck out a career-high 16. Abbott's 16 strikeouts were tied for the third most in a single game in program history and the most by an ACC pitcher in 2021. He has now fanned 14 or more batters three times this season, becoming the only UVA pitcher to achieve that feat in one campaign. As of May 17, he was 6-5 with a 3.12 ERA and 115 strikeouts in 75 innings of work. LIA GODFREY — SOCCER The first-year forward/midfielder from Flem- ing Island, Fla., was tabbed as a second-team All-America selection by the United Soccer Coaches in May. She is the 26th player in pro- gram history to earn All-America honors from the organization. Fleming was also was a first-team All-Region pick, plus the ACC Freshman of the Year and an All-ACC second-team selection. She led the Cavaliers in assists with nine and sat atop the ACC in the category as of May 16. Five of her assists came on game- winning goals, including the tally in UVA's 1-0 victory over TCU in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship May 9. PAIGE MADDEN — SWIMMING The fourth-year from Mobile, Ala., earned her second consecutive ACC Women's Scholar- Athlete Award. She was also a Weaver-James- Corrigan ACC Postgraduate Scholarship Award winner and was named one of four finalists for the Honda Sports Award for swimming and diving, which goes to the top female athlete in the sport. Madden was a 14-time CSCAA All-American and 13-time ACC champion, plus a two-time ACC Swimmer of the Year and a two-time ACC Championships Most Valuable Swimmer. She led Virginia to its first-ever NCAA Championship title in 2021 after capturing three individual races and one relay gold, the most of any swimmer at the meet. CARL SÖDERLUND — TENNIS The graduate student from Stockholm, Sweden, was named the 2021 ACC Men's Tennis Player of the Year and first-team All-ACC. He is the sec- ond Cavalier to be a repeat winner of the POY award (Brian Vahaly, 2000-01) and is the eighth UVA player to be a four-time All-ACC honoree. Söderlund, the 2021 ACC Championship MVP, has been the high- est-ranked singles player in the league this season, moving up to No. 6 after the first in-season update, a position he has continued to hold all season while posting a 12-2 record. He also has been ranked in the top 20 in doubles all season, reaching a career-best No. 4 while partnering with third-year William Woodall. HOO'S HOT Recognizing the "Who's Hoo" in UVA athletics — Cavalier student-athletes, past, present and future who are making news around the world of sports. PHOTO COURTESY UVA ATHLETICS "I think with the help of Coach [Tony] Bennett, I can become a great athlete as well as a great young adult. I can guarantee you that I am going to do everything necessary for the team to get better every day." — Igor Milicic Jr. after signing his National Letter of Intent to play basketball at Virginia May 6; the 6-9 215-pounder, who holds dual citizenship in Poland and Croatia, averaged 13.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 21 games for Orange Academy Ratiopharm of the German Pro B league in 2020-21 "I'm not sure really what happened. I was upset for a day, but now I'm just facing the reality of the situation. I had one schol- arship offer coming out of high school, so I'm used to being the underdog. "Even if I had gone third or fourth round I'd still be wanting to go out there and prove myself. Obviously that does give you a little chip on your shoulder, but I wouldn't say it consumes me." — Former UVA linebacker Charles Snowden, who was projected to be a third- or fourth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft but was not selected due in part to a season-ending ankle injury suffered in November; the Chicago Bears signed him as an undrafted free agent "I'm extremely honored by this recognition and will be forever grateful to David Stern and Russ Granik for opening doors for me and allowing me to be part of so many exciting moments in basketball history." — UVA alumna Val Ackerman following the announcement she will be part of the 2021 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class