Cavalier Corner

August 2023

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AUGUST 2023 13 head coach Todd DeSorbo was named College Swimming and Diving Coaches As- sociation of America Women's Coach of the Year, while men's tennis head coach Andres Pedroso took home Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Coach of the Year honors. Both coaches also were named ACC Coach of the Year for their respective sports. In addition to the pair of NCAA titles, Virginia saw many of its programs make appearances and deep runs in NCAA postseason play. Base- ball took a trip to Omaha, Neb., for the College World Series for the sixth time in program history (all since 2009), and men's lacrosse advanced to the Final Four for the third time in the last four NCAA Tournaments. Four more UVA teams ended their season with top-10 NCAA finishes, including the men's golf program, which capped off a stellar year with a program-best fifth place finish at the NCAA Championships. Women's soccer advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals, while row- ing placed 10th and women's cross country finished ninth at the NCAA Championships. Virginia also saw men's track and field claim an 11th-place finish at the NCAA Out- door Championships, while the women's track and field program secured a 17th-place finish, and men's swimming and diving finished 15th overall. Additionally, women's tennis and field hockey each advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 of their respective tournaments. The Hoos also saw four wrestlers qualify for the NCAA Championships. Men's basket- ball, women's lacrosse, men's soccer, wom- en's golf, men's cross country, and men's and women's indoor track and field also all made NCAA postseason appearances this year. The Cavaliers also brought home ACC championships in three sports in 2022-23. Virginia claimed league titles in women's swimming and diving (19th in program his- tory and 14th since 2008), men's tennis (15th in program history) and rowing (13th consecutive and 22nd overall). UVA now sits at 93 conference titles since the spring of 2002, the most of any ACC school during that time. Virginia also claimed ACC regular-season titles in men's basketball and men's tennis. In addition, Virginia had many student- athletes individually. Track and field fifth-year Ethan Dabbs be- came the first-ever student-athlete to win four ACC men's javelin championships. He added a silver medal in the javelin throw at the NCAA Championships for the second straight year. UVA baseball third-year catcher Kyle Teel was named ACC Player of the Year and went on to be selected 14th overall in the MLB Draft by the Boston Red Sox. Teel's classmate Jake Gelof became the program's all-time home run leader, bringing his career total to 45 home runs this season. Gelof was also selected in the MLB Draft, taken 60th overall by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Graduate student wrestler Justin Mc- Coy claimed an ACC championship in the 165-pound weight class, while second-year women's golfer Amanda Sambach won the ACC's individual title, setting a conference scoring record and becoming the third UVA women's golfer to take home the crown. Also, rookie Ben James became the first men's golfer to win the NCAA Division I Phil Mickelson Outstanding Freshman Award. Virginia finished fourth in the 2022-23 Learfield Directors' Cup standings, honoring institutions with the best overall athlet- ics programs. It is the highest finish since 2013-14 when UVA also finished fourth. ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS • Under first-year head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, UVA women's basketball opened the season 12-0 and undefeated in nonconference play (for the first time since 1991-92) and finished their season 15-15. • UVA athletics director Carla Williams was one of four recipients of a Women in Sports and Events (WISE) Women of the Year award. • Tony Bennett (341 career victories) be- came Virginia men's basketball's all-time wins leader, passing Terry Holland (326) with UVA's 73-66 triumph over Syracuse Jan. 7. • Baseball head coach Brian O'Connor recorded his 800th career win. • Fourth-year Lexi Cuomo (women's swim- ming and diving), graduate student Ben Vander Plas (men's basketball) and third-year Jake Gelof (baseball) were named their re- spective sports' All-America Team Member of the Year by the College Sports Communicators. • Fourth-year Kate Douglass (women's swimming), graduate student Owayne Owens (indoor men's track and field), third-year Chris Rodesch (men's tennis), fourth-year Connor Shellenberger (men's lacrosse) and fifth-year Ethan Dabbs (outdoor men's track and field) were named the ACC Scholar- Athletes of the Year for their respective sports. • Fourth-year Andreas Ueland was named a United Soccer Coaches first-team Scholar All- American. He is just the second to accomplish the feat from the program (Joe Bell, 2019). • Fourth-year Natasha Subhash was named to the 2023 CSC Academic All-America Women's Tennis Team. Subhash was also the national recipient of the 2023 Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award. • Third-year women's golfer Rebecca Skoler was presented the UVA Alumni Association's Gray-Carrington Award for personal integrity, achievement, leadership and humility. • Third-year women's soccer player Laughlin Ryan received the UVA Alumni Association's Sky Alland Scholarship for exemplifying the five qual- ities of enterprising spirit, leadership, achieve- ment, humility and devotion to the university. • Third-year men's lacrosse player Cole Kast- ner was the recipient of the T. Rodney Crowley Scholarship, which is awarded to an accom- plished UVA student who demonstrates lead- ership, sportsmanship, character and integrity. • Graduate student Ella Nelson (swim- ming), fourth-year Jayna Francis (volleyball) and fourth-year Quentin Matsui (men's lacrosse) were named 2023 Weaver-James- Corrigan-Swofford Postgraduate Scholarship Award recipients by the ACC. 2022-23 IN REVIEW UVA baseball notched its fifth 50-win season under head coach Brian O'Connor and made the program's sixth appearance in the College World Series since 2009. (Photo by Jim Daves/courtesy UVA)

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