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who had previously won an ESPY for being the best high school athlete, received a nomination but was edged out by Connecticut basketball player Breanna Stewart. For Brian, Virginia's run to the College Cup last December was an exclamation point on a most memorable season. Last June, she earned her first cap for the United States Women's National Team in a vic- tory over South Korea. In September, she scored her first goal for the squad in a victory over Mexico. The game took place in Washington, D.C., and all of Brian's UVa teammates were cheering her on and waving an American flag in the stands. Brian, who is the only current college player to have played for the U.S. national team, now has her sights set on making the squad that will com- pete in the World Cup next summer. "For people who are fortunate enough to play in a World Cup, it's probably the coolest thing that you'll experience in your life as a soccer player," Brian said. This summer, Brian has trained with the na- tional team, as well as the Under-23 squad which Swanson coaches. In some scary news for ACC opponents, Brian said her game has gotten even better. "If you play with the caliber of players that they have on the national team, I think you're going to see a lot of different things in your game [im- prove], just because of the talent that surrounds you," she said. "My speed of play has definitely gotten better — that was probably the biggest [im- provement]. The other thing that I'm working on is just the mental game. Those are the two biggest things right now." Due to her commitments with the national team, Brian may miss a few UVa games in the fall. However, Swanson, who knows he'll have Brian for the key games, isn't too worried. He is excited for Brian's fourth-year season. "I think it will be more of a leadership role for her," he said, "and nurturing the younger play- ers into the squad and [setting] expectations and standards of the squad and how our team plays." Brian is looking forward to it, too. "We're going to have a good year again, hope- fully," she said. "We appreciate everyone. We had a lot of fans last year and hope to keep increasing the crowds this year." ◆ BEST OF THE REST Elizabeth Brightwell, golf — The fourth-year helped lead Virginia to a runner-up finish at the ACC Championships and a 14th-place finish at the NCAA Tournament. The Nellysford, Va., native was named to the Women's Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholars team for the third straight year. Elly Buckley, field hockey — The fourth-year was one of only 13 ACC players to be a four-time All-Amer- ican while playing all four years in the conference. The Australian finished her career ranked third in program history in points (182), fourth in goals (73), seventh in assists (36) and fourth in defensive saves (11). Julie Elbaba, tennis — The second-year helped lead Virginia to its first-ever ACC championship, while posting a 31-6 singles record and a 28-12 doubles mark with Rachel Pierson. She rose to as high as No. 3 in the singles and double rankings, both program bests, and earned first-team All-ACC and ITA All-America singles honors for the second consecutive campaign. Dallas Rose, track and field — The fourth-year from Pearland, Texas, was the ACC outdoor cham- pion in the triple jump. She also earned first-team All-America honors with a seventh-place finish in the triple jump at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Courtney Swan, lacrosse — The fourth-year from Vero Beach, Fla., led Virginia in points in helping the program to its first Final Four since 2007. Swan was the recipient of the Elite 89 Award, presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA at the NCAA Championship. — Whitelaw Reid