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athletics and academics," Boyle said. "When I first came here from the West Coast, I was in the [Lovett School] gym and saw her. She caught my eye. It was the way she ran the floor and was talk- ing to her teammates. "She was doing all the dirty things — getting offensive rebounds and doing all the intangibles. As we started having our vision of putting this program together, we wanted players who would do the dirty work — things that don't show up on the stat sheet. "I went back and watched her and saw the po- tential for growth," Boyle continued. "I knew she wouldn't short-change herself and had the skill set to get better." Fast forward two years, and Umeri has shown the ability to fill a role that every team needs — to come off the bench and provide a spark at each end of the court. "I feel like this year rebounding is going to be huge and also contributing to be a vocal leader," Umeri said. "For me, it's not so much about start- ing. It's more about putting my team in a position to be successful. "If it means coming off the bench, that's fine with me." In recognition of what Umeri's accomplished both on and off the court, last season she received the Virginia athletic department's ACC Top VI Award, which is presented annually to "the six student-athletes who've given the most in terms of services to the University and Charlottesville communities." "Sydney really puts herself out there and isn't afraid of failure," Boyle said of Umeri's mindset on the court. "She came to Virginia because she would get the experience of being a full student- athlete. "We do a lot of community service with our team. We'll feed the homeless. We go into schools and read books to young kids. We do Habitat for Humanity. We try to find things in the community where our girls can be great role models. "Syd does that along with extras. She volun- teers to do this because she sees the value in it. She's involved in the life skills program, which is community-based and she understands the pulse of the community of her peers." One "service" Umeri was involved in last sea- son gave her a great deal of satisfaction as will be the case with one this season. "Last year, I was a tutor at Mount Zion Baptist Church," she said. "I tutored a little girl who was five in reading, which was a lot of fun for me. "At Virginia, I really like how we got involved with the Walker Elementary School. We're in- volved with them because we have a field trip game at 11 a.m. [when Virginia hosts Bowling Green Dec. 8]. Around 7,000 kids are coming out to support us." None of this is a major surprise for Boyle. "She has a Type-A personality," Boyle noted. "She wants to have a world view of her college experience and is a real go-getter." ◆ "Sydney really puts herself out there and isn't afraid of failure. She came to Virginia because she would get the experience of being a full student-athlete." HEAD COACH JOANNE BOYLE ON UMERI