But Smith and Bartholomew said what
made the difference was that the entire wom-
en's team decide to approach the new season
accepting the change.
"We all, the women's team especially,
went into it with an open mind knowing this
was a new coaching staff and that we needed
to give them the benefit of the doubt," Bar-
tholomew explained. "We just needed to,
as a family, stick together and give them a
chance."
"Definitely the key to our success was
having an open mind and once we got to
know our coaches, trusting them completely,
that was also another key to our success,"
Smith added.
Busch said the willingness the team had to
get to know him, understand his philosophy
and work together made a huge difference.
"I'll never forget that help," Busch said.
"Just to walk in and they kind of just opened
their arms. Very new and very different than
what they had been exposed to and to what
they had signed up for.
For the third consecutive season, UVA head coach Augie Busch (far right) was named the
ACC Women's Coach of the Year.
PHOTO COURTESY UVA
