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CAVALIER SPORTS GETTING TO KNOW FOURTH-YEAR WOMEN'S SOCCER PLAYER ALEXIS SHAFFER Alexis Shaffer's father, David, played in the NBA with the Portland Trail Blazers. Her grandfather, Lee Shaffer, was a basketball All-American at North Carolina and played in the NBA with the old Syracuse Nationals and the Philadelphia 76ers. Fortunately for Virginia, soccer was her sport of choice. Last season she was a second-team All-ACC midfielder, scored five game-winning goals and assisted on two more game winners. This year, she was a first-team pick, and earned ACC Offensive Player of the Year and Midfielder of the Year honors. Heading into the NCAA Tournament, she had a team-leading 11 goals and six assists for a total of 28 points. My advice to student-athletes is: Time management is huge. You have to balance your schoolwork because you are a student first and after you complete your academic requirements for the day then you go to practice and have to give your best effort. You have to make sure you're on top of your schoolwork and whenever you get to the soccer part clear your mind of ev- erything you've done during the day so you can give 100 percent every day. The primary challenge facing stu- dent-athletes today is: You have to be able to manage two obstacles during the day which are school and soccer plus you don't get much free time on your hands. The best thing about UVA is: The environment including the people who attend the school and those who come to the athletic events and sup- port us. Without them the experience would not be the same because their support is huge. The people at the university are amazing. Why I chose UVA: It's the best combination of athletics and academics. And the campus and location are absolutely beautiful. Shaffer was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Year and Midfielder of the Year. PHOTO BY MATT RILEY/COURTESY UVA