Cavalier Corner

when I got on them they started to panic a little bit more. "I felt like I didn't play as well in the spring as I did in the fall. But it helped having that reputation that I was relentless and was going to compete hard." "Mitchell had incredible success managing the pressure and expectations after the fall season," Boland said. "He came into the fall with expectations. Once you surpass those expectations, not only in your own eyes but "Mitchell Frank is a mental giant. He loves competition as much as anybody I've coached. He loves compet- ing and has a willingness BEST OF THE REST peared in 53 games with 50 starts (35 in left field). He tied the school record with eight triples, ranking 10th nationally, and also paced the squad with seven home runs. In addition to those two categories, he paced all ACC rookies in RBI (50) and slugging percentage (.507) en route to Freshman All-America laurels from Louisville Slugger and the NCBWA. 2. Nick Vena, Track and Field — The thrower started his 1. Derek Fisher, Baseball — The slugging outfielder ap- career with All-ACC honors in the shot put after he placed second at the indoor championships, and followed up with 14th-place national finish for second-team All-America honors. He was then named the Most Valuable Field Performer at the ACC Outdoor Championships after he won the shot put and discus titles. 3. Denny McCarthy, Golf — The ACC Rookie of the Year to embrace it." UVA HEAD COACH BRIAN BOLAND the entire tennis community; his ability to manage those expectations and pressure re- ally was the key to his success." From a technical standpoint, the reason for Frank's success isn't exactly buried in a clas- sified document. "Granted, Mitchell's game is a work in progress," Boland said. "He's trying to de- velop into an all-court player. I would de- scribe him right now as one of the best de- fenders in the world. He has the ability to take an opponent's time away. He's working extremely hard on developing skills to take time way and take more balls out of the air. "But there's no question, Mitchell Frank is one of the best defenders in the world — and I go beyond college tennis when I say that." ◆ and all-conference performer helped power the Cavaliers to a runner-up finish at the ACC Championships with a fourth- place effort. He played in 12 tournaments, posted the team's best score in four events and recorded five top-10 finishes. He also recorded the second-best scoring average on the squad (72.31). 4. Demetrius Nicholson, Football — He became the first true first-year to start at cornerback for UVa since 1986. In 13 starts, he notched 60 tackles (two for loss), picked off two passes and tied for the team lead with eight passes broken up en route to second-team Freshman All-America honors from Yahoo! Sports and CollegeFootballNews.com. 5. Nick Sulzer, Wrestling — The redshirt first-year led the team in wins (27-9) and went 10-2 in dual matches. Each of his losses came against an eventual national qualifier and he placed third at the ACC Championships while punching his ticket to the NCAA Championships. After two narrow losses to All-Americans, he finished the year ranked No. 15 by Amateur Wrestling News. — Ryan Tice CAVALIER CORNER ◆ AUGUST 2012 ◆ 43

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