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cavalier sports APRIL 2018 11 D ouglas, Isle of Man, native Aswin Lizen put together a strong fall tennis season, capturing the ITA At- lantic Regionals singles title, compil- ing a 12-1 singles record and earning a No. 40 singles national ranking from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Flash-forward to the spring season and Lizen has ascended to No. 33 in the singles national rankings. Through matches as of April 2, his singles record was 27-3 and his doubles record with various teammates was 17-9. Lizen and first-year Gianni Ross were named the ACC Doubles Team of the Week March 27 after UVA posted road vic- tories over Clemson and Georgia Tech. Prior to arriving in Charlottesville, the third-year was a member of the 2015 Great Britain European Champi- onship team and competed in the 2014 Junior Wimbledon. My advice to student-athletes is: Enjoy every moment you have with your team and embrace it. And on top of it, ex- pand your network rather than hanging around with your teammates. Get involved in the community and have the best college experience that you can. The primary challenge facing student-athletes today is: Time management. The best thing about UVA is: The feeling of community/family. Why I chose UVA: A combination of high-level academics and athletics as well as the coaching staff that I felt cared about my development as a person. What I like the most about tennis: The fact that every point is a new start. Basi- cally because of the nature of the game you're not able to dwell on your mistakes. You only get 20 seconds between shots so you have to wipe the slate clean. It's a matter of maintaining a positive, get-back-to-work attitude. The highlight of my athletic career: I would say winning the 2017 NCAA team title. The reason was [coach] Brian [Boland] was leaving so it was nice to send him off on a high note. The most important thing I've learned from tennis: The importance of keep- ing things in perspective. Just being able to recognize it's not life and death. That applies to a lot of things off the court as well, which I learned from my coaches. M y d re a m va c a t i o n would be: South Africa be- cause I have family there. My post-college ambi- tion is: If I do very well this year and next I might turn pro. I'm interning next summer in Atlanta at Union Bank of Switzerland. I'm majoring in finance. — Mike Scandura As of April 2, Lizen boasted a 27-3 singles re- cord and was ranked No. 33 nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. PHOTO COURTESY UVA getting to know Third-Year Men's Tennis Player Aswin Lizen What/Who Is Your Favorite … … TV show? "Sherlock" … movie? "Silence of the Lambs" … actor and actress? Ryan Reynolds and Rachael McAdams … Charlottesville hangout? Cardinal Hall … musician/band? The Red Hot Chili Peppers … pro sports team? Manchester United … food? Sushi … UVA class? Acting 101 … sport (other than tennis)? Soccer … person in history? Winston Churchill … pre-game ritual? I usually turn off my phone, grip my racquets and talk to the guys. I try to keep distractions to a minimum. DANIEL LYNCH • BASEBALL In four ACC starts from March 10-31, the starting left-handed pitcher from Henrico, Va., posted a trio of quality starts and set his ca- reer high with 11 strikeouts in back-to-back games before he re-set it with 12 the follow- ing outing against Pitt March 31. In that time, he also had two impressive streaks of not allowing an earned run — the first one lasted 17 innings, and the second reached nine. Although the southpaw was touched up for five earned runs against Pitt, he allowed just six in the 29 innings pitched during that span of four games while he struck out 41 batters. DANIELLE COLLINS • TENNIS The 24-year-old graduate of Virginia rose to No. 93 in the WTA world rankings March 19 for her top-100 debut. The two-time NCAA champion had climbed 113 spots since last October to reach that rank and continued to ascend after the biggest win of her pro career. In March, she advanced through qualifying to make the main draw of the Miami Open in her home state and posted six wins over op- ponents ranked among the world's top 102, including childhood idol Venus Williams in the quarterfinals. That performance propelled the St. Petersburg, Fla., native to No. 53 in the world, the highest-ever singles ranking of a former UVA player, male or female. JORDAN SCOTT • TRACK & FIELD The second-year from Port- more, Jamaica, was UVA's only representative at the NCAA In- door Track & Field Champion- ships March 10 and finished 12th in the triple jump. According to assistant coach Mario Wilson, he wasn't even 100 percent healthy, but the ACC runner-up in the event was still able to claim second-team All-America honors. It was the third national honor of his career — he was previously a second-team honoree at the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championship and an honorable mention at last year's outdoor championships. HOO'S HOT Recognizing the "Who's Hoo" in UVA athletics — Cavalier student-athletes, past, present and future who are making news around the world of sports.