U.Va. notes

Baseball team aims to be regional host again

Since Brian O'Connor took over as coach after the 2003 season, Virginia's baseball team never has failed to reach the NCAA tournament, and that streak almost certainly will be extended this year.

With seven regular-season games left, U.Va. is 35-9-1 overall (and 13-8-1 in the ACC). Still, if the Cavaliers want to host an NCAA tournament regional, as they did in 2004, '06 and '07, they need to finish strong.

U.Va., ranked No. 13 nationally by Baseball America, hosts ACC rival Duke in a three-game series this weekend. Then comes a May 12 date with Virginia Commonwealth at Davenport Field, followed by a three-game series at Virginia Tech (May 14-16). The Cavaliers have won 12 straight over the Hokies.

Elite company

Steele Stanwick last month became the fourth U.Va. freshman this decade to be named ACC rookie of the year in men's lacrosse, joining goalie Tillman Johnson (2001) and attackmen Joe Yevoli (2002) and Danny Glading (2006).

Stanwick, an attackman from Baltimore, is second on the team in goals, with 29, and third in assists, with 14.

Glading, the Cavaliers' leading scorer, was named all-ACC for the third time. Fifteen players in school history have been so honored.

Late surge

He hasn't been as productive this season as his twin, Shamel, who was named all-ACC. But sophomore midfielder Rhamel Bratton, who missed three regular-season games for medical reasons, has totaled two goals and one assist in his past three outings.

"I think he's playing now the way he was at the very beginning of the season," U.Va. coach Dom Starsia said, "and I think one of the ways that we can get better is to be able to get him on the field a little more now."

For the season, Shamel has 24 goals and nine assists. Rhamel has six goals and three assists.

Divided loyalties

Chris Long played football at U.Va., before moving on to the NFL, and his younger brothers plan to enroll there this summer -- Kyle to play football and Howie to play lacrosse.

Their father, however, is a Villanova graduate. So former NFL great Howie Long may have mixed emotions this weekend. In the first round of the NCAA men's lacrosse tournament, U.Va. hosts Villanova at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Klockner Stadium.

Breakthrough coming?

The 2001 season was Al Groh's first as football coach at U.Va. Since then, 28 of his players have been taken in the NFL draft, including four this year.

Those draft picks, however, have included only one defensive back (Marcus Hamilton, a seventh-rounder in 2007) and one quarterback (Matt Schaub, a third-rounder in 2004).

At least two cornerbacks on U.Va.'s 2009 roster -- senior Chris Cook and junior Ras-I Dowling -- have NFL potential, and "then I guess the next big thing that could happen is when we can get a quarterback up in that category," Groh said.

Expanding the playbook

Early in his tenure at U.Va., Groh wasn't eager for his quarterbacks to run with the ball, in part because of the punishment they might take. His philosophy has evolved over the years, and fans can expect to see Vic Hall and Jameel Sewell running the option at times this fall.

When a "quarterback has that as part of his skill set, then certainly you want to take advantage of that," Groh said after last month's spring game. "But that puts them in harm's way a lot. . . . So to have two players who have those diverse skills on the same team gives a little more comfort level to let either one of them loose, knowing that a similar player is right behind them."

Rarefied air

In men's tennis, U.Va. is the only school to be a top-eight seed in each of the past six NCAA tournaments.

In 2008, Virginia became the first ACC team to be seeded No. 1 in the tourney. The Cavaliers are No. 1 again this year.

U.Va. (29-0) hosts Navy (18-7) in the NCAA tourney's first round Friday at 1 p.m. If the Cavaliers win, as expected, they will meet South Carolina or North Carolina at 1 p.m. Saturday, also at the Snyder Tennis Center.

String continues

The Virginia women' lacrosse team got the news it was hoping for Sunday night. The Cavaliers learned they'rheaded to the NCAA tournament for the 14th consecutive year.

U.Va., which received an at-large invitation to the 16-team tourney, will face ACC rival Duke in the first round Sunday at Durham, N.C. Virginia is 11-7. The fifth-seeded Blue Devils are 13-5.

During the regular season, visiting Duke edged Virginia 13-12 on March 28. The U.Va.-Duke winner will meet No. 2 seed Pennsylvania or Fairfield in an NCAA quarterfinal May 16. -- Jeff White