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Monday Motivation: Baseball, Lacrosse and Swimming...oh my!

Spring sports are in full swing!

By Caroline Darney
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

With the spring sports underway and basketball cruising, it's a fun time to be a Wahoo fan. Well, it's always a fun time to be a Wahoo fan, but you catch my drift. Let's get to it.

Rapid Fire

-After an illustrious 11 seasons in the NFL, Heath Miller is retiring from the league. He played all his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, winning two Super Bowl rings and making two Pro Bowls. Excuse me while I go cry my eyes out again (WE'LL MISS YOU, HEATH).

-Virginia Football Coach, Bronco Mendenhall, celebrated his 50th birthday yesterday, and the staff surprised him with a fun-looking party.

-Congratulations to fourth year Shannon Crawford on winning the Disney Princess Half Marathon!

-Former Virginia soccer standout and current US Women's National Team member, Becky Sauerbrunn, earned her 100th appearance with the National Team. Congrats, Becky!

-The No.9 Women's Tennis team pushed their conference record to 2-0 with a 5-2 victory over Syracuse. Danielle Collins, Julia Elbaba, Meghan Kelley, and Victoria Olivarez all picked up singles wins to go with Virginia's win in doubles to secure the victory. Next up, the Hoos host Louisville and Norfolk State on Sunday starting at 11am.

-Former Virginia football player (and current Cleveland Brown) Cam Johnson is participating in the 2016 NFLPA Externship, working with Events DC.

-Women's basketball earned a 65-48 victory over Clemson behind Faith Randolph's first double-double of her career. Randolph, who missed nine games with a broken thumb, went off for 13 points and 13 rebounds in her third game back from injury. Second year Mikayla Venson added a game-high 18 points.

Next up, Virginia hosts North Carolina for Senior Night on Thursday at JPJ. Game starts at 7pm.

-The No.14 Men's Lacrosse team earned their first win of the season with a 14-7 victory over Drexel. Greg Coholan and AJ Fish each had a hat trick in the game, and first-year Mikey Herring added a goal and three assists in his collegiate debut. Mike D'Amario and Zed Williams had two goals apiece, and defenders Michael Howard and Tanner Scales had two caused turnovers each. Faceoff man Jason Murphy had himself a day at the X, winning 14 of his 18 faceoffs.

Next up, Virginia hosts High Point University, Tuesday at 7pm.

-Baseball season is officially underway, and the REIGNING NATIONAL CHAMPIONS (that will never get old) opened their first weekend with wins over Kent State (8-6) and Appalachian State (8-0). Pavin Smith went 7-11 from the plate over the weekend with two doubles and three RBIs. Ernie Clement was 8-15 from the plate, and Matt Thaiss went 6-13. Adam Haseley and first year Cam Simmons each hit home runs this weekend as well. On the mound, the starters shone. Connor Jones pitched seven scoreless innings with eight strikeouts, Daniel Lynch pitched five scoreless with nine strikeouts, and Tommy Doyle gave up two runs in six innings with six strikeouts.

Next up, the Hoos host VMI for their home-opener. Game starts at 3pm on Tuesday.

-In a super #goacc moment, the ACC had some trouble with their architecture recognition with the ads for the upcoming ACC tournament in DC...

HOO-mongous Wins

-Men's Basketball shook off the Duke "loss" by manhandling the NC State Catpack Wolfpack in the second half to win by a decisive 73-53 margin. A hot start for NC State gave the visiting squad an early lead, but the Hoos came back and the two teams went to the locker rooms with the game tied at 31 at the half. From that point on, it was all Virginia.

The Hoos outscored the Wolfpack 42-22 in the second stanza, and a smothering defensive performance held the hot-handed (and leading scorer in the ACC ) Cat Barber to just 14 points on 4-11 shooting...about ten points under his average per game. Here's a look at how the second half went (UVA is the dog on the right):

Malcolm Brogdon led Virginia with 22 points after going 9-13 (4-7 3PT) from the floor. London Perrantes dropped hot flames, going 5-8 from beyond the arc, including three straight at one point, finishing with 19 points. Isaiah Wilkins added six points and grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds.

Former Virginia player (and current Dallas Maverick) Justin Anderson was on hand to see all the action, and he appeared to enjoy himself.

When he wasn't cheering, he was being just flat out awesome.

...and he dropped a "Joey Buckets".

The Cavaliers take on Miami tonight at 7pm on ESPN in a game with HUGE ACC standings implications.

-No.5 Women's Swimming and Diving captured their NINTH straight ACC title this weekend, continuing their utter dominance of the conference.

Leah Smith beat the NCAA record in the 1,650m swim with a time of 15:25.30 (including an NCAA record 1,000 free split of 9:20.15). Her time is the third fastest in that event ever, behind Olympians Katie Ledecky and Katie Hoff. The win was Smith's 7th ACC title, good for third in UVA history.

Fourth year Courtney Bartholomew won her fourth straight ACC title in the 200 back, complementing her four-time champion title in the 100 back. She has nine ACC titles in her career, leading UVA and second in conference history.

Oh, and it got Virginia a point in the Commonwealth Clash, pushing UVA's lead to 5-3.5.

The ladies just absolutely crushed it this week, continuing to be the class of the ACC. Their nine-peat ties Men's Tennis, who won their ninth ACC title last spring. Your move, Coach Boland.

Go Hoos!

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