During Virginia’s meteoric rise over its past eight games, Franco Valdes has been a mainstay behind the plate.

Virginia, the second-seeded team in the Irvine Regional, sat in the same position late Sunday evening as it awaited a championship round contest with third-seeded San Diego State or top-seeded UC Irvine.

Virginia scored a pair of early runs off San Diego State All-American Stephen Strasburg — giving the phenom his first loss of the season — and the Cavaliers took a 5-1 victory in the opening game of the Irvine Regional.

The way Brian O’Connor sees it, Friday’s NCAA tournament clash against San Diego State ace Stephen Strasburg isn’t as lopsided as some observers perceive.

To most in attendance at the ACC tournament, Tyler Wilson appeared to be running on fumes late in Sunday’s title game.

In the tournament semifinals, No. 1 seed Virginia was completely outplayed by the fifth-seeded Big Red.

Having seen Cornell during the regular season and watching the Big Red score just six goals in their quarterfinal win over Princeton last weekend, you couldn’t really blame Virginia players for thinking they would be facing a methodical squad.

Second-seeded Syracuse, behind four goals apiece from Kenny Nims and Patrick Perritt, hammered the third-seeded Blue Devils, 17-7, in the semifinals of the NCAA tournament at Gillette Stadium.

Virginia has announced its presence to the college lacrosse world — with authority.

Seeded ninth in the 14-team field, the Cavaliers finished fourth among 14 teams to earn one of five spots in the national tournament.

If the top-seeded Wahoos are to make it to next weekend’s Final Four in Foxborough, Mass., and continue their quest for a fifth NCAA title, they’ll need to play as well as they did last weekend against Villanova.

The Virginia Cavaliers lost the doubles point for only the third time all season, and before they could attempt to chip away at Southern California’s lead, the teams were forced off the court by lightning.

When you consider that just one goal separated Virginia and Johns Hopkins when they last met during the regular season, it’s a near certainty that one of the most important players on the field for the rematch this Sunday in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals will be the smallest guy.

Some early preparation made for a strong finish in Virginia’s 4-2 victory over Florida State on the first day of the NCAA men’s tennis championships.

Virginia’s undefeated and No. 1-ranked men’s tennis team keeps running into familiar faces on its quest to bring the program its first NCAA championship.