Yet a gold medal in the sport resides where Virginia’s Oday Aboushi sleeps every evening at the University of Virginia.

Moore was joined on the preseason squad by teammate Tina Charles, Stanford’s Jayne Appel, Ohio State’s Jantel Lavender and Virginia’s Monica Wright.

What Miami did in rallying past Wake Forest on Saturday for a 28-27 road win prompted Groh to rehash two painful losses, one of which was fresh.

With just 11 days left before the Virginia men’s basketball season opener versus Longwood, Hootie and Whitey discuss Wahoo basketball. Who will be in the starting lineup, what player has the potential to this year’s “X-factor,“ what have Tony Bennett practices been like, and who is that mystery man on the cover of the team’s media guide? Hootie and Whitey answer all.

Despite the woeful numbers and the apparent changes coming at the McCue Center, Virginia’s players will attempt to win for Groh and each other.

On Sunday afternoon, Virginia brought its ‘A’ game against Miami when it absolutely had to have it. Paced by a Sinead Farrelly goal in the 54th minute, UVa defeated the Hurricanes, 2-0, on a chilly, overcast day at Klockner Stadium.

Quotes from Duke’s victory over Virginia

Quotes from Virginia coach Al Groh

Notes from Virginia’s loss to Duke

On an evening when ghosts sauntered the streets for treats, Virginia was haunted in a matter of minutes.

Duke 28, Virginia 17

Virginia’s victory train pulled out of the station with eight minutes to play Saturday night, but no one was aboard.

Quotes from UVa players after the loss to Duke

Virginia lost to Duke 28-17 at home.

Virginia lost to Duke 28-17 at home.

UVa, thanks to a beautiful goal by Sinead Farrelly just before halftime and a huge save by goalie Chantel Jones late in the contest, upset the Seminoles 1-0 in front of a crowd of 809.

That matchup will be on clear display today as the Blue Devils (4-3, 2-1) and Cavaliers (3-4, 2-1) battle each other to stay in the ACC Coastal Division title race.

Virginia earned the No. 14 spot in the poll and was the third-highest ACC team.

Regardless, Virginia (3-4, 2-1 ACC) and Duke (4-3, 2-1), the two teams from the conference to miss the postseason last year, are near mirror images on paper.

One thing is very clear when you talk to Virginia freshman Tristan Spurlock — he’s not some shy, timid kid who’s just hoping to make an impact on the program someday in the future.

Duke’s Thaddeus Lewis is on the minds of Virginia’s defense for this Saturday’s game at Scott Stadium. Lewis, who has thrown for nearly 9,000 yards in his career, isn’t one of the three ACC quarterbacks ranked among the elite in the nation right now. Those honors go to Virginia Tech’s Tyrod Taylor, Miami’s Jacory Harris, and Florida State’s Christian Ponder.

Virginia (3-4, 2-1 ACC) seemed to fail in that respect as the Yellow Jackets outscored the Cavs 21-3 in the final two quarters en route to a 34-9 victory that essentially left Virginia searching for a bowl berth to salvage another season.

Thaddeus Lewis will walk into Scott Stadium on Saturday with a heavy heart.

On Tuesday, UVa senior Calvin Baker underwent arthroscopic surgery to clean out a loose piece of cartilage in his right knee.

Wright landed the honor at the annual ACC media day, which was held at the Greensboro Coliseum in North Carolina.

Don’t expect that from Duke — the Blue Devils rank 5th in the nation in passing, using the run sparingly.

At ACC Media Day on Sunday, John Clougherty, the ACC coordinator of men’s basketball officiating, announced a new rule in which help-defenders will be whistled for fouls if they attempt to take a charge within an 18-24 inch “imaginary” line, extending from the edge of the backboard to the front of the rim.

After rehashing the video from Saturday’s crippling loss to Georgia Tech, Virginia turned the page.

Last season, UVa was picked by the media to finish 12th in the 12-school ACC. The Cavaliers ended up 11th, and replaced former coach Dave Leitao with Bennett at season’s end.
On Sunday afternoon at ACC Media Day, Virginia was predicted to finish 11th.

“A lot of guys on the team were challenging me to go full speed and go all-out for the whole game and take every opportunity,” Dwyer said. “[Cook] was there and I was just trying to make a play to get the team fired up.”