They’ve dealt with a head coaching change in 2021 and getting accustomed to a new coach and his style.

They dealt with five defeats by a touchdown or less last season.

And, of course, they dealt with the shooting deaths of three teammates late in the 2022 season.

“It’s time for these guys to enjoy the fruits of their labors,” Elliott said Tuesday at the ACC Football Kickoff event.

“They’ve had to deal with some things that weren’t of their making,” said Elliott, entering his third season as the Cavaliers’ head coach. “Now we need to go out and win some games and play in the postseason. Those guys deserve that.”

UVA’s football fortunes began to unravel weeks after Bronco Mendenhall resigned as head coach in December 2022. The Cavaliers had landed a spot in the Fenway Bowl, but a COVID outbreak among the Virginia players forced the game to be canceled.

Elliott’s first season, played with many new faces in the Virginia lineup after numerous transfer portal defections, ended with a 3-7 record — and tragically the Nov. 22 shooting deaths of Lavel Davis Jr., D’Sean Perry and Devin Chandler. The three players were killed by a shooter on a bus after returning from a field trip. Running back Mike Hollins and another Virginia student were injured.

Then came the frustration of the five narrow losses and a 3-9 record last season.

Time to move on

“I wouldn’t have chosen for things to happen this way, but everything happens for a reason,” Elliott said.

Now, the Virginia coach said, it’s time to move past the troubled days.

“That first spring I was here, we had only six scholarship players,” said Elliott, a former offensive coordinator at Clemson. “We’ve been able to grow since then.

“When you look at the last two years, you can see that we’ve laid the foundation. Competitively, we are much improved.”

If you’re looking for good news, there is some to be found.

The Cavaliers have two promising quarterbacks and figure at least one of them should step forward this season. Senior Tony Muskett and sophomore Anthony Colandrea split time at the position last year.

Muskett and Colandrea are friends, and Muskett said Tuesday that Virginia will be solid at quarterback.

“AC is a great kid,” Muskett said of Colandrea. “We get along really well, and a lot of the credit goes to (quarterbacks coach Taylor) Lamb. He works with both of us and has helped keep us close.”

Colandrea and Muskett will have returning receiver Malachi Fields and transfers Chris Tyree (Notre Dame) and Andre Greene Jr. (North Carolina) as targets.

Injuries hurt the defense last season, with defensive end Kam Butler missing much of the season with a pectoral muscle injury.

“I feel really good and am excited about getting back,” said Butler, who had 3.5 sacks in three games last season before getting hurt.

The Cavaliers also are strong at linebacker, with James Jackson and Kamren Robinson leading the way.

Some problem spots

Potential problem spots are the running game and the secondary.

The Cavaliers weren’t a good rushing team last season, ranking 105th out of 130 FBS squads. They averaged 118 yards a game on the ground, so Muskett and Colandrea might have to provide much of the offense with their arms.

“Running the ball well is critical,” Elliott said. “We need to make our opponents respect our running game.”

In the secondary, three starters from last season are gone. Elliott said he used the transfer portal to reload there, but we’ll have to wait and see how the newcomers fare.

Elliott is hoping his team can make a statement in its opening four games.

“With the way our byes happen, the season is divided into four parts,” he said. “It will be nice to get off to a good start.”

Those opening games are against Richmond, Wake Forest, Maryland and Coastal Carolina.

“Our mindset is that every game is the most important game of the season,” Elliott said. “But we need to start strong.”

Defensive end Chico Bennett said last season “was frustrating.”

“You always want to win,” Bennett said. “It was a matter of four or five plays. Our guys know we’ve been close.

“But we’re tired of just being close. Now it’s time for us to win.”

Virginia strong safety Jonas Sanker landed at No. 39 on EA Sports’ list. The senior is listed with a 92 overall rating.

Sanker is coming off a junior campaign that landed him a first-team All-ACC selection. His 107 tackles last year led Virginia and were No. 4 in the ACC. Sanker was third in the ACC in pass deflections with 11.

Sanker’s rating of 92 overall makes him the highest-rated strong safety in the game.

Top 100 @JonasSanker x @EASPORTSCollege #UVAStrong | #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/Oat9apnNti

— Virginia Football (@UVAFootball) July 10, 2024

Virginia Tech cornerback Dorian Strong landed at No. 66 on EA Sports’ top 100. The graduate student is listed as a 91 overall player.

Strong was a third-team All-ACC selection last year and was named to Action Network’s All-American second team. Strong defended 11 passes last season, tying him with Sanker for No. 7 in the ACC.

Strong’s rating of 91 makes him the ninth-highest-ranked cornerback in the game.

Sanker and Strong are the fourth- and eighth-highest-rated players from the ACC in the game, respectively.

Michael Sauls, (757) 803-5774, michael.sauls@virginiamedia.com

The ACC’s expansion west officially started Monday as the league welcomed SMU, California and Stanford. SMU officially became a member Monday, and Cal and Stanford join Aug. 2 to expand the Atlantic Coast Conference to the Pacific Coast.

SMU left the American Athletic Conference, and Cal and Stanford departed the Pac-12. All three begin ACC competition in the fall.

The ACC makeover comes as programs leave their conferences for more stability — and money — in college athletics. Before summer’s end, Southern California, UCLA, Oregon and Washington leave the Pac-12 for the Big Ten, while Oklahoma and Texas bolt the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference and Utah, Arizona State, Arizona and Colorado join the Big 12.

Closer to home, the ACC now has 18 members (17 play football because Notre Dame plays as an independent).

“This summer marks a momentous occasion for the ACC with the addition of three prestigious institutions — Cal, SMU and Stanford,” ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said in a release officially welcoming them on Monday. “Since our announcement last September, the conference has been diligently preparing to become an 18-member league that spans from coast to coast. We look forward to the future of this incredible league and extend a warm welcome to the student-athletes, coaches, staff, campus communities, alumni, and supporters of Cal, SMU, and Stanford into the ACC.”

___

How often has the ACC expanded?

The newcomers this summer mark the ACC’s seventh expansion since the league was established in 1953 with seven charter members. Virginia joined later in 1953 to make it eight. Georgia Tech joined in 1979 and Florida State followed in 1992. Virginia Tech and Miami joined in 2004 and Boston College in 2005. Syracuse and Pitt were welcomed in 2013, along with Notre Dame in all conference-sponsored sports except football. Louisville became a full member in 2014.

___

How will scheduling work?

Most sports will be organized to ease travel — teams headed west will likely make stops at Cal and Stanford on the same trip when possible, Phillips said last month during a Q&A in Charlotte at the Associated Press Sports Editors annual conference. For football, East Coast teams are expected to travel to the West Coast to face Cal and Stanford every other year, and Cal and Stanford will travel east three to four times per season.

A recent breakdown of expected ACC travel by bookies.com shows Cal logging a league-high 20,660 miles for football in 2024, followed by Stanford at 14,017 miles. Stanford plays ACC road games this season at Syracuse, Clemson and N.C. State and also visits Notre Dame in a non-conference game. Cal visits Florida State, Pitt and Wake Forest in football this season.

___

Newcomers vs. UVA, Virginia Tech

Virginia and Virginia Tech play only one football game each against the ACC’s new members. UVA is at home Nov. 23 against SMU, and Virginia Tech plays at Stanford on Oct. 5.

___

#TheMustangsHaveArrived pic.twitter.com/BIZCvNHGqa

— SMU (@SMU) July 1, 2024

About SMU

Southern Methodist University, a 12,000-student school located in Dallas, is coming off its most successful year in the AAC (eight conference championships). The Mustangs have won 10 national championships overall. Notable athletic alums: Pro Football Hall of Famers Raymond Berry, Eric Dickerson, Forrest Gregg, Lamar Hunt and Doak Walker.

___

About Cal

The University of California, Berkeley, has an enrollment of more than 42,000 and is located along the San Francisco Bay near Oakland. The school’s athletic program has produced 104 national championship teams and 223 Olympic medalists, including 121 gold medalists. Notable Golden Bears athletic alums: Aaron Rodgers, Jason Kidd, Natalie Coughlin, Marshawn Lynch and Jaylen Brown.

___

About Stanford

The school just south of San Francisco has 7,800 undergraduates and 9,600 graduate students. No college has won more than Stanford’s 136 team national championships, and the Cardinal have won at least one NCAA team championship during each of the last 48 seasons dating back to the 1976-77 campaign. Notable athletic alums: Tiger Woods, John Elway, Andrew Luck, Christian McCaffrey, Michelle Wie and Katie Ledecky.

___

What about the ACC’s legal fight?

The league and two longtime members are embroiled in a legal battle that is unrelated to the arrival of SMU, Cal and Stanford. Florida State and Clemson are both suing the ACC to escape the league’s Grant of Rights agreement that keeps member schools in a TV contract through 2036. The ACC has countersued both schools.

“We’re going to fight it with every effort that we can,” Phillips said in Charlotte during a Q&A at the Associated Press Sports Editors annual conference. “With what has been agreed upon, twice, the Grant of Rights deserves to be executed. And so we have taken that position.

“So we’re going to fight,” Phillips added. “I’m going to fight. And the courts will ultimately decide. And we believe that everybody knows what was in that contract back then. And it was celebrated. And people were excited.”

The Suns originally selected Dayton power forward DaRon Holmes II at No. 22 overall, but sent him to Denver for Dunn, the 56th overall pick Thursday and second-round picks in 2026 and 2031.

This is what the @Suns can expect from Ryan Dunn!

#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/D9NB2IzgZL

— Virginia Men's Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) June 27, 2024

The 6-6, 214-pound Dunn becomes the Cavaliers’ fourth first-round pick in the past six NBA drafts. Trey Murphy III (2021), De’Andre Hunter (2019) and Ty Jerome (2019) were the others.

UVA now has 12 players overall who have been first-round draft picks. Before the four previously mentioned players, there were Justin Anderson (2015), Cory Alexander (1995), Bryant Stith (1992), Olden Polynice (1987), Ralph Sampson (1983), Jeff Lamp (1981), Wally Walker (1976) and Barry Parkhill (1973).

Dunn is considered perhaps the best defender in this year’s draft, with a reported 7-2 wingspan. He made the ACC All-Defensive Team and led the league in blocked shots with 2.3 per game.

Dunn left college early after playing only two seasons for the Cavaliers. He averaged 8.1 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals a game last season.

While he shot 54.8% from the field, long-distance shooting and free-throw shooting were two of his weaknesses. He shot 20% from 3-point range — making only 12 in two seasons — and 53.2% from the line.

Already loaded on offense with stars Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, the Suns needed a boost on defense. They might get it with Dunn.

Welcome to the Valley, Ryan! pic.twitter.com/j5I5tHeI3y

— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) June 27, 2024

Meanwhile, the Portland Trail Blazers traded former UVA star Malcolm Brogdon to the Washington Wizards on Wednesday. The Wizards sent forward Deni Avdija to Portland for Brogdon, the 14th overall pick Wednesday (Pittsburgh guard Bub Carrington) and a first-round pick in 2029. Brogdon was a second-round pick in 2016.

Brogdon averaged 15.7 points a game for the Blazers last season.

Former Virginia forward Sam Hauser provided some depth off the bench for Boston all season and did exactly that on Monday night. He scored eight points, the most of any Celtic off the bench, and added four rebounds, an assist and a steal in 17 minutes of play.

“It was pretty special,” Hauser told NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin. “To do it on our home floor, in front of our fans with all the banners hanging up, now we get to put our own up. It’s pretty special to do it at home, it’s so surreal right now. It doesn’t even feel like we won almost, it hasn’t sunk in yet.”

Abby Chin caught up exclusively with Sam Hauser in the locker room pic.twitter.com/aw5kyC9dGZ

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) June 18, 2024

Hauser is the sixth former Cavalier to win an NBA title as a player and the first to do it since 2021. Mamadi Diakite (Milwaukee Bucks, 2021), Rick Carlisle (1986, Boston Celtics), Jeff Lamp (1988, Los Angeles Lakers), Marc Iavaroni (1983, Philadelphia 76ers) and Wally Walker (1977, Portland Trail Blazers and 1979, Seattle Sonics) are the others to accomplish the feat.

Hauser’s college career started at Marquette, where he averaged 12.7 points per game across 101 games in three seasons. The Wisconsin native transferred to Virginia in 2019 and sat out for a year before averaging 16 points a game for the Cavaliers in the 2020-2021 season.

𝐍𝐁𝐀 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧

#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/lIxJQNku0T

— Virginia Men's Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) June 18, 2024

After not being selected in the 2021 NBA draft, Hauser signed a two-way deal with the Celtics, splitting time with Boston and its G-League affiliate, the Maine Celtics. In early 2022, his two-way contract was converted to a standard contract. Hauser signed a three-year extension with the Celtics that summer.

Hauser averaged a career-high in minutes and points this year, playing 22 minutes per game and scoring nine points per game, respectively.

Michael Sauls, (757) 803-5774, michael.sauls@virginiamedia.com

Tar Heels center fielder Vance Honeycutt hit a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth inning to bring home Jackson Van De Brake with the winning run in the first game of the 77th CWS.

The loss dropped Virginia to 46-16 heading into Sunday’s 2 p.m. elimination game against Florida State, which lost 12-11 to Tennessee as the top-seeded Volunteers scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth.

The setback to UNC was the latest heartbreaking loss the Cavaliers and their fans have dealt with in recent trips to Omaha. Virginia lost both of its games in last year’s CWS by one run (Florida 6-5 and TCU 4-3).

UVA has also lost four of its past five CWS games by one run; the Cavaliers’ first loss in the 2021 tournament was a 6-5 setback to Mississippi State.

Despite losing on the final play of the game, head coach Brian O’Connor said how the team battled until the end stuck with him despite the Tar Heels’ heroics.

“They just did a little bit more of the little things than we did,” O’Connor said. “I’m really proud of Evan Blanco. I thought he pitched a terrific ballgame. He gave us an opportunity to win. I think we left 10 runners on base.

“We just couldn’t capitalize with runners on second and third, no outs, and got only one run to show for it. We just couldn’t get anything going to have a multiple-run inning.”

The Cavaliers indeed stranded 10 baserunners, including seven in the first four innings. After leaving one runner on base in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, Virginia finally ran out of chances. UNC relievers retired 10 of the last 11 batters they faced. The only player to reach base did so when hit by a pitch.

North Carolina jumped on top in the bottom of the first inning. Left fielder Casey Cook — who was 3 for 4 with a double and a run — laced a one-out single to center field before moving to third on a double by Parks Harber that rolled into the left-field corner.

Right fielder Anthony Donofrio’s groundout to the right side of the infield plated Cook and moved Harber to third base while giving UNC a 1-0 lead.

The early offense helped Carolina quickly forget a rocky top of the first as the Cavaliers had loaded the bases without putting the ball in play.

Tar Heels starter Jason DeCaro hit UVA leadoff batter Griff O’Ferrall with a pitch after getting ahead in the count 0-2. Walks to Casey Saucke and Jacob Ference loaded the bases before DeCaro struck out left fielder Harrison Didawick to end the threat.

The Cavaliers got that run back in the top of the third, but didn’t take complete advantage of the frame by leaving two more runners on base. Designated hitter Ethan Anderson singled to right-center, then advanced to third on a double by Saucke.

First baseman Henry Ford followed by dropping a single into short right field to bring home Anderson and tie the game at 1.

That’s where the score stayed until the top of the sixth inning, when Virginia took the lead. Henry Godbout coaxed a leadoff walk from Tar Heels pitcher Matt Poston before third baseman Eric Becker’s double to left field got Godbout to third base.

Then with one out, O’Ferrall launched a fly ball deep enough to center field that Godbout was able to race home with the go-ahead run.

North Carolina responded in the bottom of the seventh when second baseman Alex Madera scored on a two-out single by Cook after leading off the inning with a first-pitch single down the third-base line.

Both teams went three up, three down in the eighth inning before North Carolina (48-14) came through with its ninth-inning heroics.

O’Ferrall said the Cavaliers are optimistic they can successfully bounce back in Sunday’s elimination game against the Seminoles.

“Not let the moment get too big, not looking games ahead is the biggest thing,” O’Ferrall said. “The only thing we can control is winning the next game. Like Coach said, we need to do the small details that got us here in the first place.”

O’Connor is confident that can happen.

“We have to be better,” O’Connor said. “I know what these kids are made of. They’ve bounced back all year long. I know they’ll be better on Sunday.”

Ethan Anderson, a former standout at Cox High in Virginia Beach, and Harrison Didawick, who starred at Western Branch High in Chesapeake, are two of three UVA players who have started all 58 games this season. Star shortstop Griff O’Ferrell is the other.

UVA (41-15) and Kansas State (35-24) — led by former Virginia Tech coach Pete Hughes — will open the best-of-three series at 7 p.m. Friday. The winner earns a spot in the CWS in Omaha, Nebraska.

Didawick, a sophomore outfielder, has paced the Cavaliers’ most prolific home run surge in program history. He is batting .303 with a team-high 23 home runs and team-leading 67 RBIs. His 23 homers are tied atop UVA’s single-season list with Jake Gelof, who hit 23 long balls last season. The Cavaliers have hit 113 home runs this season.

Anderson had reached base in 28 straight games heading into the NCAA regional, and he’s batting .330 with eight home runs and 40 RBIs.

Luke Hanson, a sophomore out of Lafayette High in Williamsburg, is batting .294 with seven homers and 32 RBIs and has started 35 games in 49 appearances. Hanson had two RBIs in the regional-clinching victory over Mississippi State.

UVA has played in the CWS six times, including last season. The Cavaliers won the national title in 2015, a year after finishing as the runner-up.

Charlottesville Super Regional

Kansas State at UVA

Game 1: Friday, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)

Game 2: Saturday, 3 p.m. (ESPNU)

Game 3 (if necessary): Sunday, 3 p.m. (ESPNU)

The school in Charlottesville will pay $2 million each to the families of the three students who died, the maximum allowable under Virginia law, said Kimberly Wald, an attorney with the Miami-based Haggard Law firm.

Wald represents the estate of D’Sean Perry. The other two students who died were Devin Chandler and Lavel Davis Jr.

The university will pay $3 million total to the two students who were wounded: Mike Hollins, a fourth member of the football team, and Marlee Morgan, who Wald also represents.

The settlement was negotiated outside of court and did not follow the filing of a lawsuit, Wald said. However, every settlement in Virginia must be approved by a judge. The settlement with UVA was accepted by a judge in Albemarle County Circuit Court on Friday afternoon.

The agreements also were approved by Virginia Gov. Glenn Younkin and state Attorney General Jason Miyares, the university said in a statement.

UVA Rector Robert Hardie and President Jim Ryan said in the statement that the three students’ lives “were tragically cut short” and the young men “have been ever present in our minds.”

“We will forever remember the impact that Devin, Lavel, and D’Sean had on our community, and we are grateful for the moments they spent in our presence uplifting UVA through their time in the classroom and on the football field,” the statement said.

Police said Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., a UVA student and former member of the school’s football team, carried out the shooting. It occurred when he and others had returned by charter bus to campus from a field trip to see a play in Washington, authorities said.

The violence that erupted near a parking garage set off panic and a 12-hour lockdown of the campus until the suspect was captured.

Within days of the shooting, university leaders asked for an outside review to investigate UVA’s safety policies and procedures, its response to the violence and its prior efforts to assess the potential threat of the student who was eventually charged. School officials acknowledged he previously had been on the radar of the university’s threat-assessment team.

Murder charges against Jones were upgraded in 2023 from second-degree murder to aggravated murder. His trial is scheduled for January.

“I want to be very clear that had the NIL rules been in place when I was in college, I would not have had an NIL deal,” joked Youngkin, who averaged just 1.4 points game in four years as a basketball player at Rice University.

Youngkin signed into law a bill that grants Virginia colleges unprecedented freedom to administer name, image and likeness benefits to athletes.

House Bill 1505, boasting wide-ranging support from administrators, permits state colleges and universities to create and negotiate NIL deals — and pay athletes — without NCAA restrictions. The measure is believed to be the first of its kind.

“What an exciting moment,” Youngkin said, “to actually take this very important next step and making Virginia the most competitive place, to not just to participate in college athletics, but also the most competitive place for our universities to really take care of our athletes and drive them to the next level.”

The bill’s sponsor, Del. Terry Austin, R-Botetourt, joined Youngkin and coaches and administrators from across the state for the ceremonial signing. Among those in attendance were football coaches Tony Elliott (Virginia), Brent Pry (Virginia Tech) and Dawson Odums (Norfolk State); and Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach.

Rouse was a star athlete at First Colonial High and played football at Virginia Tech before embarking on an NFL career.

“This legislation protects athletes and permits Virginia’s institutions and collectives to create and negotiate NIL opportunities,” Rouse wrote on X. “I’m proud to (have) worked with Delegate Austin to move this ball forward & thank Gov. Youngkin for signing it into law.”

College athletes have cashed in since the NCAA enacted its NIL rules in 2021. Among a few examples across the state: Old Dominion football players have been paid to sign autographs, and UVA basketball players have inked endorsement deals with a store that sells arch supports.

Those and other NIL deals have been directed by a third party.

“This is saying that the institutions can get involved in all of that,” ODU athletic director Wood Selig told The Virginian-Pilot on Thursday. “It’s giving us permission to do all that.”

Added Christopher Newport University AD Kyle McMullin: “The NIL law will give us new flexibility in the future to support our students, but our immediate priority is to direct all available resources to funding the day-to-day commitment to excellence in competition and in the classroom.”

The law takes effect July 1. Among the bill’s provisions: Student fees are not permitted to be used in paying athletes for NIL.

“I am thrilled about the groundbreaking and progressive NIL legislation signed by Governor Youngkin this morning,” NSU athletic director Melody Webb said in a statement. “This legislation not only protects in-state schools and their student-athletes but also paves the way for positive change in collegiate athletics.”

Most colleges — including ODU, NSU, Hampton University and William & Mary — have started collectives to help negotiate NIL deals, and those are expected to stay relevant.

“We’ll continue to work with our collective, which is the Pride of ODU,” Selig said. “We’ll continue to work with our 757 Club, which is membership-based with membership benefits. So we’re going to continue to do business as we have for the last year or so, and then we have to talk to our peer institutions, our fellow institutions in the commonwealth, and kind of get a sense for, where are the advantages?

“Where are there potential pitfalls in this opportunity, and what works best for ODU? What works best for ODU may not be what works best for UVA, or vice versa.”

UVA athletic director Carla Williams echoed those sentiments at virginiasports.com, saying the legislation gives colleges “much-needed flexibility, but we haven’t made any (final) decisions about which provisions within the law we’ll actually activate.”

“We’ll continue to support Cav Futures,” Williams added, referring to the school’s NIL collective, “we’ll continue to discuss our options internally, we’ll monitor the environment, we’ll talk with our coaches, our student-athletes, and we’ll make a decision that’s best for UVA.”

Virginia Tech athletic director Whit Babcock said in a release the school was thankful for Youngkin and the state legislature’s “proactive work in the NIL space.”

“Not only does this position us more competitively among other states during this critical time,” Babcock said, “but it also allows for more school involvement as we continue to enhance our recruiting and retention efforts to bring the most talented student-athletes to Virginia Tech.”

William & Mary athletic director Brian Mann said Thursday the school “is still in the process of thoroughly evaluating how this new legislation impacts our programs. We understand the importance of NIL and are committed to continue to find ways to support our student-athletes and coaches in this space.”

Staff writers David Hall and Marty O’Brien contributed to this story.

Kenny Levari hit an RBI double — ODU’s only extra-base hit of the night — in the first inning, and the Monarchs (19-17) scored two unearned runs in the frame and never trailed.

ODU collected its third win over a ranked opponent this season and avenged two shutout losses against UVA earlier this season. The game was played before an announced crowd of 4,082.

“I was proud of how we competed against a very good UVA team,” ODU coach Chris Finwood said. “We had some big at-bats and pitched really well tonight. The guys came to play and Harbor Park has been a special place for us. What a great crowd and atmosphere for college baseball.”

Edwards had an RBI single in the second inning and a run-scoring groundout in the fourth before Evan Holman’s two-run single put ODU in front 7-1 in the fifth.

UVA (28-9) scored three runs in the ninth on Antonio Perotta’s RBI groundout and RBI singles from Eric Becker and Griff O’Ferrall. Ethan Anderson, a former standout for Cox High in Virginia Beach, drove in an early run with a sacrifice fly in the third, while two other former Hampton Roads players — Western Branch’s Harrison Didawick and Lafayette’s Luke Hanson — also had hits for the Cavaliers.

Starter Brandon Pond (1-2) allowed a run over 2 2/3 innings, and Steven Trone (2 1/3 innings) and Nick Sulpizio (two) provided scoreless innings in relief for ODU.

UVA starter Joe Savino (0-1) took the loss after allowing three runs (one earned) in an inning.