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Oct. 17, 2005
CHARLOTTESVILLE – University of Virginia Athletics Director Craig Littlepage announced on Monday (Oct. 17) that men’s head tennis coach Brian Boland and head baseball coach Brian O’Connor have agreed to contract extensions. Boland has agreed to a three-year extension until August of 2008 and O’Connor to a two-year extension until July of 2009.
“Brian Boland and Brian O’Connor are outstanding coaches and we’re fortunate to have them as members of a tremendous coaching staff at Virginia,” Littlepage said. “Our coaches have established our athletics program as one that has tremendous growth potential from a national standpoint.
“Coach Boland and Coach O’Connor have been successful in all areas of their programs. They understand our department goals, and their student-athletes have been successful athletically and in the classroom. The success of our men’s tennis and baseball teams has brought national attention to our athletics program, and made these coaches attractive to other top programs around the country. I am happy our mutual commitment is to the sustained success of the Virginia men’s tennis and baseball programs.”
Boland came to Virginia in August of 2001 after serving as men’s head tennis coach at Indiana State University for five years. His four UVa teams have compiled an overall record of 83-27, including a 51-7 record the last two seasons. The Cavaliers have won the last two Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament Championships and compiled a 9-0 regular-season conference record in 2005. The ACC Championships are the first for the UVa men’s tennis program.
Boland was named the ACC Coach of the Year and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Mideast Region Coach of the Year last spring. He has been a finalist for ITA National Coach of the Year the last two years.
The 2005 Virginia team compiled an overall record of 27-3, had a school-record 16-match winning streak, hosted an NCAA Regional for the second consecutive season, reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament and the finals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship. Virginia was ranked a program-high second in the nation for more than half the season and finished the season ranked fifth. UVa’s 27 victories in 2005 are a program record. In 2004, the Cavaliers were 24-4 and reached the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament.
“Since my arrival four years ago, the men’s tennis program has made tremendous strides toward meeting the University’s commitment to having one of the elite programs in college tennis,” Boland said. “The athletics department is committed to the University representing the best in collegiate athletics. I am grateful to Craig Littlepage, Jon Oliver and Jane Miller of the athletics department for their support of the student-athletes and me. My family and I could not imagine a better place to call home and we look forward to the future.”
O’Connor came to Virginia in July of 2003 after being a member of the University of Notre Dame baseball coaching staff for nine years. His two UVa teams have compiled an overall record of 85-35. For the first time in program history, the Virginia baseball team won more than 40 games and participated in the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons.
O’Connor was named the ACC Coach of the Year and the Atlantic Region Coach of the Year in 2004 after Virginia compiled an overall record of 44-15. The 44 victories tied the school record for wins in a season. The Cavaliers finished second in the ACC during the regular season with an 18-6 conference record and hosted the first NCAA Regional Baseball Tournament in the state of Virginia. UVa established a school record with the 18 conference victories and the Cavaliers were ranked as high as seventh in the nation during the season.
Virginia had a 41-20 record under O’Connor’s guidance in 2005 and reached the championship game of the ACC Baseball Tournament before competing in the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season.
“The University of Virginia is a special place and I am grateful for the opportunity to continue to lead the Cavalier baseball program into the future,” O’Connor said. “I am proud of the program’s accomplishments in the two years our coaching staff has been at UVa. We have been fortunate to coach a group of quality young men who have represented the University the right way.”