Andrew Abbott, Zack Gelof and Kyle Teel were each recognized as All-ACC performers on Monday after a vote of the league’s head coaches.
Abbott, a two-time ACC Player of the Week, was listed on the first team, while Gelof was included on the second team. Teel earned a third team nod and was an All-Freshman team honoree.
Virginia has placed a student-athlete on the first team all but one season in head coach Brian O’Connor’s tenure. With Teel a member of the All-Freshman team, UVA has had a first year on the squad each of the last four years a team has been selected.
Abbott is the first UVA pitcher to land on the first team since 2016 (Connor Jones). He finished the regular season as the ACC leader in strikeouts (126) and was tied for the league lead in wins (7). The lefthander pitched to a 2.87 ERA over 13 starts. He tossed 7.1 innings and struck out a career-high 16 batters in a combined no-hitter against Wake Forest on May 14. The 16 strikeouts were the most by an ACC pitcher in 2021. He fanned 10 or more batters in a game five times including four times in his last five starts.
Gelof has started all 49 games for UVA, 46 of them at third base. He leads the team with 14 doubles, tied for ninth most in the ACC. The third year rode a team-best this year, 14-game hit streak from April 3 to April 30. Since moving to the leadoff spot on April 1 has hit in 22 of 25 games. He’s batting .342 (39-for-114) with nine doubles, four home runs and 19 RBI batting first for Virginia. For the season, Gelof is batting .294 with six homers and 31 RBI.
Teel makes the third team as a designated hitter, where he spent the majority of his time this season. He’s the first Cavalier DH on an All-ACC team since 2002. The first year led Cavaliers with a .311 batting average, seven home runs, a .497 slugging percentage and a .406 on-base percentage. In addition, he was a member of the 12-member All-Freshman team.
The Cavaliers will begin play at the ACC Tournament in Charlotte on Tuesday against Virginia Tech at 3 p.m.
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Chris Graham
