Daisye Rainer

The Cavaliers closed out their 2017-18 season by reaching the NCAA Tournament — the team’s first appearance since 2010 — falling to No. 2-seeded South Carolina in the second round. This season, the team returns with a largely new coaching staff after the University named Tina Thompson, the first player drafted in WNBA history, as head coach. As they prepare for this season, the team has experienced changes on many levels after four vital seniors graduated and three new coaches joined the program.

The Cavaliers closed out their 2017-18 season by reaching the — the team’s first appearance since 2010 — to No. 2-seeded South Carolina in the second round. This season, the team returns with a largely new coaching staff after the University Tina Thompson, the first player drafted in WNBA history, as head coach. As they prepare for this season, the team has experienced changes on many levels after four vital seniors graduated and three new coaches joined the program.

This past August, the Charlottesville-Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau, which promotes tourism and markets Charlottesville as a destination, launched its “Joined in Strength” campaign as an attempt to unite the City of Charlottesville in response to the anniversary of the white supremacist rallies of August 2017. Since last August’s events, members of University and Charlottesville community have tried to initiate healing through demonstrations like counter-protests and candlelit vigils.