Dribbles and bits: Richmond's Wann Japan bound; Virginia nabs a recruit; Liberty releases schedule, etc.

One of our faves, Becca Wann, who does double time at Richmond as a basketball and soccer player, will miss a month of the Spiders season as she will play in the 2012 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Japan (Aug. 19 until Sept. 8). Last year's A-10 Player of the Year and an All-American, Wann will return in time for conference play; the Spiders are picked to finish second in the league behind Dayton. Wann has scored 25 goals in her first two seasons with Richmond.

Hand it to Liberty coach Carey Green for getting his kids back home to play, but gee, coach, could we fit in a game with maybe Texas State? Nope, Green has the Lady Flames slated to play the last two national champions -- Texas A&M on Nov. 20 followed by Baylor three days later. With four Texas natives on the roster -- Reagan Miller, Tolu Omotola, Emily Frazier and Sadalia Ellis -- we applaud Green for allowing his kids to play in their home state. But what daunting opponents as Liberty found out in 2010 when the Lady Flames played the same two teams, falling to A&M 81-49 and then Baylor 81-42.

Other highlights from the recently released Liberty sked: the season opener in the preseason WNIT against Duquesne; a Dec. 4 date at WNIT finalist James Madison; a Dec. 20 matchup against VCU; and a Jan. 26 meeting with Longwood -- the first time the teams will meet as Big South foes. Speaking of conference play, it begins as early as it ever has for Liberty when the Lady Flames travel to Radford on Dec. 1.

No longer on the JMU roster: Briana Jones has transferred to Georgia Southern. The 6-2 forward from Powder Springs, Ga., did not log any minutes last year for the Dukes. Also gone, guards Tanica Anderson and Debbie Smith. Smith is at North Carolina A&T.

Virginia has received a verbal commitment from 6-1 Amanda Fioravanti, a rising senior forward from Maryland's Good Counsel High School. Fiorvanti's high school teammate Faith Randolph will be a freshman for the Cavaliers this year.

Janine Aldridge

Love the creativity of the W&M sports info department, which has started a series of videos catching up with student-athletes. The first subject is a dandy one: Janine Aldridge. What living person would she like to spend 15 minutes with? Tune in and find out.

Former Virginia Tech standout Amy Wetzel Doolan will be inducted into the school's Hall of Fame on Sept. 7. The A-10 Defensive Player of the Year as a junior, Doolan remains the Hokies all-time leader in games played (129) and free throws made (489), while being the fifth all-time leading scorer with 1,444 points. She is currently the team's head physician.

Hungry for VCU news? Check back later this week as we're chatting with new coach Marlene Stollings!