I've wanted to do a wrap up of UVa sports in years past. However, I couldn't think of a way to do it that would keep the length under control since there are a lot of teams. I think this might work, though. I'm sticking to a strict two-sentence-per-team limit. This will cap how much I could write on certain sports -- namely, football and men's basketball, which is how this post could get a little long -- while also not making me feel like I need to write more for more minor sports just to do it. Because to be honest, I don't know a lot about some of the sports. It's no secret I focus on football and men's basketball with some baseball thrown in in May and June, maybe April. And I'll occasionally let you know what's going on in some of the other sports, but I'm not consistent. So the first sentence for each sport will look back to 2016-17, and the second sentence will look forward to 2017-18, which is just around the corner, really, for fall sports. So here we go, in alphabetical order by sport:
Baseball: One of the better hitting teams of the Brian O'Connor era went into the postseason with 41 wins, but further success was hindered by injuries to the pitching staff as the Cavaliers went just a combined 2-3 in the ACC and NCAA tournaments. Next year, the team is going to need to retool after losing pitchers Derek Casey, Tommy Doyle, Alec Bettinger -- and Noah Murdock to offseason Tommy John surgery -- and offensive stalwarts Pavin Smith and Adam Haseley (who also pitched).
Basketball (men's): A handful of close losses and a stagnant offense near the end of the season held back what could have been another top-four ACC finish and run to the Sweet 16, but the Cavaliers still fared pretty well considering the sudden departure after two games of Austin Nichols, who was supposed to be a fixture on both ends of the floor. With no returning scorers who averaged in double digits, a few transfers, and no London Perrantes, the team will have a new look with possibly a different offense and certainly, a modified cast of characters who will need to step up in order for the 'Hoos to have success.
Basketball (women's): Led by senior Breyana Mason and a host of young players, sixth-year coach Joanne Boyle experienced her best season since her inaugural campaign in Charlottesville as the team finished 20-13 (many thought the team was snubbed by the NCAA tournament selection committee). The future is looking brighter than it has been, but still, Boyle must make an NCAA tournament eventually, or you would expect her to be looking for work.
Cross country: The men finished 18th at the NCAA championships (second in their regional) last fall while the women were sixth at the Southeast Regional. It was the men's best finish since 2013 when they were 13th, and there's no reason to believe the perennially strong program will experience much of a dip this coming season -- they've been to the NCAA level five years in a row.
Field hockey: Virginia won the ACC title and made it to the NCAA tournament quarterfinals, losing 3-2 to Princeton. Tara Vittese -- sister of U.S. national team player and UVa alumna Michelle -- is still on the team, and she repeated as national player of the year, so that's probably a solid sign the team should be quite good again.
Football: Except for a small two-game winning streak after an 0-3 start, UVa never really recovered in its first year under coach Bronco Mendenhall and finished a pretty much disastrous campaign 2-10. A presumably healthy QB Kurt Benkert, who will have some weapons to work with -- plus the return of Quin Blanding, Micah Kiser, and Andrew Brown on defense -- has at least provided a glimmer of hope that the team can take a step in the right direction during the 2017 season, but the thin offensive line remains a big concern.
Golf (men's): Led by senior Jimmy Stanger's 11th-place individual finish, the Cavaliers finished a program-best 10th at the NCAA championships in Sugar Grove, Ill. This coming season, the team will no longer have Stanger or Derek Bard, but it seems as if the men are perennially competitive under coach Bowen Sargent, who is entering his 14th season.
Golf (women): UVa was unable to follow up successfully after an ACC title and fifth-place showing at the NCAAs in 2016 as the team failed to qualify for an NCAA regional and finished just eighth at the ACC championships. As far as I can tell, the team should bounce back in 2017-18 as it loses only one senior, Lauren Diaz-Yi, and the team had previously qualified for an NCAA regional in every year of coach Kim Lewellen's nine-season tenure in Charlottesville before this past spring.
Lacrosse (men's): The 'Hoos got off to a nice 3-0 start under first-year coach Lars Tiffany, but things quickly went downhill after that, as the team went just 8-7, 0-4 in the ACC, and lost four matches by one goal each. The second season in an aggressive offensive system should help, but the team needs to locate a defense and win come clutch time if it wants to compete for an ACC title again.
Lacrosse (women's): The team went 12-9, losing in the ACC tournament semifinals to Louisville and then in the NCAA tournament second round to North Carolina. By my count, UVa will lose just three of their top eight scorers, including leading scorer Kelly Reese, but the Cavaliers will probably have a chance to have another solid season.
Rowing: The Wahoos experienced a relatively down season for them, finishing 11th at the NCAA championships -- their lowest placement in 20 appearances in the event -- but did add an eighth straight ACC crown to their trophy collection. The squad loses nine seniors -- I'll admit, I have no idea if that is a good number or bad number -- but coach Kevin Sauer has built a powerhouse, and I'm sure more success is sure to follow the team this coming season.
Soccer (men's): UVa finished 11-4-5 and lost 1-0 in double overtime to Stanford in the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament. Seven Virginia players earned All-ACC recognition last season, and they are all back, so that should bode well for the Cavaliers' 2017 campaign.
Soccer (women's): Virginia went 15-5-2 and lost 3-0 to Georgetown in the NCAA tournament's round of 16. Four of the nine players who recorded at least six points are gone, including ACC player of the year Alexis Shaffer, but coach Steve Swanson has built the program into one of the best in the country, and the 'Hoos will probably reload and have a solid season.
Softball: Perennially one of the worst programs at U.Va., the team finished 22-32 overall and 9-15 in the ACC in coach Joann Hardin's first year and made the ACC tournament for the first time since 2013. UVa won eight of its final 10 regular-season games and seems to be a program on the rise under Hardin, who was a successful coach in two seasons at McNeese State -- the team returns its top pitcher (Erika Osherow) and Danni Ingraham, who led the team with 34 RBIs and 10 home runs.
Swimming and diving: The women finished second at the ACC championships, and the men finished sixth. The women ended up 12th at the NCAA championships while the men did not appear as a team. The program will be going through a transition as coach Augie Busch, who was with the Cavaliers for four seasons, left to take the top job at his alma mater, Arizona.
Tennis (men's): The Cavaliers capped off another incredible year by winning their third consecutive national championship and fourth in five years by beating North Carolina. As I've mentioned before, coach Brian Boland has left for a prestigious USTA opportunity, so former assistant Andres Pedroso will look to keep the dynasty moving forward.
Tennis (women's): The ladies finished just 11-13, failing to successfully follow up the 2016 season in which they made it to the NCAA quarterfinals. Like the men, they'll have a new coach after Mark Guilbeau resigned and Sara O'Leary, a former NCAA doubles champion at UNC who was the coach at Davidson, was brought on to lead the program.
Track and field: On the last day of the ACC championships, the men were edged by Virginia Tech after a controversial replay, with points getting taken away from Cavaliers triple jumper Jordan Scott on a protest by the Hokies coach. Tech won the conference title by one point. At the NCAA championships, though, UVa enjoyed its best finish in program history, third, behind only Florida and Texas A&M, and shot putter Filip Mihalevic won his second consecutive national championship. The women finished eighth at the ACC championships and one participant at the NCAA championships, with Christine Bohan finishing 11th in the shot put. (OK, that was longer than two sentences, but I just wanted to get both teams in, and I admittedly know little about the the coming season for either team.)
Volleyball: The team finished 7-25, 4-16 in the ACC, and coach Dennis Hohenshelt resigned after his fifth season. Associate head coach Aaron Smith, who was the interim coach during the search for a permanent replacement, ended up getting the full-time job.
Wrestling: The team was fourth at the ACC championships but 15th at the NCAA championships, tying for the best finish under coach Steve Garland (2010); also, George DeCamillo finished runner-up at 141 pounds, tied for the best finish for an individual in Virginia history. This team is one of the more consistent squads at UVa, pretty much always in the mix for an ACC title under Garland, who is entering his 12th season at his alma mater.
Bonus - squash: Yes, the University has started varsity (meaning NCAA) squash teams for both men and women. The announcement was made in June. Look it up if you don't believe me. No prognostications from me on how those squads will do, though. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between racquetball and squash, which I think are similar sports.
Baseball: One of the better hitting teams of the Brian O'Connor era went into the postseason with 41 wins, but further success was hindered by injuries to the pitching staff as the Cavaliers went just a combined 2-3 in the ACC and NCAA tournaments. Next year, the team is going to need to retool after losing pitchers Derek Casey, Tommy Doyle, Alec Bettinger -- and Noah Murdock to offseason Tommy John surgery -- and offensive stalwarts Pavin Smith and Adam Haseley (who also pitched).
Basketball (men's): A handful of close losses and a stagnant offense near the end of the season held back what could have been another top-four ACC finish and run to the Sweet 16, but the Cavaliers still fared pretty well considering the sudden departure after two games of Austin Nichols, who was supposed to be a fixture on both ends of the floor. With no returning scorers who averaged in double digits, a few transfers, and no London Perrantes, the team will have a new look with possibly a different offense and certainly, a modified cast of characters who will need to step up in order for the 'Hoos to have success.
Basketball (women's): Led by senior Breyana Mason and a host of young players, sixth-year coach Joanne Boyle experienced her best season since her inaugural campaign in Charlottesville as the team finished 20-13 (many thought the team was snubbed by the NCAA tournament selection committee). The future is looking brighter than it has been, but still, Boyle must make an NCAA tournament eventually, or you would expect her to be looking for work.
Cross country: The men finished 18th at the NCAA championships (second in their regional) last fall while the women were sixth at the Southeast Regional. It was the men's best finish since 2013 when they were 13th, and there's no reason to believe the perennially strong program will experience much of a dip this coming season -- they've been to the NCAA level five years in a row.
Field hockey: Virginia won the ACC title and made it to the NCAA tournament quarterfinals, losing 3-2 to Princeton. Tara Vittese -- sister of U.S. national team player and UVa alumna Michelle -- is still on the team, and she repeated as national player of the year, so that's probably a solid sign the team should be quite good again.
Football: Except for a small two-game winning streak after an 0-3 start, UVa never really recovered in its first year under coach Bronco Mendenhall and finished a pretty much disastrous campaign 2-10. A presumably healthy QB Kurt Benkert, who will have some weapons to work with -- plus the return of Quin Blanding, Micah Kiser, and Andrew Brown on defense -- has at least provided a glimmer of hope that the team can take a step in the right direction during the 2017 season, but the thin offensive line remains a big concern.
Golf (men's): Led by senior Jimmy Stanger's 11th-place individual finish, the Cavaliers finished a program-best 10th at the NCAA championships in Sugar Grove, Ill. This coming season, the team will no longer have Stanger or Derek Bard, but it seems as if the men are perennially competitive under coach Bowen Sargent, who is entering his 14th season.
Golf (women): UVa was unable to follow up successfully after an ACC title and fifth-place showing at the NCAAs in 2016 as the team failed to qualify for an NCAA regional and finished just eighth at the ACC championships. As far as I can tell, the team should bounce back in 2017-18 as it loses only one senior, Lauren Diaz-Yi, and the team had previously qualified for an NCAA regional in every year of coach Kim Lewellen's nine-season tenure in Charlottesville before this past spring.
Lacrosse (men's): The 'Hoos got off to a nice 3-0 start under first-year coach Lars Tiffany, but things quickly went downhill after that, as the team went just 8-7, 0-4 in the ACC, and lost four matches by one goal each. The second season in an aggressive offensive system should help, but the team needs to locate a defense and win come clutch time if it wants to compete for an ACC title again.
Lacrosse (women's): The team went 12-9, losing in the ACC tournament semifinals to Louisville and then in the NCAA tournament second round to North Carolina. By my count, UVa will lose just three of their top eight scorers, including leading scorer Kelly Reese, but the Cavaliers will probably have a chance to have another solid season.
Rowing: The Wahoos experienced a relatively down season for them, finishing 11th at the NCAA championships -- their lowest placement in 20 appearances in the event -- but did add an eighth straight ACC crown to their trophy collection. The squad loses nine seniors -- I'll admit, I have no idea if that is a good number or bad number -- but coach Kevin Sauer has built a powerhouse, and I'm sure more success is sure to follow the team this coming season.
Soccer (men's): UVa finished 11-4-5 and lost 1-0 in double overtime to Stanford in the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament. Seven Virginia players earned All-ACC recognition last season, and they are all back, so that should bode well for the Cavaliers' 2017 campaign.
Soccer (women's): Virginia went 15-5-2 and lost 3-0 to Georgetown in the NCAA tournament's round of 16. Four of the nine players who recorded at least six points are gone, including ACC player of the year Alexis Shaffer, but coach Steve Swanson has built the program into one of the best in the country, and the 'Hoos will probably reload and have a solid season.
Softball: Perennially one of the worst programs at U.Va., the team finished 22-32 overall and 9-15 in the ACC in coach Joann Hardin's first year and made the ACC tournament for the first time since 2013. UVa won eight of its final 10 regular-season games and seems to be a program on the rise under Hardin, who was a successful coach in two seasons at McNeese State -- the team returns its top pitcher (Erika Osherow) and Danni Ingraham, who led the team with 34 RBIs and 10 home runs.
Swimming and diving: The women finished second at the ACC championships, and the men finished sixth. The women ended up 12th at the NCAA championships while the men did not appear as a team. The program will be going through a transition as coach Augie Busch, who was with the Cavaliers for four seasons, left to take the top job at his alma mater, Arizona.
Tennis (men's): The Cavaliers capped off another incredible year by winning their third consecutive national championship and fourth in five years by beating North Carolina. As I've mentioned before, coach Brian Boland has left for a prestigious USTA opportunity, so former assistant Andres Pedroso will look to keep the dynasty moving forward.
Tennis (women's): The ladies finished just 11-13, failing to successfully follow up the 2016 season in which they made it to the NCAA quarterfinals. Like the men, they'll have a new coach after Mark Guilbeau resigned and Sara O'Leary, a former NCAA doubles champion at UNC who was the coach at Davidson, was brought on to lead the program.
Track and field: On the last day of the ACC championships, the men were edged by Virginia Tech after a controversial replay, with points getting taken away from Cavaliers triple jumper Jordan Scott on a protest by the Hokies coach. Tech won the conference title by one point. At the NCAA championships, though, UVa enjoyed its best finish in program history, third, behind only Florida and Texas A&M, and shot putter Filip Mihalevic won his second consecutive national championship. The women finished eighth at the ACC championships and one participant at the NCAA championships, with Christine Bohan finishing 11th in the shot put. (OK, that was longer than two sentences, but I just wanted to get both teams in, and I admittedly know little about the the coming season for either team.)
Volleyball: The team finished 7-25, 4-16 in the ACC, and coach Dennis Hohenshelt resigned after his fifth season. Associate head coach Aaron Smith, who was the interim coach during the search for a permanent replacement, ended up getting the full-time job.
Wrestling: The team was fourth at the ACC championships but 15th at the NCAA championships, tying for the best finish under coach Steve Garland (2010); also, George DeCamillo finished runner-up at 141 pounds, tied for the best finish for an individual in Virginia history. This team is one of the more consistent squads at UVa, pretty much always in the mix for an ACC title under Garland, who is entering his 12th season at his alma mater.
Bonus - squash: Yes, the University has started varsity (meaning NCAA) squash teams for both men and women. The announcement was made in June. Look it up if you don't believe me. No prognostications from me on how those squads will do, though. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between racquetball and squash, which I think are similar sports.
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