Wahoo Wanderings: Women's swimming takes home first NCAA championship

On the same day the men's basketball team's season came to an end in the NCAA tournament, the Virginia athletics program recorded its 28th team NCAA championship.

The women's swimming and diving squad, led by fourth-year coach Todd DeSorbo, captured its first NCAA crown March 20 in Greensboro, N.C., flooding the competition with 491 points. N.C. State was second, well behind with 354 points. Before coming to UVa, DeSorbo was associate head coach with the Wolfpack for six seasons. Texas finished third with 344.5 points.

Photo credit: Virginia Sports TV video screen shot

Virginia is only the ninth school to win a women's swimming and diving championship and the first to do it out of the ACC.

UVa snagged gold in five individual events and one relay. Paige Madden was the Cavaliers' star, winning three individual freestyle titles en route to being named most valuable swimmer: the 200-, 500-, and 1,650-yard events. Kate Douglass took the crown in the 50-yard freestyle, and Alex Walsh won the 200-yard individual medley. Virginia also won the 800-yard freestyle relay with a team consisting of Madden, Walsh, Ella Nelson, and Kyla Valls.

The women had been on a championship trajectory for several years, even before DeSorbo arrived for the 2017-18 season. The year before he arrived, they finished second at the ACC championships. In his first year, they won the conference and placed ninth at NCAAs. In 2019, they won another ACC title and placed sixth at the NCAAs. Last season, the Cavaliers won yet another league crown and were expected to compete for the NCAA championship before the pandemic ended up causing the event's cancellation.

Before DeSorbo came aboard, Augie Busch, now the coach at Arizona, led the UVa swimming program for four seasons. Under his guidance, the women won three ACC titles and had two fifth-place finishes at the NCAA championships.

From 1978-2013, Mark Bernardino coached the Virginia swimmers, and they experienced a lot of ACC success, but could never find their way to an NCAA title. Under Bernardino, the men won 16 conference championships, and the women got 11. In a strange twist of fate, Bernardino is now associate head coach at ... yep ... N.C. State.

Meanwhile, the men's team was unable to top its second-place ACC finish of last season, taking fourth this time. But the men did well at the NCAA championships, placing ninth, their best showing since finishing eighth in 2011.

DeSorbo signed a five-year contract extension last week.

Baseball: Unfortunately, the Cavaliers have had a hard time matching the standard they set during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, when they finished 14-4 and 2-1 in the ACC. This year's Wahoos are just 17-18 and 9-15 in the conference.

Virginia has not made the NCAA tournament since 2017, but early in 2020, it looked like it had a good chance to make it back. That momentum has not continued this season, and as it stands right now, the Cavaliers have an uphill climb to earn a berth, but they do have a shot.

Things were looking up as of a few weeks ago. Virginia had not won any ACC series through March 28, but then the 'Hoos took two of three games from Georgia Tech and Clemson in back-to-back weekend road series.

But that momentum has slowed down a bit over the past several days. After a thrilling 8-7 win over No. 7 Louisville in 10 innings last Friday night in Charlottesville, the Cardinals battled back for the series victory with wins Saturday (9-5) and Sunday (8-2). On Saturday, Virginia led 3-2 through four innings, but Louisville scored the next seven runs to put the game away. Then on Tuesday, UVa traveled to VCU and lost, 5-3.

Photo: Mike Vasil has been a bright spot for the 'Hoos, sporting a 3.58 ERA and 5-3 record. (UVa Baseball Twitter)

Hitting has been the main issue. Virginia ranks 13th out of 14 ACC teams in batting average, RBIs, and walks, and last in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and home runs. Sheesh. Curiously, UVa has the fourth-fewest strikeouts, suggesting batters are making contact even if it is ineffective. The pitching has been good enough to make the postseason: The Cavaliers are third in ERA. 

The good news is Virginia does have some winnable series coming up. Starting today at 4 p.m. (you can watch online on ACC Network Extra), the Wahoos host Duke, the only team below Virginia in the Coastal Division. The Blue Devils are 18-17 overall and 8-14 in the league. On May 14-16, UVa faces Wake Forest at home. The Demon Deacons are 13-17 overall and 6-14. Virginia closes out the regular season by traveling to Boston College on May 20-22. The Eagles are at the bottom of the Atlantic Division at 15-19 and 5-16.

If the 'Hoos hope to make a run at an NCAA tournament berth, it is highly advisable they win all of those ACC series and maybe even sweep a couple, because not every conference series left is against a cellar-dweller. Following this weekend's series, Virginia goes to Blacksburg to face Virginia Tech on April 30-May 2. The Hokies are formidable this year, leading the Coastal at 21-12 and 15-9.

UVa also has two more games left against quality midweek competition in rematches with Liberty (April 27) and VCU (May 4). Like the Rams, the Flames beat the Wahoos in their first meeting, 10-2 in Lynchburg.

So UVa has an opportunity to really stack up some wins as the regular season comes to a close, and any victories over the Hokies would look good on the resume. On the other hand, anything less than at least winning those series against Duke, Wake, and BC will surely leave Virginia needing to make a surprising run in the ACC tournament -- scheduled for May 25-30 in Charlotte -- if it hopes to make a last-gasp attempt at getting to the big tournament.

Men's lacrosse: Like the men's basketball team was during its 2020-21 campaign, the men's lacrosse squad is still the defending national champion since the NCAA tournament was not held in 2020; Virginia was 4-2 when the rest of the season was canceled. UVa won the 2019 championship with a 13-9 victory over Yale. These Wahoos are aiming for another postseason run as the regular season comes to a close.

Virginia is ranked No. 5 in the Inside Lacrosse Top 25 and is 10-3 overall, 2-3 in the ACC. UVa lost its first ACC contest to Syracuse, 20-10, and then showed improvement but fell to North Carolina, 16-13. The Cavaliers defeated Notre Dame, 12-11, for their first conference victory and then knocked off UNC in a rematch, 18-16. Most recently in conference play, UVa was edged by nemesis Duke, 13-12 in overtime, as the Blue Devils just barely denied the 'Hoos their first regular-season victory in the series since 2004.

All of the conference's squads are highly ranked, with Notre Dame No. 2, Duke No. 3, North Carolina No. 4, and Syracuse No. 11.

On Saturday, Virginia looks for more intraconference revenge as it hosts Syracuse at noon in a game that will be televised on ESPN2. There is no ACC tournament this year. After Saturday, the 'Hoos will be on a long layoff until the NCAA tournament begins May 15.

Men's tennis: The No. 6-ranked Cavaliers are back on top of the ACC -- in the regular season at least -- for the first time since 2016. Virginia finished the regular season at 18-2 and 12-0 in the league after defeating Louisville 4-1 last weekend. It was the Wahoos' 14th regular-season conference championship and 11th perfect season in the ACC.

The program that won NCAA titles in 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2017 has rounded back into form after hitting a rough patch in 2018, when it finished 14-13 and bowed out in the second round of the NCAA tournament. In 2019, UVa went 24-5 and made it back to the NCAA quarterfinals, where it lost to Wake Forest. Before the plug was pulled on the 2020 campaign, Virginia was 11-4.

UVa begins its quest for an ACC tournament title today when it faces Georgia Tech in the quarterfinals at 2:30 p.m. in Rome, Ga.

Women's lacrosse: No. 12 Virginia is 8-6 overall and 3-6 in the conference. The Cavaliers host Virginia Tech on Saturday at 5 p.m. before beginning play in the conference tournament next week.

Women's tennis: No. 13 Virginia is 13-5 overall and 9-4 in the league as it begins play in the ACC tournament this morning at 9:30 in the quarterfinals versus Duke in Rome, Ga.

Men's golf: The Wahoos are ranked No. 31 nationally as they begin play this morning in the ACC championships at Crabapple Golf Club in Alpharetta, Ga.

Women's golf: The ladies are ranked No. 11 and fell to No. 2 Duke in the match play semifinals of the ACC championships last weekend at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro. The 'Hoos face Virginia Tech at Boonsboro Country Club in Lynchburg on May 3 before learning where they'll be heading for an NCAA regional. The national event begins May 10.