Last night, the University of Virginia baseball team defeated the defending champion Vanderbilt Commodores in game three of the College World Series finals. The victory was even sweeter considering that it was only a year ago that the Cavaliers were in Vandy's shoes — losing to 'Dores in the final game of the tournament. It was the first CWS title in program's history for the Cavs and the first for the ACC since 1955 when Wake Forest won it all. Although the team had been riddled with injuries for much of the season, they showed resilience and poise and upset the favored SEC school. It was the perfect way to end a banner year for UVA athletics.
Just last month, UVA's men's tennis team defeated Oklahoma 4-1 to win the national championship. It was their second title in three years, having won over UCLA in 2013. It was another display of dominance for the program that has consistently been one to fear. However, it was not the first national championship that UVA won this year.
Back in December, the men's soccer team took down UCLA in the title game in penalty-kicks to win the program's seventh title. They now rank third all time in men's soccer national title victories behind just Saint Louis (10) and Indiana (8). Just like the baseball team, many counted the Cavs out in the postseason. The team was just the No. 16 seed while the Bruins were seeded second. The Hoos also ousted top-seeded Notre Dame and eighth-seeded Georgetown on their way to the title game. They matched the lowest seed to ever win a soccer championship.
With these three impressive victories, UVA becomes the first school in ACC history to produce three national titles in men's sports in a single year. They continued their dominance in tennis and soccer and made history with the illusive College World Series (CWS) Title. There were many other successful programs that just missed the taste of victory (women's soccer lost in the title game, women's rowing placed fifth), but nothing means more than winning it all, which UVA was able to accomplish three times, the most in school history. With these victories, the Hoos now have 22 national championships, by far the most in the state of Virginia (Old Dominion is second with 10), and with programs only on the rise (think basketball, not football), there should be even more celebrations on the horizon.
Hop on the bandwagon; orange is the new black.
