Virginia Championship Recap

Monday, we counted down Streaking the Lawn's Top Plays of 2014.

Yesterday, the Gill-A-Monster & Co. took down a fiery Davidson team to go 12-0.

Today, as a New Year's Eve treat, let's look at all the championships Virginia racked up in 2014.

The ACC Championships:

Women's Swimming and Diving- For the seventh straight year, Augie Busch's team brought home the hardware. The Hoos scored 1,433 points, over 200 more than their next closest competition (UNC). First year Leah Smith (1,650 free), second year Courtney Bartholomew (200 back), first year Laura Simon (200 breast), and second year Becca Corbett (platform diving) all set various records in the championship.

Men's Basketball- Hey, remember when Tony Bennett and the Wahoos won the ACC Championship? It was awesome. After an, umm, catastrophic less than optimal non-conference slate, the calendar flipped to 2014 and Virginia went to work. In regular season play, the Hoos dropped just two games, a heartbreaker to Duke and an OT loss to Maryland. 12 of Virginia's 16 ACC wins came by double-digits, and the Hoos dispatched Florida State (for a third time) and Pitt (for the second time) before taking down Duke 72-63 for Virginia's first ACC Championship title in nearly 40 years. The victory was their second ever ACC title in Cavalier history. Joe Harris won tournament MVP for his efforts.

Men's Tennis- Virginia has set the standard when it comes to tennis in the ACC, winning 121 STRAIGHT conference matches and eight straight ACC Championships. After winning the doubles point over the Tar Heels, Alex Domijan, Ryan Shane, and Thai-Son Kwiatkowski all won their singles matches to give the Hoos the 4-0 victory. The Championship was also Virginia's tenth in eleven years.

Women's Tennis- Unlike their male counterparts, the Women's Tennis team had never won an ACC Championship before 2014. No.3 seeded Virginia defeated No.5 seed Duke, 4-2, behind the doubles point and singles victories from Danielle Collins, Maci Epstein, and Stephanie Nauta. Collins also earned Championship MVP honors, and the win was another big moment in Virginia's record-setting season.

Women's Rowing- The Women's Rowing team swept all four races en route to their fifth consecutive ACC Championship. The Hoos defeated Notre Dame in the Varsity 8, Varsity 4, and Third Varsity 8. The Second Varsity 8 beat Syracuse as they cruised to victory. In total dominating fashion, Virginia has now won 54 of the 60 ACC regatta events.

The National Championships:

Danielle Collins, NCAA Tennis Singles Champion- In a surprise to the field, second year Danielle Collins ran the table to win the NCAA Singles Championship. Collins, a transfer from Florida, went 6-0 in her run, taking down No.43 Veronica Corning (Northwestern), No.18 Annet Schutting (Cal.), No.2 Hayley Carter (UNC), and No.27 Ester Goldfield (Duke) before defeating No.24 Lynn Chi (Cal.) 6-2, 7-5. Ranked No.32 herself, five of her six victories came over higher ranked opponents. She finished 37-10 on the season, second best in Virginia history.

Men's Soccer- Virginia's 21st team National Championship came via a defensive gem in a penalty kick shootout victory. The win was the seventh NCAA title for Men's Soccer, and they were able to accomplish it behind brilliant re-tooling from head coach George Gelnovatch. Many had written the Hoos off as they entered the NCAA tournament with a 10-6-2 record, and certainly none outside of the Charlotesville faithful imagined the Cavaliers could be hoisting the hardware in the fall. Virginia entered the tournament as the No.16 team and defeated UNC Wilmington in Charlottesville before heading on the road to take down No.1 (and then-reigning National Champs) Notre Dame and No.8 Georgetown. In the College Cup, UVA handled UMBC to earn their face-off with No.2 UCLA. The Cavaliers settled in defensively and got phenomenal performances from the Sullivan brothers (Kyler and Sheldon) and Scott Thomsen. Riggs Lennon hit the game winning PK.

Happy New Year to all the Wahoos out there, and we look forward to what 2015 will bring!