Cavalier Corner is the publication just for UVa sports fans!
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AUGUST 2019 15 ings with 88 points followed by Texas Tech with 79 points, Maryland with 75 points and Vanderbilt with 70 points. UVA captured a pair of outright ACC championships — men's lacrosse (18th overall and first since 2010) and rowing (10th consecutive and 19th in 20 years) — in 2018-19. Virginia's 81 league titles since the spring of 2002 are the most of any ACC school during that time. In addition to the pair of NCAA cham- pionships, 21 other UVA teams — or programs with individuals representing their teams — appeared in postseason competition. The following is an overview of some of UVA's top teams, breakout athletes and best rookies. In addition, UVA's Athlete of the Year winners Kyle Guy and Bridget Guy, no relation, are featured on pages 18-19 and 20-21 with a look at some additional nota- ble performances by UVA student-athletes. TOP MEN'S TEAMS Basketball — The Cavaliers set a school record for victories with a 35-3 ledger, earned a share of its ninth ACC regular- season title and captured the first NCAA championship in program history. Along the way to the national crown, UVA mounted several dramatic comeback wins in the NCAA Tournament. The Cava- liers rallied from a 14-point deficit against Gardner-Webb in the first round, tied their Elite Eight contest versus Purdue at the buzzer before winning 80-75 in overtime, and beat Auburn 63-62 in the national semifinals on third-year guard Kyle Guy's three free throws with 0.6 seconds left in regulation. In addition, UVA trailed Texas Tech 68-65 with 22 seconds remaining in the title tilt, but rallied to send the game to overtime before emerging with an 85-77 victory. Lacrosse — The Wahoos won their sixth NCAA title and first since 2011. UVA also captured its first ACC championship since 2010 and tied a program record with 17 victories, which was last achieved in 2006. Virginia was one of two schools in the nation to have a top-20 offense and defense, broke single-season records for goals (282) and points (454), and led the country for the third year in a row in ground balls (831). Tennis — The Wahoos compiled a 24-5 record, were the No. 5 overall seed in the NCAA Championship and made their 14th appearance in the Elite Eight in the last 15 seasons. UVA also went 10-2 in ACC play and fin- ished runner-up to Wake Forest after drop- ping a tight and hard-fought title match in the league tournament, and swept the ACC awards — top player (Carl Söderlund), top rookie (Brandon Nakashima) and top coach (Andres Pedroso). TOP WOMEN'S TEAMS Lacrosse — Virginia opened the season 5-0 for the second consecutive year and finished with a 13-7 record. That marked the most victories for the program since 2010, and eight of the wins came against ranked opposition. The No. 6-seeded Wahoos posted a 15-12 triumph over Navy to advance the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time 2014. Soccer — The Cavaliers notched a 16-5-1 record, achieved a third-place finish in the ACC regular-season standings and advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Championship for the 14th straight year, the longest active streak in the nation. The Cavs made their 25th consecutive ap- pearance in the NCAA Tournament — the second longest active streak in the country — and their 31st NCAA Tournament ap- pearance all time, the second most of any women's soccer program. Swimming & Diving — UVA capped another strong season by posting the third- best finish at the NCAA Championships in program history. The Cavaliers placed sixth at the national meet, earning 16 All-Amer- ica honors with 12 coming from individual performances. They also finished as the ACC runner-up at the 2019 conference championships. The Hoos captured three event titles and 33 All- ACC honors during the league meet. BREAKOUT MALE ATHLETES De'Andre Hunter, basketball — The redshirt second-year forward earned con- sensus third-team All-America honors and was the NABC National Defensive Player of the Year, plus he was tabbed first-team All-ACC and the ACC Defensive Player of the Year. He averaged 15.2 points and 5.1 re- bounds, while shooting 52.0 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from three-point range. He racked up 10 20-point games, including a career-high 27 points against Texas Tech in the NCAA championship game. In that title game win over the Red Raid- ers, he delivered the game-tying three- pointer with 14 seconds to go, and then drained the go-ahead three in overtime. Bryce Perkins, football — The redshirt third-year set a UVA single-season record with 3,603 yards of total offense in 2018, which ranked No. 3 in the ACC and No. 21 in the nation. He and Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray (Oklahoma) are the only Football Bowl Subdivision players since 2000 to complete 64-plus percent of their passes, while throwing for 2,000-plus yards, rushing for 900-plus yards and be- ing responsible for 30-plus touchdowns in a season. Perkins was No. 1 in the ACC and No. 13 in the nation with 206 points responsible for. Jordan Scott, track & field — The third-year capped an outstanding campaign by being named the ACC Outdoor Field Performer of the Year following his second- place finish in the triple jump at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. His leap of 55 feet, 9.75 inches at the national meet marked the fourth time this season he eclipsed 55-7 in the event. He was one of two NCAA athletes to reach 55-7 in the triple jump this season and was the only athlete to do so on more than one occasion. The Portmore, Jamaica, native also cap- tured the ACC outdoor title in the triple jump. In addition, he won the ACC title in the long jump and set a UVA record with a mark of 25-8.25. His two conference titles earned him recognition as the ACC Field MVP. Scott was also named the 2019 ACC In- door Field Performer of the Year after be- coming the first male competitor from the conference to win the indoor national title in the triple jump. YEAR IN REVIEW Third-year Jordan Scott was named both the indoor and outdoor ACC Field Performer of the year, and won the triple jump indoor national title and placed second in the country in the event during the outdoor season. PHOTO BY JIM DAVES/COURTESY UVA