Virginia Keeps Adding National Championships

With repeat titles for both the men’s tennis and women’s swimming and diving teams this year, Virginia continues to add to its National Championship success. The Cavaliers now have 33 NCAA team titles in school history, currently the 16th most in Division I athletics.

The current leader in college championships is Stanford with 133, while UCLA (121) and Southern Cal (112) both have triple digit titles too. Texas (55) and Penn State (53) round out the top five, while North Carolina (49) is eighth to lead the ACC. The Hoos are second in the conference, well ahead of Notre Dame with 22. UVA is one title behind both Oregon and Denver, who each have 34, and two behind Oklahoma with 35.

The double repeat also gave the Hoos multiple team championships in the same year for the fourth consecutive full academic year. In 2019, men’s lacrosse and men’s basketball took home titles. In 2021, men’s lacrosse and women’s swimming and diving both captured crowns. In 2022 and 2023, the repeat championships fit the bill. In 2020, not all of the 2019-2020 events were held due to the pandemic.

When you add it all up, it’s been a remarkable decade plus for UVA athletics and fans. From 2009-2023, the Cavaliers have claimed 18 of their 33 National Championships. Plus, Virginia has won at least four National Championships in four straight decades. The Hoos won 7 in the 1990’s, 11 in the 2010’s, 4 in the 2000’s, and now have 6 in the 2020’s with plenty of time left in the current decade.

That seems likely with how programs have performed over the last 15 years. Starting with 2009, UVA has won a team title in every full academic year except for 2018 (again, all events were not held in 2020). Men’s soccer started the roll in 2009.

Overall, UVA has 10 programs represented among its 33 championships. On the men’s side with current teams, the baseball, basketball, lacrosse, soccer, and tennis all have National Championships. Boxing also won one in 1938. On the women’s side, the cross country, lacrosse, rowing, and swimming and diving teams all have NCAA team trophies too.

In total, 7 programs have multiple National Championships. Men’s soccer and men’s lacrosse each have 7 titles, while UVA men’s tennis now has 6. Women’s lacrosse and women’s swimming and diving each have raised 3 banners, while women’s cross country and rowing have 2 championships each.

In those sports, head coaches responsible for multiple titles still currently leading the programs include George Gelnovatch (men’s soccer), Lars Tiffany (men’s lacrosse), Andres Pedroso (men’s tennis), Todd DeSorbo (swimming and diving), and Kevin Sauer (rowing).

Virginia will take a crack at adding to its trophy case this coming weekend with men’s lacrosse, men’s golf, and women’s rowing all in action in National Championship events.