Athletics
A member of the highly competitive Atlantic Coast Conference, Virginia fields 12 intercollegiate sports for men and 13 for women. U.Va.'s intercollegiate athletics program ranked eighth in the final 2008-09 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings, which are based on the combined performance of men's and women's sports during the academic year. Virginia is one of just 15 schools to finish in the Top 30 in the Directors' Cup standings in all 16 years of the program's existence and the eighth place finish ties for the Cavaliers' best.
Virginia Athletics 2008-09
Virginia had another successful year of athletic competition in 2008-09. Teams or individuals in 20 of Virginia's 25 sports advanced to NCAA postseason competition in 2008-09. The baseball team reached the College World Series for the first time, the women's rowing team finished fourth at the NCAA Championships, the men's lacrosse team reached the semifinals of the NCAA Championships, the women's golf team was eighth for its best finish at the NCAA Championships, the men's tennis team reached the NCAA quarterfinals and the men's swimming and diving team finished a program-best ninth at the NCAA Championships. The men's tennis team won the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's National Team Indoor Championship for the second consecutive year. Virginia teams won six conference championships in 2008-09, the most of any league member and tying the most won by the Cavaliers in a year. Virginia has won 35 ACC Championships in the last seven years, the most of any school in the ACC during that period.
In addition U.Va.'s doubles team of Dominic Inglot and Michael Shabaz won the NCAA Men's Doubles Championship, the first doubles team from an ACC school to accomplish that feat. The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and CollegeBaseballInsider.com both named baseball coach Brian O'Connor National Coach of the Year. Four different Virginia coaches won a total of six ACC Coach of the Year awards in 2008-09.
Virginia's intercollegiate athletics teams won more than 64 percent of their contests in 2008-09 to win the 31st annual Virginia Sports Information Directors Association Division I All-Sports Championship for the second consecutive year and fourth time in the last six years. U.Va.'s 25 men's and women's teams compiled an overall record of 271-146-5 (.648 winning percentage).
Academics
Virginia had 216 student-athletes named to the 2008-09 Atlantic Coast Conference Honor Roll. The Honor Roll comprises those student-athletes who participated in a varsity-level sport and registered a grade point average of 3.0 or better for the full academic year. U.Va. also had two individuals named ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year in their respective sports.
Virginia's graduation rate for student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility remains high. In the 2008-09 academic year, those individuals who exhausted their eligibility graduated at a rate of 93 percent.
Five Virginia athletics teams received public recognition awards for achieving Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores in the top 10 percent of their respective sports. The teams were women's soccer, softball, women's swimming and diving, women's indoor track and volleyball.
2008-09 University of Virginia Athletics — Team Accomplishments
| Baseball | College World Series Won NCAA Oxford (Miss.) Super Regional Won NCAA Irvine (Calif.) Regional ACC Champions |
| Basketball, Women | NCAA Second Round |
| Cross Country, Men | NCAA Championship Meet, 14th NCAA Southeast Regional, 2nd ACC Champions |
| Cross Country, Women | NCAA Championship Meet, 26th NCAA Southeast Regional Champions |
| Field Hockey | NCAA Quarterfinals |
| Golf, Men | NCAA Championships, 27th NCAA East Regional, 4th |
| Golf, Women | NCAA Championships, 8th NCAA East Regional, 5th |
| Lacrosse, Men | NCAA Semifinals |
| Lacrosse, Women | NCAA First Round |
| Rowing | NCAA Championships, 4th South Region Champions |
| Soccer, Men | NCAA Second Round |
| Soccer, Women | NCAA Third Round |
| Swimming & Diving, Men | NCAA Championships, 9th ACC Champions |
| Swimming & Diving, Women | NCAA Championships, 12th ACC Champions |
| Tennis, Men | NCAA Quarterfinals Dominic Inglot and Michael Shabaz NCAA Doubles Champions ITA National Team Indoor Champions ACC Champions |
| Tennis, Women | NCAA Second Round |
| Track & Field (Indoor), Men | NCAA Meet, 47 th (tie) Distance Medley Relay Team earned All-America honors |
| Track & Field (Outdoor), Men | NCAA Meet, 48th (tie) NCAA Meet (four participants, one All-American) NCAA East Region Championships, 6th ACC Co-Champions |
| Track & Field (Outdoor), Women | NCAA Meet, 36th (tie) NCAA Meet (five participants, five All-Americans) NCAA East Region Championships, 9th ECAC Championships, 2nd |
| Wrestling | NCAA Championships, 34th NCAA Championships (seven participants, one All-American) |