Top 5 UVA Sports Moments of 2013

1. Women’s and Men’s Soccer Teams’ Trips to Final Four

Both teams’ seasons ended with losses, but losses that came in college soccer’s Final Four. The women enjoyed a No. 1 ranking this season and their largest crowds ever, including close to 3,000 fans who showed up during a drenching rainstorm, photos of which can be seen here. The men, meanwhile, are looking forward to continued success: only one of the team’s starters was a senior.

2. Football’s Disappointing Season

After finishing with just four wins in 2012, head coach Mike London brought in an all-star slate of new coaches. They included Jon Tenuta, a UVA alumnus with 33 years of coaching experience, Steve Fairchild, whose last job was senior offensive assistant for the NFL’s San Diego Chargers and Tom O’Brien, the former Boston College and N.C. State head coach who was an offensive coordinator at UVA under George Welch. But the Cavs won just two games. London and his staff are expected back for another season.

3. Men’s Tennis Wins the National Championship

Virginia won the first NCAA championship in program history, capping an undefeated season (30-0) with a 4-3 victory over UCLA in in May’s NCAA tournament. They became the first ACC school to win a men's tennis NCAA title. There are no signs the team has plans on slowing down: For the fifth time in nine years, the men begin their new season ranked No. 1 in the nation.

4. Baseball Racks Up Wins

The baseball team ended the year with 50 wins – the third most in the team’s history – in Coach Brian O’Connor’s 10th year as head coach. They were seeded 6th in the NCAA tournament after starting the season unranked, before losing to Mississippi State in the super regional round. But if history is any indication, baseball’s success should continue. In the last five seasons, UVA has posted more wins than any other Division I program, making it to the College World Series twice.

5. Bernardino Retires

Virginia head coach Mark Bernardino, the most successful coach of the last decade in the ACC, unexpectedly announced his retirement. Bernardino was Virginia’s longest-tenured head coach, leading the Cavalier swimming and diving programs for 35 years. Shortly after the announcement, UVA hired Augie Bush, the former women’s coach at the University of Houston, to lead the teams.