It’s good to be back in Charlottesville. Like many of you, I spent Spring Break away from our little bubble here at the University. The only sports exposure I really had was ESPN and the countless hours of A-Rod, Manny and T.O. drama. Frankly, it was miserable. But fortunately, Virginia has three undefeated sports teams, and all of them won at home Tuesday. How can it get any better than this?
Imagine this day: After you watched the No. 1 Virginia men’s tennis team cruise past Old Dominion, you got some dinner and headed to Davenport Field for some baseball. After No. 18 Virginia smacked around Navy 17-1, you walked 15 seconds to Klöckner Stadium for the No. 1 men’s lacrosse game, in which the Cavaliers beat Vermont handily, 16-4. You might never get to see three undefeated Virginia teams in action on the same day ever again, so you’re very glad you didn’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. In fact, you would even call this the best day of your life. Maybe not, but close.
The fact of the matter is, although you may dread going to class when its 70-plus degrees outside, there really is a lot to look forward to. Even though Spring Break has passed, you can find other ways to relax, like by watching some of the best college sports teams in the nation.
The men’s tennis team is tops in the land with a 17-0 record. The Cavaliers actually won two separate matches Tuesday, beating ODU outdoors 6-1, then heading inside to top Howard 7-0. Virginia has as tough a schedule as anyone this year: At the National Team Indoors back in February, the team beat then-No. 12 Tulsa, No. 4 UCLA, No. 8 Tennessee and No. 3 Georgia in four consecutive days en route to the title. Tuesday marked the start of the outdoor part of the season, and you can certainly spend some time this semester watching the best tennis team in the nation crush opponents at Snyder Tennis Center.
Another team ranked first in its sport is the men’s lacrosse squad. The Cavaliers already beat then-No. 1 Syracuse on the road, and there’s no reason to believe Virginia can be stopped. This past Sunday — just nine days after defeating the Orange — the Cavaliers won a huge home game against the No. 4 Big Red of Cornell to get to 7-0 and extended their undefeated streak to eight games.
The baseball team recently cracked the top 25 after somehow starting the season unranked. Virginia is 13-0 and has scored 81 runs during its last five games — not including last night’s game against VMI. Let that tidbit settle in for a second. In fact, it’s so ridiculous that I’m going to repeat it. The Cavaliers have scored 81 runs in their last five games. That is simply remarkable.
If you follow these teams this year — and you should — you could witness history right before your eyes. The Virginia baseball team’s winning streak is leading the nation, and the Cavaliers are one of only two undefeated teams left in all of Division I college baseball. College baseball teams in any division don’t really go undefeated, but, you never know ... Anyway, Virginia was the last men’s lacrosse team to complete a perfect season, winning the 2006 national championship with a 17-0 season. And, last year’s men’s tennis team ran the table until losing in the NCAA Semifinals, which ended a 32-match winning streak. A perfect season can be done.
I don’t believe in jinxes, but I’m not going to risk any athletes hating me for one column. Maybe they can hate me for two columns they don’t like, but not just one. So all I’m going to say is this: Support the Cavaliers from here on out. Use your free tickets to watch games at Snyder, Klöckner and Davenport. Because folks, these teams are pretty damn good.
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