2024-25 UVA Athletics Year in Review Fifth consecutive NCAA Women's Swimming & Diving Championship highlights season!

Another Championship Year

The Virginia athletics program had one of its most storied seasons during the 2024-25 academic year thanks to the performances of UVA student-athletes and teams during NCAA competition and on the international stage. For the fifth consecutive year – and sixth time in the last seven seasons – Virginia won an NCAA Championship. The UVA women’s swimming domination led to the program’s fifth consecutive NCAA team title and its sixth consecutive ACC championship. Capping the spring, the Cavalier men’s golf team won the program’s first outright ACC title and the women's track and field team won the ACC outdoor title. A total of 18 UVA programs advanced to NCAA postseason competition.

In addition to the swimming and diving team’s dominance, other top finishes included:

Men's Golf finished as runner-up at the NCAA Championships and won its first ACC Championship in 2025.

The women's outdoor track and field team won the ACC Championship, while the men's distance medley relay (DMR) won the Indoor NCAA Championship.

Field Hockey advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals in 2025 marking the program's 15th appearance in at least the quarterfinals of the tournament.

Men’s Tennis advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals, while Women's Tennis advanced to the Round of 16.

Softball advanced to its second straight NCAA Regional.

The Cup

Virginia's 12th place finish marked the program's sixth straight year for the Cavaliers to finish in the top-15 in the Learfield Directors' Cup .

The Cavaliers placed in the top 25 for the 18th consecutive time and UVA is one of 10 schools to rank in the top 30 of the final Directors’ Cup standings in every year of the competition.

The Commonwealth Clash

UVA claimed the Smithfield Commonwealth Clash for the second straight season, winning the all-sports points-based program with Virginia Tech. The Commonwealth Clash trophy is presented annually to the school that performs better in head-to-head competitions. In some sports, the point is decided by team finishes in ACC Championship competition. UVA dominated the competition, outscoring the Hokies by a wide 15-7 margin for a second straight season. Virginia has won 8 of the 11 Commonwealth Clashes.

Top Performers

Gretchen Walsh

No single student-athlete had a better year in UVA athletics history than senior swimmer Gretchen Walsh. She helped UVA win its fifth consecutive NCAA team title, won seven NCAA individual/relay titles, was named the national collegiate swimmer of the year and overall Honda Award Winner, a first-team Academic All-American, the ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for her sport and the overall Academic All-American of the Year across all sports.

Jonas Sanker

A two-time All-ACC first team honoree (2023, 2024), Jonas Sanker was a third-round pick of the New Orleans Saints in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Elaine Chervinsky & Mélodie Collard

Elaine Chervinsky and Mélodie Collard claimed the NCAA Doubles Championship to become the first Virginia doubles pairing to claim an NCAA title.

Other Individual Accolades

Kymora Johnson recorded a triple-double against Pitt - only the third triple-double in program history and became only the second player to record a triple-double along with Dawn Staley.

NCAA champion Alex Walsh continued to maintain the distinction of the most successful swimmer in ACC history, picking up her 30th individual or relay title during this year’s championship meet.

Gary Martin was named the 2024 ACC Men's Cross Country Performer of the Year, winning the ACC Championship and finishing 13th at the NCAA Championship.

Jade Hylton earned All-America honors from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association after leading UVA to a second straight NCAA Tournament berth.

Dylan Cedeno captured the ACC Championship at 141 pounds to give the Virginia Wrestling program its third straight ACC Champion.

Jans Croon was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year and earned All-America honors.

Swimming and Diving head coach Todd DeSorbo was named the ACC and National Coach of the Year.

Sonia Lamonica's women's lacrosse team advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships for the second straight season.

Vin Lananna was named the Southeast Region Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year and ACC Women's Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year.

Swimming and Diving head coach Todd DeSorbo was named the ACC and National Coach of the Year.

Vin Lananna was named the Southeast Region Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year and ACC Women's Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year.

Sara O'Leary was named the ACC Coach of the Year for the second straight season as she led the Cavaliers to a No. 1 ranking and the Round of 16 at the NCAA Championships.

Bowen Sargent was named ACC Coach of the Year after leading the Cavaliers to the finals of the NCAA Championships in match play - finishing as runner up.

The Future

Ryan Odom was introduced as the new head coach of the Virginia Cavalier men's basketball program on March 24, 2025 to lead the NCAA Championship program.

Chris Pollard was introduced as the head coach of the Virginia baseball program, becoming the 16th skipper of the national championship program.

Amazing Attendance

Record attendance figures were a regular occurrence for Virginia programs during the year.

The Virginia volleyball team continued to attract fans, regardless of venue in 2025. For the second straight season the Hoos played a match in JPJ and almost 3,000 fans turned out to watch UVA defeat Miami. The Cavaliers also set a single-match attendance record for Mem Gym with 1,150 fans coming out to cheer on the team against top-ranked Pittsburgh.

On March 22, 2025, the Cavalier softball team locked up the series against nationally-ranked Cal in front of a single-game record 1,981 fans. It came as part of a record-breaking year in season-ticket sales for the program as the Hoos returned to the NCAA Tournament.

Virginia set a record for season ticket sales in baseball in 2025 and twice matched the single-game record in attendance with 5,919 fans packing Disharoon Park to cheer on the Hoos.

The Master Plan

The past year saw significant progress on the finalization of the athletic department’s Master Plan. The 93,000 square-foot Molly and Robert Hardie Football Operations Center opened as the new home for the Cavalier program.

The topping-off ceremony took place for the new Harrison Family Olympic Sports Center that is set to open in the summer of 2025. In addition to housing multiple Cavalier athletic programs, the Harrison Center will feature a performance training center, strength and conditioning facilities, tutoring and academic support spaces and a hall of champions.

Academic Success

UVA student-athletes displayed impressive results in their academic pursuits in 2024-25. A total of 567 Cavalier student-athletes were named to the ACC Honor Roll and 363 received All-ACC Academic honors in their respective sports.

The NCAA annual Academic Progress Report showed UVA had a four-year reporting score of 993, well above the national average of 984. The NCAA’s Graduation Success Rate data also showed UVA preforming at one of the highest rates in the nation. Cavalier student-athletes covered during the current report matched their highest graduation rate at 96 percent for the second consecutive year. UVA also achieved the 96 percent rate in 2023 and 95 percent in 2022. The NCAA launched the GSR program in 2002. In addition, Jans Croon (field hockey), Gretchen Walsh (women's swimming & diving) and Gary Martin (men's cross country) were named ACC Scholar-Athletes of the Year for their respective sports. Walsh was also named the Academic All-American of the Year across all sports by College Sports Communicators.