Though the spectator's don't flock to races and the media isn't swarming after every big win or loss, the women's rowing team demonstrated this past weekend why its deserves recognition after capturing its eighth consecutive ACC Championship.
Virginia won its most recent conference crown this past Saturday at Lake Hartwell in Clemson, S.C., reeling in a number of individual and team accolades in the process. The accomplishment that tops the list, however, is the team's ability to consistently dominate an already athletically competitive conference.
"To win our eighth straight was really satisfying," Virginia coach Kevin Sauer said. "The ACC Championships are getting more competitive every year. Duke and Clemson came out strong in the Varsity Eight race, but we [were victorious]."
In ACC women's rowing history there have only been eight conference tournaments: Virginia has won every time. Virginia (60 points) edged out Clemson (46) and Duke (43) Saturday to steal the conference win.
While Virginia seems to be pulling out conference championships like clockwork, the path hasn't necessarily been easy. The team has put in a number of thankless hours and has bounced back after being snubbed by the NCAA Tournament last year.
"Last year was a pretty difficult season because it was the first year we weren't invited to the NCAAs," junior coxswain Caitlin Mixter said. "We had strong recruits this year and we were very motivated to turn the team around. We don't want anything more in the world than to go to the NCAA Championships."
While the team will not find out if it has made the tournament for another couple of weeks, the Cavaliers have certainly put together a nice season thus far: After winning 11 of 12 races in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge to start the spring season, the team went on to win nine of 10 races against Michigan State, Central Florida and Duke, all seven races against UCLA, Washington and California, and all three races against Washington State before claiming victory in the ACC Championships.
Virginia, however, still has one more regular season race against Princeton before it can turn its attention to the next level of competition.
After Princeton, "we go into a regional championship where we can get a bid for the NCAAs," junior Renee Albers said.
Before the Cavaliers move on to the next phase of the season, they will try to absorb the long list of individual and team accomplishments that they snagged after the completion of the ACC Championships.
Aside from Sauer being named ACC Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career, Mixter, seniors Melanie Kok, Sara Lippa, Libby McCann and Anna Samaha Cavaliers earned All-ACC honors. Virginia's Varsity Eight also garnered ACC Crew of the Year.
Despite the accolades, it is apparent that the team will not be satisfied until it clinches a berth into the NCAA Tournament -- a chance its won't be given until be given until the regional tournament.
"This year we're like wounded dogs," Albers said. "We have more heart than I've ever seen on this team. We want to succeed in getting our team to the NCAAs. It's the highest on our list, it's the pinnacle of our season."
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