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, January 2006 .]] The Virginia Cavaliers are the athletics teams of the University Of Virginia . The athletics program has won 15 recognized NCAA National Championships, 12 of them since 1980 . The media generally refers to the University's athletic teams as simply '''Virginia''' for short, and the mascot is a mounted swordsman, or "Cavalier". This mascot is a Historical Reference to the time when Virginia earned its nickname, the "Old Dominion." The Commonwealth was a hotbed of persons loyal to the English crown, called cavaliers in the days of the English Civil War and Interregnum . An unofficial moniker, the Wahoos , or 'Hoos for short, based on the University's rallying cry "Wah-hoo-wah!" is also commonly used. Though originally only used by the student body, both terms — Wahoos and Hoos — have come into wide use by the media as well. ORIGINS AND HISTORY The school colors, adopted in , perhaps ironically, Oxford named their own American football club the "Cavaliers", and soon after the Virginia team adopted its "curved sabres" logo in 1994 , the Oxford team followed suit.) during a Fall 2005 home football game against Duke .]] When Boxing was a major collegiate sport, Virginia's teams boxed in Memorial Gymnasium and went undefeated on a six-year run between 1932 and 1937 , also winning national championships in 1938 and 1939 . Virginia's athletic teams have participated in the Atlantic Coast Conference since the league's first year in 1953 . Its men's basketball team has five times been part of the NCAA Elite Eight ( 1981 , 1983 , 1984 , 1989 , 1995 ), twice advancing to the Final Four ( 1981 and 1984 ). The Virginia Cavaliers football team has twice been honored as ACC Co-Champions ( 1989 with Duke , and 1995 with FSU ). Women's Cross Country won national titles in 1981 and 1982 . The Soccer and Lacrosse programs have both been tremendously successful. The Virginia men's soccer team has won five national championships, four consecutively ( 1989 , 1991 – 1994 ). The lacrosse teams have won three national titles each. Men's lacrosse won national championships in 1972 , 1999 , and 2003 ; the women's lacrosse team won national titles in 1991 , 1993 , and 2004 . Funding from benefactor Carl Smith created the foundation for the 230-piece Cavalier Marching Band , which was introduced in 2004 . This replaced the smaller Virginia Pep Band in its official capacity at athletic events. BASKETBALL . This was the first major basketball matchup shown on Cable Television when it aired on TBS Superstation that winter.]] , and its home sport of Basketball is immensely popular at the University. At its recent height in the 1980s , the men's basketball team was better than perennial power Duke and second only to UNC in that decade's cumulative ACC standings. The 1990s and 2000s have seen a bit of a slide for the program to the middle of the pack in the conference, but the hiring of new coach Dave Leitao and the young team's success thus far this season, along with the 2006 opening of John Paul Jones Arena, are reasons for excitement among fans and students. The new arena will be one of the three largest on-campus facilities in the Atlantic Coast Conference, with the only bigger arenas belonging to universities with far greater student populations. The current facility, University Hall , was the smallest in the ACC until the addition of Miami (FL) to the conference. 2005-2006 Season =Men's Basketball A disappointing finish to the history of men's basketball at University Hall occurred on March 5th, as the Cavaliers fell in a heart-breaker, 71-70, to Maryland. "Cavaliers Fall To Terrapins In Regular Season Finale, 71-70" On Monday, March 6, Sean Singletary was named to the All-ACC First Team. Singletary is the Cavaliers first First-team selection since Bryant Stith was selected three times in a row from 1990-1992. JR Reynolds was selected to the All-ACC Third Team. Virginia defated archrival Virginia Tech in the first round of the ACC Tournament 60-56 "Virginia Advances To Quarterfinals Of ACC Tourney With 60-56 Win Over Virginia Tech" , but then fell to UNC in the quarterfinals 79-67. "Tar Heels Move On To Semifinals Of ACC Tourney With 79-67 Victory Against Virginia" Virginia finished the season with a disappointing 65-49 loss at Stanford in the first round of the NIT "Virginia Falls To Stanford In NIT, 65-49" Overall, Virginia finished the season with a 15-15 record, 8-10 in ACC play. Considering the Cavaliers were picked to finish last in the preseason ACC poll, the .500 record and 7th place finish in the 12-team ACC made the season a success. =Women's Basketball "The Last Ball in U-Hall" for the women's basketball team resulted in a 83-64 victory over Clemson in the final game of the regular season on February 26th. Virginia Closes U-Hall With 83-64 Win over Clemson The Cavaliers, the 9th-seed, defeated 8th-seeded Boston College in the first round of the 2006 ACC Women's Basketball Tournament 57-54 #9 Seed Virginia Upsets #8 Seed Boston College, 57-54, in the ACC Tournament First Round , only to fall to 1st-seed UNC in the quarterfinals 82-56. Virginia Falls #1 North Carolina, 82-56, in the ACC Tournament Quarterfinal Round . The lady Cavaliers defeated in the quarterfinals of the WNIT on March 24th. The Cavaliers end their season at 20-12, having gone 6-10 in ACC games. FOOTBALL . The press box at Scott Stadium was a gift from an alumni in honor of Norton G. Pritchett, the admired athletic director at UVA from 1934 until his death in 1950. Students, fans, and alumni generally clad themselves in orange clothing for the games, a new tradition which has rapidly replaced the older one of wearing sundresses or coat and tie at sporting events. Several fans have also begun garbing themselves in outlandish costumes in the style of football superfans (such as the Orange Gorilla or Super Hoo ) The Cavaliers share the South's Oldest Rivalry with UNC and the schools have played 110 times, including every year since 1919 . In a somewhat less historical but more bitterly contested rivalry, the team faces off with in-state foe Virginia Tech annually for the Commonwealth Cup , given since 1999 to the winner of this game played 86 times and each year since 1970 . 2005 Season Finished 7-5 overall, 3-5 in the ACC. The biggest highlight of the season was the 26-21 upset of then-fourth ranked Florida State, the eventual ACC champion. A 52-14 blowout loss at home to archrival Virginia Tech was a sour ending to the regular season, but a come-from-behind victory, 34-31, against Minnesota in the Music City Bowl ended the season on a positive note. SOCCER , now the U.S. coach, was the most successful soccer coach in ACC history.]] Klöckner Stadium is home to several successful programs, including Virginia men's Soccer . More years than not, the University of Virginia fields one of the best squads in the country, and the program has, by far, the most successful history in the ultra-competitive Atlantic Coast Conference. Since ACC Tournament play began in 1987 , Virginia has played in 14 out of 18 ACC Tournament championship matches, winning nine ACC titles (including 2003 and 2004 ), to go with their five NCAA Tournament championships. The man who built the U.Va. program, Bruce Arena , compiled an amazing 295-58-32 record before leaving in 1995 to coach D.C. United to their first two MLS championship seasons, and later the U.S. National Soccer Team to their best World Cup showing since 1930 . 2005 Season =Men's Soccer The men's 2005 soccer squad was young but had a very good year nonetheless, finishing 12-5-3 overall, 6-2-0 in the ACC. Ranked as high as second during the regular season, the Cavaliers lost in the third round of the Men's College Cup to UNC. =Women's Soccer The women's team finished the season 18-6-1, 8-2-0 in the ACC, with their season coming to an end in a 5-0 loss to UCLA in the quarterfinals of the Women's College Cup. Ranked as high as fifth in the nation during the season, the Cavaliers continued to build on their recent success, although they were unable to defend their 2004 ACC title, losing to UNC in the ACC Championship. COMMONWEALTH CHALLENGE For the 2005-2006 school year, Adelphia is sponsoring an ongoing challenge between Virginia and Virginia Tech in all games against one another. The school that does the best in sporting events between the two wins the Commonwealth Challenge. Virginia leads the competition eleven to six in the competition as of March 19 , 2006, following the Hokies 10-2 victory over the Cavaliers in softball. The Cavaliers have already secured the first annual Commonwealth Challenge for Virginia as Virginia Tech cannot recover their point deficit with the remaining events. EXTERNAL LINKS
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