Cavaliers Now

Virginia Softball Earns Second-Ever NCAA Tournament Bid, First Since 2010

Matt Newton

The Virginia softball team celebrates after a victory over NC State at Palmer Park.
The Virginia softball team celebrates after a victory over NC State at Palmer Park. / Virginia Athletics

For the first time since 2010 and just the second time in program history, Virginia softball is headed to the NCAA Tournament. UVA (32-18) earned an at-large bid to the 2024 NCAA Softball Championship and is headed to the Knoxville Regional, hosted by the No. 3 overall seed Tennessee.

The Cavaliers will face Miami (Ohio) in their first game on Friday at noon (ESPN+) at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. The third-seeded Volunteers will host Dayton in the second game on Friday at approximately 2:30pm. The winners and losers of those two games will face each other on Saturday as the double-elimination regional plays out over the course of the weekend until just one team is left standing and advances to the Super Regional round of the tournament.

2024 NCAA Softball Tournament - Knoxville Regional
3. Tennessee (40-10)
Dayton (33-19)
Miami (OH) (48-7)
Virginia (32-18)

Interestingly, both of Virginia's all-time NCAA Tournament appearances have sent the Cavaliers to Knoxville. Back in 2010, UVA earned its first-ever NCAA Tournament bid and suffered an 11-2 loss to Tennessee and a 7-4 loss to Louisville in the Knoxville Regional.

Virginia finished fourth in the ACC after being picked to finish ninth in the preseason coaches poll. The Cavaliers won seven of their eight ACC series, with all eight series coming down to a rubber match game 3. Two of those series wins came against then-No. 3 Duke and then-No. 11 Clemson. UVA's 32 wins this season are the program's most since that 2010 campaign. Virginia went 15-9 in ACC play, earning the No. 4 seed in the ACC Tournament, its highest seed since earning the No. 2 seed in 2010. UVA went 6-1 in neutral site games and 13-11 in road games this season.

Eden Bigham and Jade Hylton were selected to the All-ACC First Team and Shelby Barbee was named a Third-Team All-ACC selection. Bella Cabral was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team.

Virginia and Miami (Ohio) have met 11 times before, with UVA holding a 7-4 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to 1986. The Cavaliers won six of the first seven meetings, but the RedHawks have taken three of the last four, including the most recent meeting, which was played back in 2006.

Miami is 48-7 this season and captured its third-straight Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship to secure a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Published
Matt Newton

MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.