UVA Softball Eager to Build on Historic '24 Campaign as 2025 Season Begins

On the heels of a breakthrough season, the Virginia softball program is looking carry that momentum as the 2025 season gets underway. As head coach Joanna Hardin was preparing her team for what should be another great campaign, she sought advice from another now-former UVA head coach, who has a little bit more time on his hands than he usually does this time of year.

"Coach Bennett came and spoke to the team last week and he said something that was really impactful - "No backseats" - like we're not taking any backseats," Hardin said when she met with the media this week. "I will have to say I have reached out to Coach Bennett more in the last couple of months than I ever have at this time of the year, because he has a little more time on his hands, so he came and spoke to the team about our identity, about being true to who we are, and about knowing who you are."

Hardin said that the team was very receptive to Tony Bennett's message and it was particularly compelling for them to learn that Bennett had been closely following the team's success last year.

"Coach [Bennett] is really humble and he's a truth teller and I just really appreciated that about him and our players were really impressed," Hardin said. "He knew our season, he knew what we did last year. He was very aware of the season we had and the regional and how impactful that was for our program. And I don't know if they realized he's been watching from afar and I think that was really impactful. And I knew he was watching from afar because of my relationship with him and my friendship with him. It was really impactful for our team to see that he knew our path and our journey, and he's really excited to continue tracking that."

Tony Bennett's support is undoubtedly meaningful, but this is a Virginia softball team brimming with confidence thanks to its own culture and its own success on the field from the 2024 season. The Cavaliers are ranked or receiving votes in many of the preseason college softball polls, including a No. 24 ranking in the Softball American Preseason Top 25, which marks the first time in UVA softball history that the Hoos are ranked to begin the season.

It's easy to see why expectations are so high for this team. The Cavaliers are coming off of their best season in more than a decade, winning seven of their eight ACC series, placing fourth in the conference standings, earning their second-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, and advancing to a regional final for the first time in program history. From that team, Virginia brings back seven position starters, including First-Team All-ACC shortstop Jade Hylton, and four of six pitchers, including First-Team All-ACC pitcher Eden Bigham.

"That memory will last a lifetime. It was so fun, and I think it really fires us up for this year and shows us what we're playing for. I know the returners, we know what that experience is like, and we want something more," Bigham said about how Virginia's experience of reaching the NCAA Tournament last season is fueling the team heading into the 2025 campaign. "I feel like I'm an upperclassman now, so I want to help lead this team. All together, our goals are to make it to a Super Regional. And as a pitching staff, we set a goal to take our team there. So yeah, that's a goal of mine - to pitch in the Super Regional."

It was clear from conversations with multiple players and Coach Hardin that the team's objectives for this season are to not only return to the NCAA Tournament, but to go a step further.

"It was clear the second we came back from Tennessee that that was the new normal," Hardin said. "Like, that's not a one time, that's not a one year, that's not a one season, not a fluke or not a just one exceptional season. That's the standard."

Others referenced correcting Virginia's lack of previous success in the ACC Tournament as a particular goal.

"Obviously we want to do a lot better in the ACC, so once we get to the ACC Tournament, we want to end up winning that tournament," said senior Sarah Coon, who is expected to take over for the graduated Leah Boggs at catcher. "Obviously, in the past, we haven't had the best record in the the ACC Tournament itself, so we're looking to change that. And then also we want to make it to a Super Regional this year. Last year, we had a regional, and we want to win one, and we want to make it to a super."

For rising sophomore Bella Cabral, who started all 54 games as a true freshman and was named to the 2024 ACC All-Freshman Team, the 2025 season is about continuing to prove that Virginia belongs on the field with the best of the best in college softball.

"We're hungry. We had a lot to prove last year, and this year, we have even more to prove. So I think we're just really excited to get out there and get it done," said Cabral, who was then asked, "what do you want to prove?"

Her answer? "That we belong. We deserve to be in a position where we get to the NCAA Tournament and get even get even get farther than what we did last year."

The 2025 Virginia softball season will open on Thursday, February 6th, when the Cavaliers take on South Carolina to open the Gamecock Invitational in Columbia, South Carolina. UVA will face South Carolina on Thursday at 6pm, South Carolina again on Friday at 2:30pm, East Carolina on Friday at 5pm, Toledo on Saturday at 10:30am, and Saint Francis on Sunday at 12:30pm. Only the games against South Carolina will be streamed on SEC Network+.

Virginia's first home games will be on the weekend of February 20th through 23rd, when the Cavaliers host Delaware, UConn, Longwood, and Penn as part of the Mizuno Classic at Palmer Park.