As a member of NCAA Division I, UNCW fields 19 varsity teams including men's and women's programs in basketball, tennis, golf, track and field, cross country, swimming, diving and soccer. Other varsity programs include volleyball, softball and baseball.

UNCW’s first conference championship in men’s tennis capped an outstanding year for the Seahawks that produced three conference titles and continued solid academic work in 2008-09.

The Seahawks opened the year on a high note as the men’s and women’s soccer teams enjoyed outstanding seasons behind the CAA’s top coaches, Aidan Heaney and Paul Cairney.

Heaney’s men captured its first regular season title with a 7-4 record and won the right to host the conference tournament at the UNCW Soccer Stadium. Cairney and the women’s team, meanwhile, claimed the No. 3 seed behind senior workhorse Kelly Renkin and wound up 12-7-1 overall in the fall. 

The men’s swimming and diving team continued its dynasty by extending its championship run to eight consecutive titles. Coach Dave Allen returns his entire team in 2009-10 after using a blend of depth and young talent to keep the CAA hardware in the Port City.

Allen was named CAA Coach-of-the-Year in men’s swimming, marking his 11th designation overall and the sixth time he’s been honored on the men’s side.

In men’s basketball, injuries and inexperience hit the Seahawks hard in Benny Moss’ third season at the helm. The women’s basketball team, however, went 16-15 in Ann Hancock’s ninth season and finished fifth in the CAA with a 9-9 mark.

Spring turned golden as the Seahawks captured championships in men’s tennis and men’s track and field.

Coach Mait DuBois and his young netters went unbeaten against conference teams during the regular season to claim the top seed in the CAA Tournament for the first time. In Norfolk, the Seahawks knocked off Drexel, Old Dominion and dethroned 11-time champion VCU to nail down UNCW’s first men’s title and the CAA’s subsequent berth to the NCAA Regionals in Athens, Ga.

The Seahawks, 19-6 overall and 7-0 in the CAA, picked up their first national ranking in mid-March and wound up 59th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s final poll.

The men’s track and field team secured its third straight CAA title and 10th overall with an impressive all-around performance at the CAA meet in Towson, Md. With just three individual champions, the Seahawks used a team effort to remain atop the league’s track elite. Sprecher and his staff also piloted the women’s track team to a second-place finish at the CAA meet, marking the best finish ever for the women. 

The women’s tennis team enjoyed its most successful season in history with a 19-3 record and was ranked for the first time. Coach Jenny Garrity’s team scaled to No. 69 in the ITA poll, and the doubles tandem of Kayla Schwenk and Lauren Isenhour was also ranked in the spring.

In golf, the women’s team narrowly missed its seventh NCAA Regional berth when Georgia State squeezed out a one-stroke victory at Callaway Gardens, Ga. Junior Carmen Perez-Narbon captured medalist honors at the CAA Championship and was named the CAA’s Player of the Year for the second time in three seasons.

Coach Matt Clark’s men wound up tied for fourth place overall in the CAA Tournament, but sophomore Josh Brock earned an individual entry into the NCAA Southeast Regional in Sorrento, Fla.

The softball team wrapped up its first season under Kelly Van Houten with some sparkling play from senior Carley Hughes and newcomers Kelsey Eddinger and Amanda Davenport. The Seahawks won five more conference games this spring as Hughes belted eight homers and Eddinger batted .327. Davenport, a hard-throwing righthand pitcher appeared in 23 games in her first season and was named CAA Rookie of the Week three times.

In baseball, the Seahawks opened the season on a blazing note before cooling off. Coach Mark Scalf’s team won 15 of its first 17 contests and wound up in third place during the regular season. The Seahawk nine advanced to the championship game of the CAA Tournament at Brooks Field before falling to Georgia State.

 In the classroom, the Seahawks continued to excel. All 19 of UNCW’s intercollegiate teams remained in full compliance with the NCAA’s guidelines, and the men’s basketball team received a Public Recognition Award for the second consecutive year for being in the top 10 percent nationally for its work in the classroom.

For more information, visit the Seahawk athletics Web site.

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