For the longest time Vanderbilt has been known as a smart school who doesn't have a very strong athletic program. However, this is the year that the reputation changed.
First came football season. Vanderbilt came so close to winning almost every football game, but seemed to fall short too many times. They missed a kick, an earlier fieldgoal, or a touchdown that they should have made. This has been the pattern for years, but finally they weren't losing by 10 or 20, instead in four of the eight lost games the scores were within 7 points of each other! This difference would have meant a bowl game and a winning record. However, Vanderbilt DID beat UGA at their homecoming game. As a cheerleader, this was the most exciting game of the season. I had never been to a UGA game before, but to hear the crowd go silent after the final field goal kick, is a memory I will never forget. Vanderbilt has been the underdog for so long that every team we play thinks they will come in and stomp all over us...then they discover that they were wrong.
The basketball teams had amazing runs as well. The women's team won the SEC tournament right here in Atlanta beating LSU. This was a wild game! Everyone thought that it would come down to UT and UGA (#1 and 2 seed) in the final, but had no idea that UT would get knocked out by LSU one round early. During the season, Vandy lost to LSU at their gym, but beat them at Memorial Gym. Everyone knew it was going to be a great game! And boy, the game came too close for comfort 51-45! LSU had the #1 defense and Vandy came in with the #1 offense. In the last minute, Vanderbilt pulled ahead and shot some amazing baskets.
The mens' basketball team got to the sweet 16! They were up during the first half, but then Georgetown came back strong in the second half and Vanderbilt made too many little mistakes and weren't hitting their shots like they did during the first half. This game was a heartbreaker as Vandy lost by one point and on a bad call none the less. It ended up that a Georgetown player traveled on the last shot of the game--and the winning point. However, Kevin Stallings and the team never said anything bad about Georgetown or the referees, but instead took the loss with stride and said that there were many times that they could have scored and didn't. During the season, Vanderbilt beat #1 ranked Florida and all of the students rushed the court, along with Chancellor Gordon Gee, and suffered at $25,000 charge as a result. In addition to beating Florida, UT, South Carolina, UGA, and Kentucky were all amazing wins. After Alan Metcalf got hurt during the beginning of the season, Stallings changed how the Commodores were going to play the game. This ended up being one of the best decisions he made.
The women's bowling team secured Vanderbilt's first NCAA title.
The baseball team won their first SEC tournament. After losing the first game, they came back to win the next five. They are ranked #1 in the country and have a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. I can't wait to see how far they go! The first regionals are at Hawkin's field this weekend.
What amazes me more than how far Vanderbilt athletics has come as a whole, are what all of the athletes say about their teams and why they have come so far. I sat through the women's basketball senior ceremony and listened to the men's basketball and baseball interviews online at www.vucommodores.com. All of the athletes said that they won so many games because of the team chemistry. In addition to supporting each teammate, the phrase "we play with heart" continuously chimes throughout the interviews. I have discovered that you can go so far if you believe in yourself and your team. After going into the bottom of the 10th inning against Ole Miss in the semi-finals with a losing score of 6-3, it didn't look good for the Commodores. However, they came back to win 6-7 with 0 outs in the bottom of the 10th. When asked later about how they won, the players said that they went into the game thinking "we're going to win," and when faced with the situation in the bottom of the 10th, they went into the dugout saying "how are we going to win?" It's not a matter of if they're going to win or not, but how they are going to do it. With this winning attitude, they have the possibility to make anything possible.
