PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Villanova University softball team has made history. For the first time ever, the Wildcats are champions of the Big East and are set to make their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
The 36-13 Wildcats are the No. 3 seed in the Tucson Regional. They will travel to Arizona and open the tournament on Friday against Ole Miss out of the SEC.
Villanova’s head coach, Bridget Orchard, was a star player for the Wildcats in the '90s.
“It’s been super exciting,” she said about the last few days.
“Hearing from so many people that are proud of us and what we’re doing, I think it’s great for the girls to understand that they didn’t do it just for themselves, but they did for the entire Villanova community, Villanova athletics, our alumni from our softball teams, our 2019 team, our 2020 team that lost their season last year, that they are part of this and they feel part of it. That’s really important to me that they are feeling part of our success.”
The Wildcats won the double-elimination Big East title by reeling off four straight wins after losing their first game.
A 6-1 win this past Saturday over UConn, the team that beat Villanova in their first game of the tourney, clinched the title for Orchard’s squad.
“The thing that is exciting about it is now, our girls have the mentality, they are expecting to win,” Orchard said of the impact of the last few days.
“I think once you start winning, you hate to lose. I think that’s where they’re at right now...they want to win and going into the future for next year and the year after, the culture that they built here within themselves, within the program is that they are expecting to win and they are willing to put the work in.”
Ole Miss is in the tournament for a fifth straight season and the Rebels are the No. 2-seed in the Regional. They bring a 34-20 record into the tournament.
“Any team that is in the SEC is going to be so well tested,” Orchard said.
“Obviously the schedule they play is grueling; day in and day out they are competing against Top 25 teams.”
Arizona is the top seed in the regional and UMBC rounds out the regional, which is double-elimination. The champion of the regional advances to the super regionals.
Villanova’s first game with Ole Miss is set to start at 6:00 p.m. Eastern on Friday.