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Jie Lu:
Hi, I’m Jie Lu, I’m a third-year Commerce student concentrating in finance, and I am the President of Club table tennis at UVA.
I moved here when I was five, and my dad started a business in NOVA, called Northern Virginia Table Tennis Club and he kind of exposed me to the business world, because I would usually manage the front desk or go talk to customers, which, I kind of really enjoyed.
So, I thought, what school in Virginia has a great business program? And UVA’s McIntire School of Commerce is one of the best in the country.
So now I am doing two things I love, business and table tennis at UVA.
Table tennis is a very technical sport.
Because the playing is so fast, you have to have some level of footwork.
You have to be really focused, especially when the game is really close.
I block everything out.
There’s a lot of first-years that come up to me and ask, Oh is this a serious club, like, do I have to play competitively? And I tell them, no, it’s open to everyone, there’s no commitment.
There is a competitive side to it, you don’t have to do that.
If you’re worried or nervous, don’t worry, everyone is welcome.
Grab a paddle, grab a ball, and just play with us.
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Walk across Grounds at any time of day and you’ll find our community enjoying an active lifestyle. Whether it is a championship match of intramural soccer or achieving a personal best in the weight room, our students and faculty make sports and recreation an integral part of the UVA experience.
More than 300,000 square feet of indoor recreation space and over 30 acres of outdoor courts and fields are available to you. Additionally, we have the McArthur Squash Center, which hosted the 2018 World Masters championship, and the Slaughter Climbing Center, with over 2,000 square feet of climbing surface. Students and faculty have every opportunity to enrich their lives through sports and recreation.
Our Club Sports and Intramural Leagues connect athletes through friendly competition. Our fitness and adventure programs develop the knowledge, confidence, discipline and friendships needed to thrive here and into the future. Whatever your passion may be, you can exercise every opportunity to pursue it with vigor.
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Think you’ve witnessed school spirit? Think again. Through our love of the ‘Hoos, we have reinvented fandom. Visit any varsity home game and you’ll witness the sheer awesomeness of the ‘Hoo Crew, our student fan section who has been nationally recognized with the Naismith Student Section of the Year Award. Made up of some of the most dedicated ‘Hoos from across the University, this orange force of nature kicks the energy into high gear.
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Courts, Fields and Recreation Centers
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25 Varsity Athletic Teams (12 Men’s and 13 Women’s)
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NCAA Team National Championships
Of course, mustering up school spirit isn’t hard when you’ve got a phenomenal athletic program. Across 25 NCAA Division I sports, the Virginia Cavaliers have captured 92 Atlantic Coast Conference championships since 2002, more than any other ACC school. Since the fall of 2012, UVA has won 11 NCAA championships, including national championships in Women’s Swimming & Diving from 2021 through 2024, Men’s Tennis in 2022 and 2023, and Men’s Lacrosse in 2021. The Cavaliers placed first in the 2019 Men’s Capital One Cup, honoring the nation’s top Division I athletic programs. During the 2022-23 academic year, a school-record 568 UVA student-athletes were named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll. Virginia posted a graduation rate of 96 percent in the NCAA’s annual Graduation Success Rate for incoming student-athletes for the 2013-14 to 2016-17 cohort. It is the highest mark for Virginia since the report was launched in 1998.
