Averett Athletics

Averett University offers 14 intercollegiate sports that compete at the NCAA Division III level within the USA South Athletic Conference. Cougar student-athletes total more than 250 individuals and represent the University in the sports of baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, football, men’s golf, women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, and women’s volleyball. Averett also has 18 athletes that have been recognized nationally as Division III All-Americans.

Averett’s department of athletics is headquartered in the 32,270 square foot, E. Stuart James Grant Convocation Center, which opened in the fall of 1998. The office building and our on campus competitive and practice venues are all located on the 70-acre Averett University North Campus, except tennis, which is played on the main campus.

The volleyball and basketball teams compete in the Grant Center, which seats over 1,500 fans.

The Cougar Den Stadium houses the football, lacrosse, and soccer teams, while the baseball team competes on Owen-Fulton Field. Averett’s North Campus also includes a softball stadium, where the 2004 USA South Champion Cougars play their home contests. Additionally, there is a practice soccer/lacrosse field, as well as a practice football facility and a 7,830 square foot football field house located on the North Campus.

The golf and the cross country teams compete at local facilities close to the campus. The cross country team often practices and competes at Danville’s Ballou Park, which is only blocks from Averett’s Main Campus. The golf team practices and competes on the numerous courses located in the Danville area.

Averett won three conference championships during the 2003-04 season and won two conference titles and a national championship during the 2002-03 season. Plus, with the recent addition of Director of Athletics Charles S. Harris, a 25-year veteran to athletic administration and former athletics director at Arizona State University, Cougar athletics are certainly on the verge of something great.

Arguably the institution’s most successful program, the women’s volleyball team is annually vying for the top spot in the USA South Conference. Led by head coach Danny Miller, Averett has won conference championships in 11 of the last 13 seasons and advanced to the NCAA Tournament twice in the last four years. Volleyball matches are always a popular draw for students, as they flock to the arena for an opportunity to watch one of the top teams in the region compete.

The men’s tennis team, which was guided to greatness by former head coach and former athletics director Vesa Hiltunen, has also enjoyed enormous program success. Hiltunen has led Averett to nine men’s tennis championships, including three consecutive titles (from 2002-2004), and championships in six of the last seven seasons. The Averett men’s tennis program also boasts 10 All-Americans that have been selected to All-America Teams 18 times.

The Cougars’ golf program became the first team at Averett to win a national title in 2003, when they came from nine shots behind to defeat Wesley College in the NCAA Championship Tournament’s final day. Three-time All-America selection Janne Mommo broke the four round tournament record with a 7-under par total, while claiming individual championship honors. The Cougars made three consecutive appearances to the NCAA Tournament from 2001 to 2003, and have placed golfers on the All-America Team four years in a row. Head golf coach Jim Gourlay was named the National Coach of the Year in 2003, after directing Averett to the national crown.

Relatively new to the department, the Averett baseball team has grown into one of the top programs in the South Region. Averett has won 22 or more games in five consecutive seasons (from 2000 to 2004) and earned its first conference title and NCAA appearance in 2003. With Ed Fulton at the helm, a former All-American at Florida State and pro baseball veteran, the Cougars have become one of the front-runners in what is considered as one of the toughest leagues in the nation, the USA South Conference. Fulton and the Cougar program have produced numerous professional ball players, two All-Americans, and a Division III National Pitcher of the Year.

Another program that has enjoyed recent success is the Averett softball team. Led by Kathy Bocock, the 2004 Cougars won their first USA South Conference Tournament title and made their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Bocock also earned her 200 th career coaching win in 2004 after a sweep of LaGrange College. Averett softball has posted six consecutive 20-win seasons and was USA South Co-Regular Season Champions in 1995.

In only its fourth season of competition, the Averett football team was a force to reckon with in 2003. Head coach Mike Dunlevy inherited a program with only three wins during its first two seasons of existence and quickly turned the team into a contender. In 2003, Dunlevy’s second season, the Cougars posted the program’s first winning season with a 5-4 record. In fact, Averett also recorded a third place 3-3 mark in conference play during 2003. An impressive feat, considering the program is only four years old.

Other programs that have enjoyed championship success include the men’s basketball team, who won the USA South Conference title and advanced to the “Sweet 16” of the NCAA Tournament in 1990. The women’s tennis team has captured six conference titles in the program’s history and has also produced an ITA Rolex Division III Champion. The men’s soccer team enjoyed success in the early 80’s and has captured three conference titles, as well as three NCAA Tournament appearances. Averett also owns a conference championship in women’s cross country.