Many fans have come to enjoy and await our annual feature posts where we take a look back at the year that was in DelVal Athletics. Despite the circumstances and the shorten seasons, we didn't want to end the tradition, so we're back with another Year in Review, but we've made some slight changes to the categories.

Our features will run every Wednesday for the next seven weeks leading into August and the start of the new athletics season. We begin with the classic, A-Z of DelVal Athletics, and will proceed with the following schedule:
 
Top 5 Surprises – July 1
Top 5 Plays of the Year – July 8
Top 5 Off-The-Field Moments – July 15
Top 10 Games of the Year (#6 - #10) – July 22
Top 10 Games of the Year (#2 - #5) – July 27
#1 Game of the Year - Aug. 4
 
 
As always, these lists are completely subjective and open for debate. We hope you engage with us and send us your feedback, thoughts, or what YOUR lists would have looked like. Find us on social media @DelValAggies and use the hashtag #AggiesYIR,
 
Enjoy, #AggieNation!
 
A – All-Americans – DelVal Athletics crowned six All-Americans this year including a program-record five individuals from the football team. Michael Nobile and Dan Allen were first team All-Americans by two publications while Tahmir Barksdale and Justin Harris earned second team honors and Kenyonn Jones was an honorable mention. Men's Wrestling crowned an All-American in senior Kordell Rush.
B – Bailey and the Blue Bombers – Rasheed Bailey, who finished his playing career at DelVal in 2014, and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers hoisted the Canadian Football League's ultimate prize when they became Grey Cup Champions on November 24, 2019. Bailey had two catches for 15 yards in the championship game, and nearly came down with a touchdown, but the play was reversed after video review.
C – Collyer, Sam – Collyer rejoined the field hockey team after a year away, and put together a stellar offensive season that saw her land second team all-MAC Freedom honors. She led the Aggies with nine goals and 18 points including one game-winning tally. She was at her best when it mattered most in MAC Freedom play as she racked up seven goals. She recorded at least one goal in six of the seven conference games.  
D – Daniels, Austin – Daniels capped his career with a senior season to remember as he led the MAC Freedom with nine goals and three game-winners, and finished second in the league with 20 points on his way to All-MAC Freedom honors. He had three multi-goal games and at least one tally in six different contests. 
E – Equestrian – The DelVal Equestrian teams once again shined despite a season that was cut short. The Hunt Seat team was off to an electric start as they finished as High Point Champions or Reserve Champions in each of their eight shows this season, including six High Point Champion finishes. Meanwhile, the Dressage team came away with a first place finish in its lone show of the year as it beat out 10 schools at Centenary's hosted show.
F – Faculty – DelVal's student-athletes put together one of the best academic semesters in school history. The challenges were endless, and a lot of gratitude and credit goes to the faculty of DVU that worked diligently with students to provide the resources they needed to succeed.
G – GPAs – The student-athletes combined for a semester GPA of 3.4 with 80% of student-athletes going above a 3.0 and 53 reaching a perfect 4.0. 22 teams in total had a combined GPA of 3.0 or above.
H – Hall of Fame – For the first time ever, the DelVal Athletics department inducted an entire team into its Hall of Fame. The 1988-89 wrestling team that was ranked as high as number 1 in the country and went on to earn a runner-up finish with three individual National Champions at the 1989 NCAA National Championships. Later in the year, women's basketball standout Alisa (DiBonaventura) Kintner was recognized a member of the 2020 MAC Hall of Fame class.
I – Inquirer – Four Aggies were named to the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Team. All four were seniors in the classroom and members of the football team - Anthony Fontana, Mario Nigro, Nick Restaino, and Aaron Nelson.
J – Jumping Beans – It has become a well-received tradition at DelVal basketball games for nearly the last decade. The Kutz Elementary Jumping Beans performed as the halftime entertainment at two of the DelVal home basketball games this season and are slated to be back for another high-energy performance next year.
K – Klingerman, Patrick – Klingerman took over as the head women's volleyball coach midway through the regular season and propelled the Aggies to a strong finish as they won 4 of their final 7 matches and reach the most wins for the program since the 2013 season.
L – Leigh Jaynes – A world bronze medalist at the 2015 World Championships, Jaynes was hired in November to lead the upstart women's wrestling program. Her Aggies are set to take to the mat for the inaugural campaign this winter.
M – Mental Health Week – Championed by the DelVal Student Athlete Advisory Committee, the DelVal Athletic department put on an educational and interactive Mental Health Week in May. In partnership with the NCAA, the Aggies are advocates in breaking the stigma against mental health issues that include emotional, psychological, and social well-being.
N – Nobile – The Nobile brothers set the tone along the defensive line for one of the top units in all of college football. Anthony suffered an injury that sidelined him for four weeks, but that didn't hold him back from earning all-MAC accolades. His brother, Michael, was named the conference's defensive player of the year for the second straight season and was crowned the east region defensive player of the year as he led all players in college football (across all divisions) with 31 tackles for loss to go with 12 sacks and 75 tackles.
O – Overtime – It was a common theme in the early going of the 2019-20 campaign and it showed its face again on the regional stage in the winter. It began with the men's soccer team playing four overtime games in a span of 10 days, and coming away, 3-0-1. Austin Daniels scored two of the three game-winners and Sean Maley headed home the other. Then, with DelVal hosting rival Wesley in week 2 of the football season, fans in attendance were treated to a 4-overtime thriller (the longest game in program history) that ended with the Wolverines on top, but set the stage for a sweet revenge in late November. Still in the fall season, field hockey topped them all with four overtime games in one season. The most memorable was a 3-2 home triumph over Moravian that saw Madi Colon deflect a shot into the cage with assists from Alexa Aguilar and Jess Dixon. Women's soccer and men's basketball each came out on the wrong end of their lone overtime contests, but men's wrestling's Kordell Rush capped the run of OT moments with the best of the year on one of the biggest stages. Rush needed a win in the NCAA Southeast Regional semi-final match to punch his ticket to the National Championships. His match against Josia Gehr (Messiah) went into overtime tied at 10-10. Gehr shot first in the extra session, but Rush was able to grab the ankle of his opponent and roll into position for the winning takedown. If you're counting, that was 10 overtime games during the fall and winter of 2019-20.
P – PJ Rafferty – Rafferty, who is already the program's all-time leader in points and assists, was off to a furious start in his final season. The graduate student was leading the team with an incredible 33 points on 17 goals and 16 assists through seven games. He etched a new spot in the Aggies' record book when he set new single-game records with 10 points and six assists in a win over Gwynedd Mercy. With spring athletes granted another season of eligibility, we may not have seen the last of Rafferty, although no final decision has been made.
Q – Qualifier – Wrestling's Kordell Rush was a national qualifier for the second time in his career. The 133-pound senior took third at the NCAA Southeast Regionals and was poised for a run at a national title.
R – Records – New names were etched into the Aggie archives across many different sports this year as records were broken and new standards were set. Anthony Fontana, quarterback for DelVal football, was the most accurate and efficient single-season passer in program history with a 62.8% completion percentage and a 155.6 passing efficiency rating while Tahmir Barksdale and Nick Restaino set multiple records in their specialties of punt returns and place kicking, respectively. We already mentioned PJ Rafferty's record breaking performances for the men's lacrosse team, but Damian Washington from men's basketball and Logan Cooper from men's track and field also had stand-out performances. Washington tied the second highest single game scoring mark with 44 points at home against FDU and Cooper set a new program record in the indoor 400-meter run with a mark of 51.74 seconds.  
S – Seniors – Our seniors are our life blood and we would not be who/what/where we are without them. We are saddened by the loss of the senior season for many of our spring athletes, but we cannot wait to have them back on campus and contributing as Alumni.
T – Taylor, Andrew – Andrew Taylor was selected as the new full-time head men's wrestling coach on April 20 after a nationwide search. Taylor becomes the 10^th coach in the program's storied history.
U – Unbeaten – DelVal Football broke a long-standing Middle Atlantic Conference record as it extended its conference unbeaten streak to 28 in-a-row with another perfect slate of conference play. Men's soccer added to the unbeaten ranks with a program-record four-game unbeaten streak.
V – Virus – Let's not talk about it.
W – Washington, Damian – Junior Damian Washington recorded his 1,000^th career point on February 5^th in a thrilling one-point victory at home over Misericordia. He went on to lead the squad with career-highs of 19 points per game, 39 assists, 24 blocked shots, 7.7 rebounds per game, and a 47.5 field-goal percentage, on his way to all-MAC Freedom accolades.
X – Xcitement – Few things this year were more exciting than football's NCAA Playoff run. The "road dogs" embraced their role and shocked many throughout Division III as they won two playoff games as road underdogs at Bridgewater (Va.) and in revenge fashion against rival Wesley. Those two wins sent them to Naperville, Illinois, just outside Chicago, where they gave eventual national champion North Central all they could handle.
Y – Year like no other – Never before has the NCAA had to cancel multiple championships including all of the winter and spring championship events. Nobody could have prepared for what these student-athletes, coaches, and administrators had to deal with and the hope is we never see anything like it again.
Z – ZAG Field Hockey Scholar of Distinction – For the second straight year, field hockey senior Kita Konerth earned the prestigious ZAG/NFHCA Scholar of Distinction for maintaining a GPA over 3.90.