W&L Snares First Region Title

W&L Snares First Region Title

The 11th-ranked W&L women’s volleyball team swept Christopher Newport University in straight sets to win the NCAA Division III Regional Championship for the first time in program history on Saturday evening in Newport News.

W&L (35-12), who went 12-0 in the ODAC and won its second consecutive ODAC title, battled to a 27-25, 25-19, 25-15 win over CNU (26-10).

Avery Myers led the Generals with 19 kills and had 10 digs, while Riley Debiec contributed 11 kills, and Grace Mitchener chipped in eight kills and led W&L with 19 digs and two aces. Mitchener and Debiec led the Generals with three blocks each, while Allie Buchholz dished out a team-high 40 kills, and Vivi Vasqeuz chipped in 13 digs.

The Generals advanced to the regional finals by earning a 3-0 win over John Jay College (22-7) in the quarterfinals on Thursday and capturing a 3-1 victory over Stevens (28-7) on Friday. Both matches were in Newport News.

After Thanksgiving break, the Generals, guided by 25thyear head coach Bryan Snyder, will take on No. 2 Hope College in the NCAA quarterfinals next Wednesday, Dec. 4, at 7 p.m. at Roanoke College’s Cregger Center in Salem.

For W&L’s schedule and updates, visit www.generalssports. com.

W&L Men In

Final Four

For the third time in four years, the W&L men’s soccer team is headed to the NCAA Division III national semifinals.

The No. 20 Generals (15-3-6) advanced by earning a 3-2 win over No. 6 Dickinson College (17-4-3) on Sunday afternoon in Carlisle, Pa.

Just 1:32 into the game, W&L took a 1-0 lead on a penalty kick by Lucas Pleasants. Dickinson’s Timi Omoniwa scored in the 18th minute to tie it 1-1, but the Generals scored the next two goals, one by Spencer Furman in the 38th minute and one by Jack Travis in the 62nd minute to put W&L up 3-1. Dickinson’s Daniel Spataro scored on a penalty kick just 11 seconds after Travis’s goal, but neither team would score again after that.

W&L had advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating Williams College (12-4-4) in a shootout on Saturday, also in Carlisle, Pa.

Will Luik scored in the 30th minute to put the Generals up 1-0, but Andrew Coelho scored three-and-a-half minutes later to tie the game 1-1. The game remained tied for the rest of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime.

The Generals won the shootout 4-3, with Luik scoring the winning penalty kick and W&L goalkeeper Will Joseph making three saves.

W&L, guided by first-year head coach Lumumba Shabazz, will travel to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas after Thanksgiving break to take on Connecticut College (13-2-7) in the national semifinals on Saturday, Dec. 5, at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The winner will advance to the national championship game, which will take place on Saturday at 3 p.m. EST, also at UNLV. In both of the Generals’ recent appearances in the Final Four, they lost in the semifinals, falling to national runner-up Amherst College in a penalty shootout last year.

For more on the games, visit www.generalssports.com.

W&L Wins

First Bowl

Ty Collins threw for 171 yards and two touchdowns Washington and Lee University football team to a 40-21 win over Wilkes University in the Cape Henry Bowl on Saturday afternoon at Salem Stadium in Salem.

It was the first postseason bowl win in history for W&L (7-4).

Jacob Romero ran for 151 yards and one TD for the Generals, while Anthony Crawford rushed for 139 yards. Fidel Small ran for two TDs and Marcus Payne ran for one. Andrew Bland had two TD catches.

W&L racked up 529 total yards of offense, while Wilkes (7-4) had 286 yards.

Guiding the Generals was 16th-year head coach Garrett LeRose.

For more on the game and the season for W&L, which went 5-2 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, visit www.generalssports. com.

Generals

Cap Historic

Season

The No. 10 W&L women’s cross country team capped a historic season by placing eighth of 32 teams at the NCAA Division III national championship meet, while the No. 19 W&L men placed a program-best 21st of 32 teams on Saturday at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Ind.

After winning NCAA Division III South Regional title a week earlier in Clinton, Miss., the W&L women tallied 298 points. MIT won the meet with 128 points, the University of Chicago (128) placed second, and Williams (155) finished third. Rounding out the top five were New York University (177) and Johns Hopkins (256).

Sophomore Olivia Warr led the Generals, placing ninth of 290 harriers on the 6-kilometer course in 21 minutes, 13.5 seconds. With her high finish, Warr earned All-America honors. Wilmington (Ohio) sophomore Faith Duncan won in 20:16.5.

The W&L men had placed 21st at the national meet in 1995, but only 21 teams competed then. On Saturday, the Generals tallied 21 points. Wisconsin-La Crosse won with 77 points, Wartburg (173) placed second, and Pomona-Pitzer (182) finished third. Rounding out the top five were Wisconsin-Whitewater (219) and NYC (220).

Leading the Generals was sophomore Robert Cooper, who placed 51st of 294 harriers on the 8K course in 24:53. Wisconsin-Whitewater senior Christian Patzka won the race in 24:01.6.

Guiding the W&L men, who placed third at the regional meet, is 12th-year head coach Brandon Spalding, while 11th-year head coach Michael Dager coaches the women.

Competing as an individual in the men’s race was Southern Virginia University sophomore Kaleen Ruder, placing 242nd in 26:04.9. At the helm for the Knights is sixth-year Kyle Chandler.

For more on the Generals’ season, visit www.generalssports. com. For more on the Knights, visit knightathletics.com.

W&L

Women Fall

The ninth-ranked W&L women’s soccer team concluded its season with a 2-0 loss to No. 11 William Smith College in the NCAA Round of 16 on Saturday in Scranton, Pa.

Marjorie Plants scored for the Herons (15-3-4) in the 44th minute, and Ruth Hotaling scored William Smith’s second goal in the 49th minute.

Sophie Berman and Elizabeth Zimmerman led W&L (20-2-1) with two shots each, but neither found the net.

Goalkeeper Abby Groff made five saves for the Generals, and Kate McEnroe played in goal for the final 16:19 and made one save. Kirsten Nelson played all 90 minutes for W&L and made six saves.

The game ended a historic season for the Generals, who won a program-record 20 games, going 11-0-0 in the ODAC before winning the ODAC title. Guiding W&L is third-year head coach Tiffany Pins.

For more on the game and the Generals’ season, visit www. generalssports.com.

Trinity

Downs SVU

The SVU women’s volleyball team concluded its season with a 3-0 loss to No. 15 Trinity University in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament on Thursday afternoon in Atlanta, Ga.

The Knights (22-12), who were coming off winning the USA South Conference title after going 15-3 in the conference, put together an inspiring performance against No. 15 Trinity, which earned a 25-13, 25-21, 25-23 win. The Tigers (26-7) would defeat Berry College 3-0 on Friday before falling 3-1 at No. 6 Emory University on Saturday.

Brookelyn Madland led SVU with 12 kills and had two aces, while Brenna Clyde and Sydney Bassett each added seven kills for the Knights. Ruby Blamires paced SVU with 25 assists, while Gracie Fulton led the Knights with 15 digs.

The Knights are under the direction of seventh-year head coach Debby Baker.

For more on the final match and SVU women’s volleyball, visit knightathletics.com.