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Women's Volleyball

Generals Season Closes in NCAA Volleyball First Round

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. --- Playing in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in the last five seasons, the Washington and Lee University women's volleyball team saw their season come to a close as they fell to Berry College (Ga.) in straight sets in the Regional Quarterfinals on Thursday evening at the TowneBank Arena.

HOW IT HAPPENED (BC, 19-25, 28-30, 16-25)
  • Berry (25-7) opened the match with a 5-3 lead before W&L (23-10) took a 7-6 lead with a 4-1 run that featured kills from Grace Mitchener and Emery Goerig, as well as a pair of errors from the Vikings. Both teams traded points before the Vikings rattled off five straight to reclaim a four-point lead. The Generals cut the lead to one with another 4-1 run, highlighted by a pair of kills from Mitchener, one from Goerig, and a block from Riley Debiec and Ava Gaines. Following three straight points from Berry, the Blue and White responded with a 5-2 run to bring the score to 19-18 in favor of the Vikings. The stretch featured kills from Goerig and Cara Hamil, along with three errors from Berry. However, the Vikings closed the set on a 6-1 run to claim the first frame, 25-19.
  • After a Keira Kruk kill secured the first point for Berry, W&L went on a 5-1 run to take a three-point lead early in the second set. The scoring stretch included kills from Hamil, Mitchener, and Debiec, as well as a block from Debiec and Gaines. The Blue and White followed up with another 5-1 run after back-to-back points from the Vikings to extend their lead to 10-5, thanks to kills from Mitchener and Gaines and a Debiec service ace. Berry cut the W&L lead to three with a 3-1 scoring stretch. Both teams traded points with the Generals maintaining their lead until Berry rattled off a 5-1 run to take a 21-20 lead—their first lead since the opening point. Berry had five chances to close the second set, but kills from Hamil, Debiec, and Goerig kept the Generals alive. Goerig and Hamil then registered back-to-back kills to put W&L at set point, but three straight kills from Berry secured the set, 30-28.
  • The Vikings opened the third frame with a 3-1 lead before the Blue and White responded with four straight points to go up 5-3, thanks to back-to-back kills from Debiec and a block from Gaines and Mitchener. After trading points, Berry went on a 4-0 run to take an 11-8 lead on three kills and an error. An ensuing 3-1 run from W&L cut the lead to one, highlighted by a pair of kills from Hamil and one from Emily Schellenberg. However, the Vikings extended their lead to five with a 5-1 run before pushing it to 24-15 following a 7-1 scoring stretch. A block from Goerig and Gaines momentarily halted the run, but Cali Armstead delivered the final kill to secure the sweep for Berry..
TOP PERFORMERS
  • Madie Whitehead of Berry led the match with 14 kills on 39 attempts with four errors for a .256 hitting percentage while Keira Kruk also reached double-digits, recording 13 kills on 46 swings. Cara Hamil led the Generals with 12 kills on 48 attempts for a .125 hitting percentage.
  • Ava Brovet led Berry and the match with 42 assists while adding six kills. Sienna Nichoson dished out a team-high 25 in the loss while registering 11 digs. Andrea Hurt of Berry posted a match-high 33 digs in the win while Whitehead (16), Shelby Harris (13) and Kruk (11) each reached double figures. Vivi Vasquez led the Blue and White with 21 digs. Grace Mitchener (18) and Penelope Quiles (14) both recorded double digit digs in the win as well.
  • Aliee England posted a match-high five service aces in the win for the Vikings while three other players each had one. Riley Debiec led the Generals with two while Quiles added one ace. Ava Gaines led the match with five block assists while Debiec added three. Rovet and Blakely Barnes of Berry each had three block assists with Barnes registering the lone solo block of the match.
W&L GAME NOTES
  • The Blue and White registered 36 kills on 160 attempts with 20 errors for a .100 hitting percentage while recording a .236 clip in the second set with 17 kills on 55 swings. They registered three service aces, five blocks, 34 assists and 82 digs in the match as well.
  • Hear from head coach Bryan Snyder '95 and first-year's Sienna Nichoson and Cara Hamil following the match HERE.
END OF SEASON NOTES
  • The Generals conclude their 2025 campaign with a 23-10 overall record while finishing 8-3 in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) play. They hoisted their third-straight and 21st overall ODAC title while playing in the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season.
  • W&L played in the fourth-most matches in program history with 33, tying the 2023 squad, which had an overall record of 22-11.
  • The Blue and White garnered three All-ODAC citations, as Riley Debiec, Grace Mitchener, and Vivi Vasquez all earned First Team honors. The trio was also selected to the Region 6 First Team, making them eligible for the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-America Team which will be announced on Wednesday, November 26.
  • Vivi Vasquez posted the fourth-most digs in a single season, registering 493 during her junior campaign. She ranks No. 2 all-time in career digs with 1,656 — only 194 digs away from surpassing Caroline Gard's '23 program record of 1,849.
  • Riley Debiec finished her career ranked ninth all-time in kills with 1,236 and seventh in sets played in a career with 456, which is tied with Susan Gaillard '06.
  • Mitchener capped off her junior season ranked 13th in career digs with 1,158, moving past Sydney Heifner '24 after today's match. She also ranks 15th in career kills with 1,071.