Christopher Newport University

LEXINGTON, Va. -- Setting a season-high for any Christopher Newport player in both kills and digs while registering a career-high 18 kills and 24 digs, junior Avery Hanly helped lift the Captains (15-6) to a 3-1 win at Washington and Lee University (15-3) on Saturday afternoon. Taking on the Generals, receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25 poll, the Captains earned an 18-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-22 on the road.

Hanly highlighted a group of four Captains with 10+ kills while Samantha Dorn added a season-high nine and Jasmine Williams poured in eight. In addition to Hanly's career-high 18 kills, Simara Alexander added 13, Alli Pratt had 12, and Carley Coghill notched 11 kills in the win. 

While she dominated on the offensive side of the ball, Hanly had a particularly impressive day on defense with a career-high-tying 24 digs. She first picked up 24 balls off the hardwood against Cortland on November 20, 2025 and matched her personal best on Saturday. She also logged the most kills in a 20+ dig performance since Abby McIntyre posted a 19 kill, 22 dig effort against Randolph-Macon in the NCAA Tournament on November 14, 2015. 

She led a tremendous defensive performance with a season-high 107 digs. It marks the most digs by the Captains since recording 112 at home against Salisbury on November 16, 2024. Six CNU players finished in double figures with Hanly's team-high 24 followed by 15 apiece by Lanie Goff and Lauren Hobbs, 13 each for Dorn and Maddie Hanes, and 11 by Fielding Croft. Hobbs and Croft each recorded double-doubles with 29 and 33 assists, respectively, paired with the dig totals. 

The Captains led the first set, 15-14, with a kill by Hanly before Washington and Lee used a 6-0 run to pull away late in the set. Despite two kills by Williams and one by Coghill, the Captains were unable to hold off the Generals at home in the opening set and suffered a 25-18 loss. 

The home team attempted to parlay that momentum into a quick start in the second by scoring four of the first five points and holding onto the lead for the next dozen or so points on either side. W&L held a five-point edge, 19-14, before the Captains flipped the scrpit and scored seven of the next nine to knot the second set up at 21-all. Grace Mitchener earned a kill to slow the run, but CNU would not be denied with two straight kills by Hanly to take the first lead of the set, 23-22. The come-from-behind effort was capped by a kill by Williams and a set-winning ace by Hanly. 

In the third set, the Captains controlled the score throughout and pulled away for a 25-16 win. After W&L pulled within one, 13-12, the Captains finished out the set with a 12-4 run. 

Showcasing the high caliber of competition in the fourth and final set, the teams never separated by more than four points in a back-and-forth affair. CNU managed to keep the lead throughout and created some distance after it was 8-7. Coghill ripped a kill off a feed by Hanes to kickstart a 4-1 run that was enough to provide the necessary space for CNU to hold off a comeback bid. The Generals closed to within one three more times, but each time the Captains responded to avoid the tie and ultimately finished off a 25-22 win in the clinching set. 

The win came in the penultimate road game of the season for Christopher Newport, who will make their final road trip on October 21 at Salisbury University. The match against the Sea Gulls is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.