NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- A busy week at the Freeman Center is on tap for the Christopher Newport volleyball team as the Captains (18-6) put a six-match winning streak on the line with three matches over a four-day span starting on Wednesday night. CNU will welcome Mary Washington (9-9) at 6:00 p.m. before a weekend chock full of action as Salisbury University (14-7) and Washington and Lee University (18-3) are set to travel to Newport News.
On Friday night, the Captains will take on the Sea Gulls at 6:00 p.m. to kick off the weekend schedule. Then on Halloween, W&L will face off against Salisbury in a neutral site matchup at 11:00 a.m. before CNU takes on the Generals, receiving votes in the AVCA/Taraflex Division III Coaches' Poll, at 2:00 p.m.
All four matches this week will feature live stats and a live video webcast with links available at CNUsports.com. Admission to CNU volleyball matches is free of charge.
The week starts on Wednesday night as the Captains welcome in Mary Washington for the 54th all-time meeting between the two programs. CNU trails the all-time series, 23-30, but have won five in a row dating back to the 2023 season with all five being 3-0 victories. On Friday, CNU takes on Salisbury for the second time this season after capturing a 3-0 win on the road against the Sea Gulls last week. The Captains are 32-21 all-time against Salisbury including a 16-7 record in home games. Finally, the Captains take on Washington and Lee on Saturday with a 26-17 all-time winning record against the Generals.
This season, the Captains have registered a top-20 hitting percentage in Division III with a .240 mark as a team. Rookie
Jasmine Williams (.338) and a pair of seniors in
Simara Alexander (.321) and
Alli Pratt (.313) lead the way for the CNU attack and all rank among the top 110 players in the nation this year. Williams ranks 52nd, Alexander 90th, and Pratt 109th with 505 combined kills accounting for nearly half of CNU's offensive production this year.
On the defensive side, the Captains also feature an intimidating net presence and rank 17th nationally in blocks per set and 32nd nationally in total blocks. Williams leads all CNU players with 63 blocks including a team-high 24 while Pratt has added 58 total blocks with 22 individual terminations. Six Captains have piled up over 100 digs including a team-high 214 (2.85 per set) from senior
Maddie Hanes.
Mary Washington comes in having won four in a row and have been led this season by Natalie Brown with 147 kills (2.49 per set) and Alice Holoubek with 138 (2.23 per set). Holoubek has also logged a team-high 57 blocks while Kathleen Harbaugh has added 48 stops at the net. The two teams matched up on October 3 in the C2C Quad Matches at Mary Washington and CNU earned a 3-0 win.
CNU and Salisbury have faced off even more recently with a pairing on the road for the Captains last Wednesday, October 21. Kiley McTaggart is leading the team this season by piling up 4.36 points per set and taking the second most swings per set in the conference this season. She has 219 kills (3.53 per set) and ranks second on the team with 46 blocks.
Also closing out the home-and-home series for 2026 will be the matchup against Washington and Lee after CNU earned a 3-1 win on the road on October 17. The Generals lead the nation in digs per set with 21.15 while being led by All-American Vivi Vasquez with 5.73 per set. Grace Mitchener, also an All-American, leads the offense with 222 total kills (3.47 per set).
The three-match week sets up the end of the season as Christopher Newport has just one more match remaining following this weekend. The regular season will conclude on Saturday, November 7 for Senior Day at 3:00 p.m. against Bridgewater College.
