FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- Seeking the team's third straight conference championship, the Christopher Newport volleyball team will begin defense of the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Championship in the semifinal round on Friday against an opponent to be determined in the quarterfinal round on Friday morning. CNU will play against either #4 Mary Washington or #5 Regent at 4:00 p.m. with a chance to advance to the C2C finals on Saturday.
The 2026 C2C Tournament will be hosted by the University of Mary Washington at the Anderson Center in Fredericksburg, Virginia. For fans unable to attend in person, live stats and a live video webcast will be available for all the matches in the tournament. Links can be found on the volleyball schedule at CNUsports.com or through
the tournament website here.
After the quarterfinal matchup between the Eagles and Royals, the first semifinal will be played at 1:30 p.m. between #2 Salisbury and #3 UC Santa Cruz. The losing teams from the semifinals will play in a third-place match at Noon on Saturday followed by the conference title bout at 3:00 p.m.
CNU enters the weekend of play with a 20-8 overall record while facing one of the most challenging schedules in Division III this season. Head coach
Lindsay Birch and assistant coach
Katie Hulett were named the 2026 C2C Coaching Staff of the Year for helping guide the Captains through the tumultuous schedule which has included 17 matches away from home this year. CNU is 8-2 as a true road team and 5-2 in neutral site matches heading into Friday's game.
On the floor, a well-balanced team was led by the 2026 C2C Rookie, Player, and Defensive Player of the Year in freshman
Jasmine Williams. The rookie from Stafford, Va. collected a record-breaking haul of hardware when the All-Conference awards were announced on Thursday after posting one of the best freshman seasons in program history. She leads the team with 215 kills and has logged a .341 attack percentage to rank second all-time for first-year players at CNU. Williams has added a team-high 70 blocks and has played in all but one match in her first year with 25 starts.
Adding depth up front has been seniors
Simara Alexander and
Alli Pratt, who both earned All-Conference honors in 2026. Alexander is hitting .312 with 191 kills and Pratt is at .300 with 195 kills. The duo have combined for 110 blocks this season with Pratt boasting 66 and Alexander adding 44. Alexander is also the team's leader in aces with 33 and is entering the C2C Tournament as the reigning conference tournament MVP.
