MARSHALL, Texas -- Christopher Newport freshman
Jasmine Williams put together a historic performance to help lead the Captains volleyball team to a dominant 3-0 win over McMurry (1-5) on Friday afternoon before the team fell to 12th-ranked East Texas Baptist (5-3) in the nightcap at the 2026 ETBU Invite hosted by the Tigers. CNU improved to 5-4 with the opening day split and will return to action on Saturday with a final matchup in the event against Hendrix College.
Williams had the most impressive outing of her young career when she delivered 14 kills on 18 swings without an error against the War Hawks. Her effort ranks as one of the top-ten all-time hitting percentage performances in program history as she tied Liz Bush (vs. Shenandoah on Nov. 1, 2005) and Christie Fellows (vs. Shenandoah on Sep. 28, 2011) for the ninth-highest attack percentage in program history with a .778 mark. It also stands as the second-highest hititng percentage by a freshman, behind only Eliza Fisher (13-0-16 vs. UC Santa Cruz on Oct. 3, 2014).
The rookie effort also came paired with seven blocks in the match, which falls just shy of joining the top-five all-time by a freshman in program lore. Williams had a well-balanced outing with five kills in the first and second sets followed by four more in the third to close out the win. As a team, the Captains hit .415 to mark the highest percentage since swinging at a .430 clip last season at Mary Washington on October 1, 2025.
CNU won the first match by a final score of 25-12, 25-23, 25-10 and improved to 5-3 on the season. Later in the day, the Captains battled against the nationally-ranked hosts but ultimately suffered a 3-0 loss by a score of 25-19, 27-25, 25-17.
Simara Alexander led the Captains in the second match, piling up 10 kills against the Tigers.
Emmy Carpenedo was just shy of a double-double with eight kills and nine digs while
Maddie Hanes led all CNU players with 10 digs in the match.
The day started with CNU cruising to a first-set win against the War Hawks in dominant fashion. After a back-and-forth start, the Captains raced ahead with a 13-4 run to take a ten-point advantage in the opening set against McMurry. Headlining the spurt was Williams, who piled up four kills including three facilitated by sophomore setter
Lauren Hobbs. Hobbs also found
Carley Coghill, Alexander, and Carpenedo in the run while adding a perfectly placed dump over the net for her own kill. With a big advantage, the Captains rolled by McMurry in the opener, 25-12, punctuated by Williams' fifth kill of the match to set up set point.
In the second set, McMurry looked to regain some footing with a strong start, but the Captains had the answer all the way through. After both teams traded mini-runs to start, the match was knotted up at eight points apiece and neither team led by more than two the rest of the set. Back and forth the teams traded blows until a Williams kill, Williams block, and McMurry error sealed up the second set.
The Captains controlled the final set as they dealt the decisive blow with a 11-4 run to start the clinching set.
Sylvia Wargolet did the bulk of the work at the line, keeping the War Hawks on their heels with eight straight services. Hobbs then had a long stint at the line and Hanly stretched the lead to 14 (21-7), before a timeout momentarily slowed the attack. The breather lasted just one point, though, as CNU got another electric kill by the freshman, Williams, before Carpenedo, Coghill, and Alexander all finished for the win.
Both
Fielding Croft and Hobbs finished with 18 assists in the win against McMurry while four players - Alexander, Hanly,
Alli Pratt, and Coghill - ranked second behind Williams with six kills apiece.
After a break for another matchup, the Captains returned to the floor to take on the host Tigers of ETBU at 5:30 p.m. Facing a hostile environment, the Captains jumped out to a 4-3 lead and held the first set close until it was 15-13. The hosts scored 10 of the next 16 points to clinch the first set, 25-19. Christopher Newport rebounded quickly in the second and flipped a two-point deficit into a four-point advantage with a 6-0 run to make it 13-9. Hanes was on serve in the run, which included kills by herself, Alexander, and Coghill. The hosts took a timeout and responded out of the intermission to re-take a lead, 18-15. The Tigers continued to extend, getting to set point at 24-21, before the Captains showed their grit in the second set.
Facing set point in the second, Pratt and Alexander issued a big block and then Alexander added a kill to knot things back up. The teams traded points to make it 25-all, but ultimately the Tigers finished off the win, 27-25. The third set featured another pivotal run with ETBU taking a 9-2 edge to start. The Captains could not climb out of the hole and ended up surrendering the match, 25-17, in the third.
Croft had 18 assists and Hobbs added 14. On day one of the tournament, Alexander had 16 kills while Williams led the team with 19.
CNU will return to action on Saturday morning facing Hendrix College at 9:00 a.m. to wrap up the Texas trip.
