LEXINGTON, Va. -- The Old Dominion Athletic Conference announced the pairings for the upcoming Volleyball Championship and Washington and Lee earned the No. 3 seed.
 
Head Coach Bryan Snyder is closing in on his 23rd season at the helm of the program and has led the team to 14 ODAC titles, 14 NCAA appearances and has tallied 12 Conference Coach of the Year honors. During his time leading the squad, the Generals have qualified for the tournament each season including winning eight-straight conference titles from 2001-08.

Entering into the tournament, the Blue and White (18-10, 10-2) were involved in a three-way tie for the second position with ODAC newcomer Averett University (18-10, 10-2) and Randolph-Macon College (20-6, 10-2), while Virginia Wesleyan University (20-7, 11-1) claimed the top-seed outright with a league-best 11-1 record. 

The Cougars, Yellow Jackets and Generals all finished their conference slate 10-2 forcing the three into tie-break protocols. Between the trio, Averett went 2-0 in head-to-head matchups to claim the second seed. Washington and Lee fell to AU, but defeated R-MC to earn the third seed.

Bridgewater (17-11, 9-3), Lynchburg (15-11, 7-5), Eastern Mennonite (8-13, 5-7) and Roanoke (12-12, 5-7) rounded out the qualifying field. The Generals went 5-2 over the tournament teams and notched three decisive sweeps over BC, LYN and RC. W&L's other wins featured a full five-sets in Lexington over Randolph-Macon and a four-set match at Eastern Mennonite. 

Averett dished out a 3-2 loss to the Generals on October 4. The second-seeded Cougars snapped an 33-match ODAC regular season winning-streak spanned over 1,095 days for the Generals, and the top-seeded Marlins defeated W&L, 3-1, in Lexington on October 19. 

The two-time defending ODAC Champions, W&L will host No. 6 seed Lynchburg on Wednesday, November 2 at 6:30 p.m. for the quarterfinal contest. 

The two teams met on September 24 and the Generals swept the Hornets in 25-21, 25-23, and 25-22 sets. Junior outside hitter Sydney Heifner (Nashville, Tenn. / Harpeth Hall) led the Blue and White offense with 16 kills and dug out 14 attempts. Caroline Gard (Naperville, Ill. / Benet Academy), who is the all-time leader in digs at W&L, matched Heifner's reception tally. 

On the court, Heifner, the reigning ODAC Play of the Year, leads Division III in total attacks with 1,369 and she is second in kills (431) and kills per set (3.72). She is also second in overall points (481.5) and points per set (4.2). Heifner is one of five players in Division III with at least 375 kills and digs, and over those five she has the highest kill total for the year. 

Gard broke the all-time digs record for W&L this season and the libero cracked into the ODAC Top-10 statistical list, and is climbing through the conference ranks with 1,813 in just 108 matches thanks to a shortened 2021 spring season. Both Heifner and Gard were recognized with AVCA All-Region honors during the 2021 season and grabbed first team All-ODAC honors along with setter Ashley Webb (Thousand Oaks, Calif. / Westlake). Webb leads the team in assists with 864 and in service aces (54). Classmate outside hitter Maggie McSwain (Atlanta, Ga. / Westminster) has tallied 70 blocks for the season.

The Generals will begin the chase for the program's 19th ODAC title at 6:30 p.m. in Holekamp Gymnasium and host the Lynchburg Hornets. Admission into the quarterfinal game will be free.

Live stats and video will be available. For full tournament information, click here.
 
ODAC VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Quarterfinals | Wednesday, November 2 | at Seeds 1-4
Match 1: #8 Roanoke at #1 Virginia Wesleyan | 6 p.m. 
Match 2: #5 Bridgewater at #4 Randolph-Macon | 7 p.m.
Match 3: #6 Lynchburg at #3 Washington and Lee | 6:30 p.m.
Match 4: #7 Eastern Mennonite at #2 Averett | 7 p.m.

Semifinals | Friday, November 4 | at Highest Remaining Seed for Each Matchup
Match 5: Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2 | TBA
Match 6: Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4 | TBA

Championship | Sunday, November 6 | at Highest Remaining Seed
Match 7: Winner Match 5 vs. Winner Match 6 | TBA