Wash. & Lee WLU 20-8,8-3 ODAC

Emory EU 17-5,5-2 UAA

Wash. & Lee WLU

20-8,8-3 ODAC

Final

Nov. 08, 2025

Emory EU

17-5,5-2 UAA

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	F
Wash. & Lee WLU	21	17	19	(0)
Emory EU	25	25	25	(3)

Ithaca ITH 24-4,8-0 Liberty League

Wash. & Lee WLU 20-9,8-3 ODAC

Ithaca ITH

24-4,8-0 Liberty League

Final

Nov. 08, 2025

Wash. & Lee WLU

20-9,8-3 ODAC

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	4	5	F
Ithaca ITH	22	25	25	17	15	(3)
Wash. & Lee WLU	25	14	16	25	13	(2)

Sideline Media

Game Recap: Volleyball | 11/9/2025 12:27:00 AM

Mitchener Surpasses 1,000 Career Kills on Final Day of the Emory National Invitational

ATLANTA, Ga. - Junior Grace Mitchener of the Washington and Lee University women's volleyball team became the 15th player in program history to surpass 1,000 career kills on the final day of the Emory National Invitational on Saturday.

HOW IT HAPPENED vs #15 EMORY (EU 3-0, 21-25, 17-25, 19-25)

Emory (17-5) kicked off the match with a 3-1 run before two kills from Riley Debiec and a block from Debiec and Ava Gaines knotted the match at four. The Generals (20-9) took a one-point lead following two kills from Grace Mitchener and one from Sienna Nichoson, but the Eagles responded with a 5-1 run to take an 11-8 lead. After back-and-forth action, Emory extended its lead to six with four unanswered points. The Blue and White cut the deficit to two with a 6-2 run featuring kills from Mitchener, Cara Hamil, and Debiec, a Caroline Natwick service ace, and a block from Emery Goerig and Gaines. Another 3-1 run by W&L kept the Eagles' lead at two, with Hamil tallying two kills and Debiec stuffing a Sydney Kennedy attack. However, Emory closed the set with a final 3-1 run to take the first frame, 25-21.
The Eagles jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the second set before the Blue and White tied it at seven with their own 5-2 run. That stretch featured three kills and a service ace from Mitchener, along with a block from Nichoson and Goerig. W&L took an 11-10 lead after three straight points, thanks to kills from Debiec and Hamil and a block from Hamil and Gaines. Emory responded with a 4-0 run to go up by three and followed that with a 5-1 run to extend their lead to 21-16. After Mitchener secured a kill to cut the deficit to four, the Eagles closed out the set with four unanswered points to claim a 25-17 win.
Emily Schellenberg opened the third set with a kill before Emory scored back-to-back points to take a 2-1 lead. A five-point run from the Eagles gave them a 7-3 advantage, but two Emory errors, a block from Gaines and Debiec, and a Mitchener kill highlighted a 4-1 run by the Generals to cut the lead to one. Both teams traded points before back-to-back kills from Nichoson knotted the score at 12. Emory responded with a 5-3 run to go up 17-14 and followed that with a 5-1 stretch to extend the lead to six. Goerig and Hamil recorded late kills to break up Emory's momentum, but Kaya Monrose secured the sweep for the Eagles with a final kill.

TOP PERFORMERS

Kaya Monrose of Emory led the match with 18 kills on 38 swings with four errors for a .368 hitting percentage. Grace Mitchener posted a team-high 15 kills on 41 attempts with only one error, recording a .341 hitting percentage.
Olivia Rabinowitz led both Emory and the match with 36 assists while adding ten digs. Sienna Nichoson dished out a team-high 26 assists for the Generals and recorded seven digs.
Vivi Vasquez dug out a match-high 17 attacks, while Mitchener added 16, notching her 15th double-double of the season. Kate LaRocco led the Eagles with 14 digs, and two other players also reached double figures.
Ava Gaines led the match with five block assists, while Emery Goerig added three and Riley Debiec collected the only solo block of the match. Sydney Kennedy tallied a match-high three service aces, while Debiec, Mitchener, and Caroline Natwick each recorded one.

HOW IT HAPPENED vs #12 ITHACA (IC 3-2, 25-22, 14-25, 16-25, 25-17, 13-15 )

The Generals took a 3-1 lead in the match thanks to three kills from Hamil before the Bombers (24-4) tallied three straight points to take a one-point lead. Ithaca followed up that run with a 4-1 scoring stretch to extend their lead to two before two errors and a Mitchener kill tied the match at nine. W&L took a 14-13 lead later with a 4-1 run of their own, which saw two kills from Hamil, a solo block from Gaines, and a block from Mitchener and Gaines. Three straight kills from the Bombers put them up 16-14 before using a 3-1 run to extend their lead to three. W&L battled back and claimed the first frame with a final 8-2 run, which saw four kills from Hamil, one from Debiec and Goerig, as well as a block from Debiec and Nichoson.
After an error and a kill from Hamil gave the Blue and White an early lead, Ithaca took a one-point lead with a 4-1 run. An ensuing run extended the Bombers' lead to two before a 7-1 scoring stretch put them up 16-9. W&L cut the scoring run short with a pair of kills from Debiec before four unanswered points from Ithaca put them up by ten. The Blue and White got a pair of kills from Mitchener and a service ace from Schellenberg to cut the lead to eight before three straight points from Ithaca secured a 25-14 win in set two.
The Bombers took an early lead with a 5-1 run to start the third set. A 7-1 run from Ithaca, which saw a Debiec kill as well, put the Bombers up 12-3. Both teams traded points until Debiec kick started a 6-1 run with a kill. The scoring stretch also saw kills from Mitchener and Hamil, a service ace from Nichoson, and a block from Debiec and Gaines. An ensuing 3-1 run for the Blue and White cut the Ithaca lead to four as Debiec registered a service ace and Gaines added a kill. However, the Bombers ended the set with a 6-1 run to claim set three 25-16.
W&L took a 9-2 lead to start the fourth set thanks to two kills each from Hamil and Mitchener, as well as a service ace from Debiec and a block from Goerig and Gaines. Ithaca cut the Generals' lead in half with a pair of kills before a 4-1 run from W&L extended their lead to 14-6. The run featured kills from Mitchener and Nichoson, as well as a block from Goerig and Nichoson. W&L took a 20-11 lead following kills from Mitchener, Gaines, and Debiec alongside a block from the duo of Gaines and Debiec. The Bombers battled back with four straight points to cut the lead to five before the Blue and White went on a final 4-1 run, which was highlighted by kills from Mitchener and Hamil as well as a Natwick service ace, forcing a fifth and final set.
Ithaca took control of the fifth set early, jumping out to a 12-5 lead before a 4-1 run from the Generals cut the lead to four. The run featured kills from Goerig, Debiec, and Hamil, as well as a Natwick service ace. The Generals rattled off four straight points to make it 14-13 in favor of the Bombers as Gaines recorded back-to-back kills alongside a pair of errors from Ithaca. However, Gonzalez-Abreu secured the five-set win for Ithaca as she recorded a kill.

TOP PERFORMERS

Gabriela Gonzalez-Abreu of Ithaca posted a match-high 23 kills on 58 swings with five errors for a .310 hitting percentage. Jayden Wiese also added 20 kills for the Bombers, while Naomi Clauhs recorded 17. Mitchener and Hamil each recorded 17 kills to lead the Blue and White, with Debiec adding 14 and a .316 hitting percentage.
Wesley Slavin dished out 53 assists in the win for Ithaca, along with ten digs, while Nichoson recorded 40 assists with nine digs. Ellie Benedict of Ithaca led the match with 34 digs, while two other Bombers recorded 20 or more digs. Mitchener dug out a team-high 26 attacks, while Vasquez added 24. Hamil and Schellenberg both reached double digits with 11 and 10, respectively.
Gonzalez-Abreu and Natwick led the match with three service aces. Ella Graper posted five block assists with two solo stops, while Gaines led the Blue and White with four assisted blocks and one solo.

W&L GAME NOTES

The Generals wrapped up the regular season with a 20-9 record, dropping their fourth straight match. W&L recorded 93 kills on 338 attempts with 38 errors across two matches, posting a .169 hitting percentage and averaging 11.63 kills per set.
They tallied 10 service aces and dug out 155 attacks, averaging 19.38 digs per set. The Blue and White also registered 15 blocks with only one blocking error.
Junior Grace Mitchener became the 15th player in program history to surpass 1,000 career kills, finishing the weekend with 1,021 kills during her time in Generals' uniform. She also becomes the 8th player in program history to surpass 1,000 digs and kills in a career. She led the Generals this weekend with 32 kills on 103 swings with nine errors for a .223 hitting percentage.
Sienna Nichoson dished out a team-high 66 assists on Saturday, averaging 8.25 per set. Mitchener also led the team with 42 digs across eight sets, while Vivi Vasquez added 41. Vasquez moved up to No. 2 all-time in the program's digs record book, passing Emily Wolfing '05 with a career total of 1,573.

UP NEXT

The Generals kick off the postseason on Tuesday, Nov. 11 as they welcome Shenandoah University to Holekamp Gym for the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Quarterfinals at 6:30 p.m.