FOREST, Va. – The Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) announced its 2026 Women's Tennis all-conference teams and award winners on Wednesday, and Washington and Lee senior
Lauren Long and head coach
Erin Ness headlined the selections with major awards.
For the second year in a row, Long earned both the ODAC Player of the Year and the ODAC/Va. Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar Athlete of the Year awards, while Ness collected her fifth straight and 10th overall ODAC Coach of the Year plaudit. This year also marks Long's fourth ODAC Player of the Year award, becoming the first player for the program since Sonja Meighan '15 to win it all four years.
Long also claimed her fourth straight First Team All-ODAC selection at No. 1 singles. She was joined on the singles first team by first-year
Margarette Berdy (2) and seniors
Riho Iijima (3),
Annie Jennings (4) and
Jordan Kach (5).
Long has excelled on the court once again this season with a 14-3 overall record in singles and 11-5 mark in doubles play. Playing all her matches from No. 1 singles, Long has won five matches in a row and eight of her last nine heading into the national team quarterfinals. She was also announced as a participant in the NCAA Division III Singles Championship for a fourth straight season.
Off the court, Long has been equally successful as a biochemistry major and entrepreneurship minor. Long has been named a W&L Scholar Athlete each term, is a three-time ITA Scholar Athlete and she serves as a teaching assistant for the organic chemistry lab at W&L. Most recently, Long was accepted into the Indiana University School of Medicine.
Ness gets her 10th career ODAC Coach of the Year award after guiding the Generals to their 23rd straight and 35th overall ODAC championship this season. The Generals produced a 10-0 conference record this season, extending their winning streak to 353 matches in a row, before adding two NCAA Tournament wins to reach the national quarterfinals for the first time in five years. The Generals will enter next Monday's quarterfinal match with a 22-2 record, the program's most wins since 2014-15 (24).
Berdy is having a banner rookie season for the Blue and White with an 18-4 record in singles play, to go along with a mark of 13-8 in doubles. She earned her spot on the All-ODAC Singles First Team at No. 2 with a 2-0 record at the position and 5-0 ledger in conference play. Out of her 18 singles wins this season, 15 have come in straight sets.
Iijima owns an 8-4 singles record this season, with a perfect 5-0 record at No. 3. She has also added a win at Nos. 4 and 6, and holds a mark of 7-1 in dual-match format.
Jennings has produced a 9-1 overall singles record this season playing primarily out of the No. 4 spot. She is 5-0 at No. 4 and went 6-0 in conference play and 6-0 in dual matches.
Kach rounds out this year's W&L All-ODAC honorees with a 5-1 record this season, which was highlighted by her going 5-0 in conference matches. Kach has played a majority of her matches at No. 5 (3-0), with additional 1-0 marks at Nos. 4 and 6.
The Generals will be back in action as a team on Monday at 11:00 a.m. when they take on No. 4 Wesleyan (Conn.) in the NCAA Quarterfinals in Chattanooga, Tenn. Long will remain in action later in the week, with her first round singles match slated for Friday, May 22.
Nestled in the mountains of Virginia, Washington and Lee University is a proud member of NCAA Division III and the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Founded in 1749, W&L is the ninth-oldest college in the United States and a top-ranked liberal arts university. With over 500 student-athletes in 24 varsity sports, the Generals have celebrated over 265 conference championships. Learn more about the Blue and White by visiting www.generalssports.com or on social media at @WLUGenerals.
