In a jam-packed opening postseason weekend, six regions will decide their representatives at the D-III College Championships
April 11, 2025 by Anna Browne, Zack Davis, Theresa Diffendal and Raquel Alegria in Preview
Ultiworld’s coverage of the 2025 college ultimate season is presented by Spin Ultimate; all opinions are those of the author(s). Find out how Spin can get you, and your team, looking your best this season.
There are few more exciting portions of the ultimate calendar than spring College Regionals. For some, these events will be the culmination of a season — or even college career — while for others it’s just another step on their path toward the D-III College Championships in just over a month. Count on plenty of dramatic action and unexpected results along the way as every team fights to ensure they fall into the latter group.
Unique amongst all other divisions, D-III Women’s will decide over half their representatives for Nationals in the postseason’s very first weekend; the rest will be decided in two weeks. With nine bids on the line across six regions, we’ve got you covered on the storylines to watch.
Atlantic Coast
Score Reporter
Location: Glen Allen, Virginia
Favorites: #25 Richmond
Contenders: Catholic, Davidson
Nationals Bids: 1
Excitement Level: 🔥🔥
Within the last four years, there have been three different AC representatives at Nationals. Richmond has a chance to be the first to have back-to-back appearances, while Davidson looks to be the fourth face for the Atlantic Coast. Even though the bid seems to be in the Redhots’ hands, Catholic might be bringing even more heat this weekend.
Even with little intra-region connectivity, Richmond stands at the top of the Atlantic Coast. A low-scoring 5-3 win against Catholic at Commonwealth Cup should give the Redhots a least a slight boost of confidence. With the return of last year’s assists leader Lucy Sevetson and defense dominator Arianna Kightlinger the Redhots will be serving some fierce plays. Despite only a two-tournament season, Richmond has been on an upward trajectory. Even against the one opponent Richmond has not been able to shake, D-I’s Liberty, the Redhots have improved from a 6-2 loss, to a 12-5 loss, and finally scrapped together a 12-9 losing effort. While this is just a snapshot of what Richmond can achieve, this weekend will provide a clearer picture of the team they have developed into.
The attempt to get back to Nationals isn’t going to be without hurdles for Richmond, especially with Catholic coming closely from behind. Margaret O’Brien and MaryEileen McDermott are hoping the second time’s a charm as they reenter captaincy in hopes of repeating Nun Betta’s 2023 Nationals attendance. Their early-season loss to Richmond might have dampened Catholic’s confidence, but their later 7-2 win over #22 Lehigh should be cause for greater encouragement. Catholic has the most to prove as the most favorable underdog, and being slightly behind the region’s favorite, they are in a decent position to achieve upsetting results.
After being last year’s favorite and coming up short, Davidson is eyeing the lone bid and could ruffle a few feathers. The People’s Duff already have a comfortable 7-2 win over the region’s bottom ranked team, Elon, knocking down any further competition that could get in their way. Davidson also saw the most D-III competition among the AC contenders, and despite losing to #12 Kenyon (8-1), Cedarville (4-3), and #17 Williams (10-6), this experience can be essential to stealing the bid. Their most recent loss to Williams, while not the closest, does exhibit Davidson’s ability to keep up with difficult matchups. This weekend is expected to be challenging for Davidson, but by digging deep when it most counts, the People’s DUFF can put themselves back on top.
Great Lakes
Score Reporter
Location: Monroe, Michigan
Favorites: #7 Davenport
Contenders: Butler
Nationals Bids: 1
Excitement Level: 🔥
Place a powerhouse team inside a historically weak region and you get the Great Lakes. To put the tiger on the table, this one is #7 Davenport University’s to lose. The Panthers’ only loss this season was back in mid-February to D-I Liberty. Since then it’s been wins only, including a win over Atlantic Coast hopefuls the #25 Richmond Redhots and North Central contenders #15 Michigan Tech Superior Ma’s. The Panthers look like a really solid team, and it will be tough for any opponent to match up to them in Monroe.
That said, if anyone has a chance against the Panthers it’s the Butler Hot Dawgs. This iteration of Butler women’s ultimate is, like Davenport, also in their second year as a program. They’ve only played at a single tournament this season, finishing second at Huckleberry Flick back in early March with losses to OV breakout team Kenyon. The Hot Dawgs may be able to step to the Panthers and pull out an upset, but it’s going to be a long shot.
Beyond Butler, the Knox Alley Cats are the only other likely contenders for a steal. Knox, who were for a long time the perennial Great Lakes representatives at Nationals, have struggled this season, finishing 15th at Midwest Throwdown and 4th at Corny Classic. It’s not impossible for Knox to reclaim their old post, but it would take a miracle.
The Kalamazoo Queen Beez will be competing, and as has been their practice for the last two years, the Confregional will be their first tournament of the season. Impossible to tell how the Queen Beez will measure up, but if previous seasons are any indication, they will likely have trouble finding success against the top seeded teams. Additionally, North Park Allihopa, who competed at the aforementioned Corny Classic, will take their shot at the Nationals stage along with everyone else. The Allihopa will be attempting to return to Nationals for the first time since 2019 where they made it to the semifinal.1
North Central
Score Reporter
Location: Northfield, Minnesota
Favorites: #1 Carleton, #5 St. Olaf
Contenders: #11 Macalester, #15 Michigan Tech
Nationals Bids: 2
Excitement Level: 🔥🔥🔥
The North Central is not quite the bidfest we predicted in our season primer, largely due to a middling performance from Macalester at Old Capitol Open that left the Pursesnatchers out of strength bid territory by a mere 25 points. Still, the firepower at the top is undeniable, and this region has all the makings of a fireworks show, be it to decide the Nationals representatives or at the big dance itself.
After making the semifinals every year since the pandemic and the final the past two years but with nary a ‘chip to show for it, Carleton Eclipse are finally in the driver’s seat, retaining the #1 spot in our Power Rankings the entire season and finishing first in USAU’s end of season algorithm. While it’s been over two months since we last saw Eclipse take the field, that outing made quite the statement, running undefeated through a DIII Grand Prix Gauntlet that featured four of the top ten teams in our Power Rankings. Crucially however, they have not seen another region-mate yet this season. With more than two lines of players with experience under the division’s brightest lights – including First Team All-American Frankie Saraniti, Maddy Brown, Molly Horstman Olson, Kyla Christie, Natalie Lang-Ree, and Elizabeth Swanson, just to name a few – Carleton should roll through the softer pool lineup their no.1 seed affords them. That final matchup with either St. Olaf or Macalester will be the real test of Eclipse’s title aspirations.
The second bid earner for the region and North Central staple are #5 St. Olaf Vortex. Vortex have not missed a Nationals since being upset by Michigan Tech and Carleton College in 2021 at this very same tournament. The 2025 season was a bit turbulent for St. Olaf, with a 9-9 record over three tournaments. Numbers can be deceiving however, as they faced some very stiff competition, including top #2 Wesleyan Vicious Circles and #4 Haverford/Bryn Mawr. One thing that does fall in their favor is their head-to-head win over the no.3 seed and bid stealing hopefuls Macalester, 10-6 back in early March at Midwest Throwdown. Captains Grace Milhaupt, Maggie Walsh, and Char Batchelor will hope to lead Vortex in a repeat of that result in Northfield and secure a top two finish to claim a Nationals bid. That path might involve beating Macalester twice.
The Pursesnatchers will attempt a rebrand to the bid snatchers this weekend as they attempt to thwart St. Olaf and Carleton’s plans of an easy ride to Nationals. A dangerous team by any measure, Macalester has the experience of last season’s trip to Nationals to lean on. The likes of Thea Trelstad Pi-Sunyer and Else Gerber can’t be counted out, but Macalester’s star has dimmed in the absence of Claire Lee, without whom the Pursesnatchers slid to a sixth place finish at since Old Capitol Open and who isn’t on the roster for Northwest Conferences. Still, this is a team that, when they are on, can give any team in the division more than they can handle. Moreover, they have the added benefit of knowing they are decisively better than at least one contender – the Grinnell Grinneleanor Roosevelts, who they trounced 13-3 just two weekends ago.
Slotting in at the no.4 seed are the gritty #15 Michigan Tech Superior Ma’s. They will have revenge on their minds as they attempt to make up for letting the bid they scrapped to earn slip through their hands last season to Grinnell. The Ma’s have only two D-III losses on their resume this season and both came to the very talented Davenport Panthers amidst the wind and snow. Returning their three coaches, who all come equipped with high-level club experience, this is a team that can absolutely sneak up and snatch a game away if allowed, and the Ma’s have a very real chance of stealing one of the two bids available. Four Tech players remain from the 2021 squad that attended Norco Nationals, and bolstered by third-year handlers Lauren Saulino and Haniya Frayer, the Superior Ma’s have the talent, motivation, and means to make it happen.
Making a triumphant return after a year of hiatus are the Winona State Bad Monaz. They seemed insistent on making up for lost time, playing three tournaments in March ahead of the Series. They had some decent results, picking up wins against Iowa and regional rivals Grinnell at Old Capitol. The Bad Monaz made the game-to-go at their last appearance at the 2022 North Central Confregional, and look like the perfect dark horse pick for this season’s tournament.
Seeded sixth are Grinnell, who just last season pulled the region’s last bid away from Michigan Tech. So far, they have struggled at their only tournament, Old Capitol Open, where they finished 1-5, including a two-point loss to the Bad Monaz. A small sample size may be their only issue, and they could be a surprise for some teams as many of their players from last season are rostered again this year, including the offensive pairing of Claire Torgelson and Sara Garcia while opponents will have to work against Rui Lin and Lucy Leither. One thing the Roosevelts do have in spades is players with 26 rostered, and it’s never a bad thing to have extra legs.
Making their season debut and their second-ever tournament is St. Thomas Lavender Haze. It’s hard to make any predictions about a team that didn’t exist two calendar years ago, but just as difficult to count out anyone in D-III ultimate, where one or two players could tip the scale your way. Although they didn’t find much success last year at this tournament, holding seed at seventh with a last round win over St. Olaf B Tempest, a lot can change with a year of practice and work. Maybe they can land an upset or two and deny a top seeded team an easy route to the final.
Northwest
Score Reporter
Location: Hillsboro, Oregon
Favorites: #4 Whitman, #6 Lewis & Clark, #10 Portland
Contenders: Puget Sound
Nationals Bids: 3
Excitement Level: 🔥🔥
On its face, the Northwest seems to have cleanly sorted itself out. #4 Whitman beat #6 Lewis & Clark and #10 Portland in back-to-back games at DIII Grand Prix, while Lewis & Clark asserted themselves as the region’s new number two with not one, not two, but three wins over reigning champs Portland. But the Northwest teams largely front-loaded their seasons, and it’s been over a month since any of the bid-earners have taken the field. Barring a strong push from Puget Sound, the Nationals attendees seem decided; how they finish – and the impact on Nationals seeding – is where this region’s intrigue lies.
Whitman has had an incredible rebound season, recovering from a game-to-go loss in 2024 to position themselves as the regional frontrunner in 2025. The Sweets’ DIII Grand Prix performance featured wins over all three of the teams they need to beat this weekend to secure a bid, leaning on a roster deep with disc skills and well-executed systems. This is made all the more impressive as Whitman welcomed one of their largest rookie classes in years, including block-getter Sarah White and already trusted throwers Kate Campbell and Anja Floisand, though eyes will be drawn to vet Gabbie Campbell, who reads her defenders like a book to devastating effect. Adding layers to the experienced Sweets are Joey Biehl, Josephine Bygrave, Ingrid Noren, and Leah Uhlman, together combining to produce the team’s flowing offenses and cohesive defensive sets.
The Sweets’ vulnerability, if there is one, lies in their lighter schedule. Whitman’s early February results remain their best of the season, and even then the strong schedule took its toll as the Sweets lost to Carleton and Colorado College to end DIII Grand Prix. Their second tournament, Big Sky Brawl, featured three bagels but fielded easier fare than the Northwest will throw at them. It’s on the Sweets to back up their results and defend their perch against the hunters coming for the regional crown.
Lewis & Clark’s success this season has been years in the making. They’ve faced Portland in the postseason every year dating back to 2015, and the balance has been in Portland’s favor throughout the 2020s. But Artemis slowly closed the gap, playing Portland closer at every Regionals since 2022, with their last match of 2024 ending in a one-point Portland victory. Finally in 2025, Lewis & Clark emphatically flipped the switch. Their first victory over UPRoar came in the last round of the Grand Prix. Then that was backed up and parallel parked for good measure with two multi-goal wins at PACcon off the play of handlers Amelie Steer and Mikah Keetch, cutters Rosa Rudolph and Calista Aragon and the defensive might of Mira Larrance.
Artemis seem to have Portland’s number, in part thanks to valuable additions like grad student Izzy Quattrucci, returning senior Katelyn Osborne, and rookie Anika Alschuler. But all those prior wins will mean nothing Saturday morning when Artemis and UPRoar will line up opposite for a fourth time this season. Win, and Lewis & Clark’s path to the final and a bid is all but guaranteed. Lose, and they’ll have to meet Whitman in semis to decide if they fall to the game-to-go, or progress to the regional championship against – can you guess? – Portland.
Portland, though finishing well inside bid-earning range at tenth in USAU’s end of season rankings, are a step down from their championship heights. It’s slight, well-navigated by a strong coaching staff and a roster with hardly any turnover, but there are tighter score margins and an inability to get past Lewis & Clark. Hayden Ashley is still all that and more, moving persistently through opponents as initiator, glue piece, and finisher. Audrey Stineman continues to grow as a steady center handler, adding some Portland signature strike and seven cuts to her arsenal, while Maryanne Maxwell and Annalise Korch have vastly increased their targets. With Gabrielle Weaver, Hana Elawady, and Emma Giamello stepping into larger roles, the pieces are all there. It’s not hard to see a path where UPRoar’s brains and talent have used the lull before the postseason to review the tape and draw up the recipe for not just a spot at Nationals, but an upset or two along the way.
The three best teams in the region all earned bids, and if season results are anything to go by, Puget Sound’s chances are slim, but there. Clearcut sport four+ goal losses to all three bid-earners from DIII Grand Prix, playing closest with Lewis & Clark in Puget’s last game of the tournament. But PLU Women’s BBQ brought dominant wins over Pacific Lutheran, making Clearcut the favorite to earn the fourth semis spot and, crucially, a guaranteed spot in the game-to-go. They flashed resilience and a capable deep game at Grand Prix, with handlers Erin Hurley, Savannah Cobb, and captain Hayes Freeman as unafraid to launch a flick as they are to hit primary receivers like Elena Sjaastad for unders. If they get hot, that last Sunday match is anyone’s game.
Pacific Lutheran and Seattle round out the field, with Seattle joining the fray for the first time since their last postseason appearance in 2018. Pacific Luthern face an uphill battle to turn their big losses to the top of the region into wins, while Seattle has only played Pacific Lutheran, with the two splitting games at PLU BBQ. As the format sends every team to the bracket, both the Reign Women and the Throbots will have their shots to contend for a bid, but even if they fall, they’ll at least get to settle the score in the fifth-place match.
South Central
Score Reporter
Location: Fort Collins, Colorado
Favorites: #8 Colorado College
Contenders: #13 Rice, Trinity
Nationals Bids: 1
Excitement Level: 🔥🔥
#8 Colorado College Zenith has had little trouble securing a bid to Nationals since they transitioned to D-III in 2023. This season seems to be no different for Zenith as the SC’s sole bid earner. However, unlike in seasons past, Colorado College has a blemish on their regular season record in the form of a loss to #13 Rice Torque at Centex. When faced with a stumble last year, losing in pools at Confregionals to #24 Trinity Altitude 7-5, Zenith turned it around and plastered Trinity in the final 13-4 to emphatically secure the lone bid to Nationals. Once there though, Colorado College fell victim to the cutthroat pool C, going 0-3 with only a -6 point differential and failing to make the bracket. Returners like Casey Shaw-Merrigan, Kelsey Viadro, Isabel Cody, and Cassidy Recker will be eager to right the ship, aided by Pacific Northwest youth products Jyoti Altschuler and Eliza Kerstetter. If last season is any indication of Zenith’s ability to lock in when the pressure is on, then this year will probably have similar results.
There is however a chance, and a legitimate one at that, for Rice to repeat their success. Rice’s win over Colorado College at Centex came in bracket play, which means there was real weight to that match. That’s the exact type of situation where Zenith rarely drops games they shouldn’t. Torque still boast five players from their 2022 Nationals appearance, headlined by captain Sophia Figueroa, who is joined at the helm by third-year Torquer Ria Stevens. Watch for second-year and DC product Callie Baker to make game-swinging plays, because while Zenith have overall been more consistent than Torque this season, the skill levels seem closer than in the two years previous.
As for our other contenders, Trinity Altitude seem like a distant third. Although they were competitive last season, earning an early win against the eventual Nationals attendees, they have clearly not had the same success this season. The graduation machine comes for us all, and has been especially unkind to Trinity this year.
Further down the call sheet lies the fourth and final college that will be present in Fort Collins, Truman State TSUnami. Truman State competed in three tournaments this season and are 6-12 on the year. They just haven’t shown the ability to be competitive with the aforementioned teams, but may be able to upset one and affect bracket seeding, as the top four pool play teams all make the championship bracket.
Last, but certainly not least Colorado College – B will be playing, and has a chance to do something very funny.
Southeast
Score Reporter
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee
Favorites: #16 Union
Contenders: Berry, Georgia College
Nationals Bids: 1
Excitement Level: 🔥
It’s easy to overlook the Southeast’s ConfRegional, especially since the most probable ending is #16 Union Jillz taking the sole bid. However, with the increasing completion displayed by Georgia College and Berry, this region is demanding your attention, so maybe adjust your upset alert by just a touch.
Union will be entering this weekend calm and collected, and rightfully so: the Jillz ended the regular season 9-1. The return of top scorer Anna Forbes and captains Caroline Lukasick and Bryn Norton helped steer Union to their success. Their most recent result – an aching 11-2 loss to Ohio in the Moxie Madness final – shouldn’t feel too bad, not when Union preceded it with a very comfortable win over Berry. But while it is perfectly reasonable to assume the bid belongs to Union, it is also safe to assume it’s not going to be as easy as it was last year.2
Despite already sporting a debilitating 11-3 loss to Union this year, Berry is still in the running for the Nationals bid. While their overall 8-7 record doesn’t seem as impressive as Union’s 9-1, the Valkyries took advantage of the regular season to play almost a tournament’s worth more games. This exposure has allowed Berry to adjust their game accordingly and potentially cause a lot of damage this weekend. It is also worth noting that the Valkyries played a closer 11-7 game to Ohio at Moxie Madness; if Berry can keep up with Union’s toughest matchup this season, the Jillz better look out.
Coming out of last year’s trenches, Georgia College has developed quite the team. Looking not to repeat last ConfRegionals defeats, the Lynx Rufus showed face around the Southeast. While their 6-7 record is the only one in the region below .500, Georgia College collected wins over Davidson and Elon and got within of three #17 Williams at Needle in a Ho-Stack. All that effort was enough to land Georgia College ahead of Berry in USAU’s end of season rankings. Given that it’s the Lynx’s second year back in the game since 2021, Rufus are yearning for exponential growth and a better finish, and it looks like both are right at their fingertips.
