The last bids to the D-III College Championships will be decided this weekend!
April 25, 2025 by 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 three weeks. Count on plenty of dramatic action and unexpected results along the way as every team fights to ensure they fall into the latter group.
After deciding over half their representatives for Nationals in the postseason’s very first weekend, the rest of D-III women’s takes the field to battle for the last spots to Burlington in three weeks. With seven bids on the line across two regions, we’ve got you covered on the storylines to watch.
Metro East
Score Reporter
Location: Rochester, New York
Favorites: #1 Wesleyan, #18 Rochester
Contenders: #22 Ithaca
Nationals Bids: 2
Excitement Level: 🔥🔥
From Metro least to Metro beast, this region has risen like a phoenix from the ashes in recent years. One stands above them all, however, #1 power ranked Wesleyan Vicious Circles. This team’s rise has been meteoric, going from the 15th seed in ‘23 to the 8th seed last year, to the favorites for a top spot in a pool this season. The Vicious Circles’ success has been largely found because of some new names, both in leadership and on the roster. Captains Natalie Sweet and Olivia Bordon have been instrumental to the team on and off the field, and the team added a rookie sensation by the name of Milo Brown, a USA U20 veteran and U24 selection.
Frankly, with two bids, Wesleyan should have no issues making Nationals, but that doesn’t mean they will have an easy time taking the region outright. #18 Rochester EZ Women not only earned the second bid for the region but also soared through the Western NY Conference, with their closest game coming against second place finishers #22 Ithaca Kweezy, 9-3. Rochester also has some quality wins on the season, trading wins with Wellesley Whiptails at Garden State in early March. They got the important one though, a 4-3 squeaker in a blustery final game. Rochester hasn’t faced off with Wesleyan this season, but has shown they’re able to hang close to and potentially beat top teams. Don’t count out Rochester for the outright win, and they are certainly in with a chance to take a spot at Nationals.
The first team among those looking to snag a spot at the big dance away from either Rochester or Wesleyan is the aforementioned Ithaca Kweezy. Ithaca has shown a lot of flash over the season, defeating Wellesley 10-9 in Northeast Classic quarters at the end of March. On the flip side, Ithaca has faced off against Rochester no less than three times this season and dropped every game, twice at Northeast Classic and then again at their Conference. That isn’t to say captains Joe Mukamal, Alicia Menduni, Claire Johnshon, and Ana Bauroth and the rest of the team will just wave them by. Anything can happen in a game-to-go situation, and certainly anything can happen at a D-III tournament.
The next team capable of ruining a bid earner’s day are Skidmore Thoroughbears. The second place finisher at the Eastern Metro East Conference tournament has a chance to be the second place finishers at the Metro East Regional. Though they struggled mightily against Wesleyan, losing 13-1 in the conference final, they did manage to hold seed and knock off all other challengers, most in convincing fashion. Though they had a rough start to the season at Bring the Huckus and posted a 4-8 regular season record, the Thoroughbears been improving as the season goes on. If they can get it fully hooked up at regionals, they will have a chance to knock off both Ithaca and Rochester and make their way to Burlington.
Firmly set in the dark horse category lies Vassar Boxing Nuns, who finished third behind Skidmore and Wesleyan at Eastern ME Conferences. There was a serious gap between the tiers of teams at that conference, with Vassar losing to Skidmore 10-2 and Wesleyan 9-3, though worth noting though that Vassar was the only team to hold the Vicious Circles to single digits. Vassar will be looking to book their first trip to Nationals since 2021, where they made quarters.
With no regular season tournaments to their name, the Hamilton Hot Saucers came out a bit cold at Conferences, only able to squeak out one 8-7 win over SUNY-Geneseo. With SUNY in their pool fans can look forward to a spicy matchup in the round of last pool play, but it seems less likely the Hot Saucers will be able to find their way back to the main stage for the first time since 2015.
Rounding out the region are the pools’ bottom seeds. SUNY-Geneseo Escargot finished last at Western NY Conferences, but based on their regular season performance, this seems like an aberration; Escargot beat both Vassar and Skidmore, among others, at Northeast Classic at the end of March. More curiously, they beat second-place conference finishers Ithaca at Bring the Huckus earlier in the season. Based on their earlier performances they have the ability to hang with, and beat, the majority of the teams in this region. Maybe they took their foot off the gas knowing they had a free ride to Regionals, or maybe it was just a run of the mill off-weekend, but either way expect the Escargot to come out of their shells at Regionals.
In just their second year as a program, Rensselaer Polytech Strut were able to triple their overall win count, picking up their second- and third- ever wins over Northeastern-B at Get Down to Business, and Connecticut College at Eastern Metro East Conference. It’s likely they will be able to pick up a few more, if unlikely they will get a shot at a game-to-go, but there’s always a chance.
Ohio Valley
Score Reporter
Location: Fairborn, Ohio
Favorites: #2 Haverford/Bryn Mawr, #7 Kenyon
Contenders: Lehigh, Swarthmore, #25 Scranton
Nationals Bids: 2
Excitement Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
The OV boasts two of the top three teams in USAU’s end-of-season rankings, turning this into an unexpected powerhouse region. The question is: do you buy #7 Kenyon? Blu-Ray have had an ascendant season, finishing a perfect 12-0 with a bullying score line of 189-35. The fewest goals they won by all season is six, more than the most goals Blu-Ray allowed in a single game all regular season.1 All their results save two are blowout eligible. Captain Gwyn Kelley is the straw that stirs the Blu-Ray drink, with an Ozone stint in 2023, while young guns Cameron McCaleb and Sadie Clark bring experience from out west despite their first-year status. Truly dominant stuff…but they’ve also never played a team ranked in the top 100. Kenyon likely won’t get that test until the regionals bracket, where if seed holds, they’re on a crash collision course with #2 Haverford/Bryn Mawr for the regional crown.
Haverford/Bryn Mawr have become the class of the region, claiming the OV’s sole bid in both 2023 and 2024 and making the bracket at Nationals each time. They’ve been knocking on the Nationals glass semifinal ceiling for a while and seem poised to finally crash through, scoring a win over St. Olaf at East Coast Invite. Any concerns from their knocks on the season–losses to Wesleyan and Lehigh at Bring the Huckus–were thoroughly righted when the Sneetches stormed to ECI semis off the back of a win over D-I’s UPenn. With a robust coaching staff in the experienced trio of Linda Morse, Liz Hart, and Yara El-Khatib alongside a talented roster packed with names that could show up on an awards list (Zoe Costanza, Erica Collin, Phoebe Hulbert, Clara Morton, Liv Davis, and Rufus Helmreich, just to name a few), OV Regionals seems more like the first step in the Sneetches’ title aspirations.
But more than a few challengers pose credible threats to the region’s top two seeds. Sitting below Haverford/Bryn Mawr in Pool A are Cedarville Queen Bee, who picked up quality reps in their two out-of-state regular season tournaments. Though, like Kenyon, they did not have a win over a top 100 ranked team2, a slew of gritty wins and losses strengthened the play of vets like Eden Ogren, Alaina Lwery, and Charis Marshal, who all honed their chemistry with mixed club team Columbus Cohesion this past summer. It’ll be tough sledding for Queen Bee to get past the top seeds, with Kenyon recording eight- and seven-goal wins in their two matchups thus far. And history’s against Cedarville, too: for three straight seasons from 2022 to 2024, Queen Bee captured the Ohio Conference and the second overall regional seed only to be upset by Lehigh in pool play. With Lehigh once again in Cedarville’s pool, will this finally be the year Cedarville’s sting is worse than their bark?
Though it came over a depleted HBM roster, Lehigh Gravity did score a critical win over the Sneetches back at Bring the Huckus in February. Gravity have long been a foil to the Sneetches, claiming the region as recently as 2022. Fourth-year vets like Beth Hooks, Jennifer Fiore, Jessica Fiske, Mia Allen, and Lauren Durant will be leading the charge to return to the big dance now that the region has the second bid Gravity have long fought so hard for. Despite sitting third in pool A, Lehigh are arguably the favorite to take second and secure a semis berth–likely against Kenyon. Just by making semis Gravity give themselves two potential shots at a game-to-go, and Lehigh has won every game they’ve played against Blu-Ray since the pandemic, most recently winning 13-8 at 2024 OV Regionals. If Lehigh happens to fall to the backdoor bracket though, they’ll have to contend with some foes who have already brought Gravity back to earth this season.
Two of those foes sit below Kenyon in Pool B: #25 Scranton Electric City Ultimate and Swarthmore Warmothers. Scranton is an anomaly in the region, the only team not to play a regular season tournament. Electric City compete as a mixed team for much of the year, and only split into single-gender counterparts to play the Series. Last Conferences they sent a shock through the division by upsetting Haverford/Bryn Mawr, and while they couldn’t repeat the feat at Regionals, they did score a one-point upset over Lehigh to make the regional final. Electric City also beat Kenyon at that same 2024 Regionals by a crushing 14-3 score line. While the Sneetches were prepared for Scranton this year, Electric City scored another key win over Lehigh to claim second in the Pennsylvania Conference. With only one player gone from their 2024 squad and bolstered by five new pickups, Scranton has every chance to extend their Series-only season to Nationals.
Seeded directly below Scranton are the Swarthmore Warmothers, who made a brief appearance in our Power Rankings last month after splitting games with #17 Williams at Jersey Devil. Absent from the Nationals stage since 2013, the Warmothers have played backup to Lehigh and Haverford/Bryn Mawr in the Pennsylvania Conference throughout the 2020s. But that tide could be turning, as Swat rode their strong continuity–only three players graduated from their 2024 roster and Jy Link Francis returns for a fourth season as head coach–to a one-point win over Lehigh to claim third in the Conference. While it was just a seeding game, that kind of success is something the Warmothers will be able to build on in the likely chance they meet Lehigh again with a bid on the line.
In the deep dark horse category are the region’s two bottom seeds, Xavier Ignition and Oberlin Preying Manti. Division ball-knowers will remember Oberlin from their Zoe Hecht and Abbie Cheng-led 2019 championship, but the Manti are unlikely to reach those same heights in 2025. Their lone win of the season came over Miami Ohio at the beginning of March, and even the on-paper impressive result of playing Davenport within one wilts in the context of terrible weather conditions. Xavier has put together a more impressive season, finishing above .500 while having Oberlin’s number in their two matchups so far this year, but the youth of their roster (more rookies than returners) is more likely to have Ignition revving their engine than going pedal to the metal–at least this year. They’ll be tough outs for the Pennsylvania Conference teams seeded above them, as there have been no cross-conference matchups yet this season.
New England
Score Reporter
Location: Williamstown, Massachusetts
Favorites: #14 Middlebury, #23 Wellesley
Contenders: #12 Mount Holyoke, #17 Williams
Nationals Bids: 2
Excitement Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
The number of bids granted to New England is dwindling, yet the competition continues intensifying. The familiar four names are in contention for the scarce two bids, and with very little intraregional connectivity, it’s anybody’s game.
#14 Middlebury remains steady at the top of the region with regular-season wins over #18 Rochester and #23 Wellesley. The first four postseason games give way to a little bit of doubt, with unranked Bowdoin walking away with an 11-9 win. Was it a fluke? Yes, because Chaos Theory went on to lose to Bates 10-7, after Cold Front were humbled by the Pranksters 11-2. These silly geese were just getting their postseason jitters out, but now they’re ready to lock in. Captains Celeste Alden, Liz Crawford, and Lucy VanNewKirk are looking to write an even more successful story, one in which the ending doesn’t depend on a rainy game-to-go nor include a third-place finish. The Pranksters are also looking at Makenna Bachman and Amanda Harrison to build up their success as rookies and shepherd their younger teammates. Middlebury doesn’t seem to ever let up, in game or spirit, so it’ll take a lot of grit from other teams to pry a bid out of the Pranksters’ hands.
The spot to be the last regional favorite had a few candidates, but Wellesley is the most qualified. The Whiptails had a pretty successful season, speckled with losses to Rochester, Middlebury, and Ithaca, but nothing too out of the ordinary. Their Northeast Classic presence was essential in securing New England a second bid; if they didn’t, we would’ve added a fifth fire emoji to the excitement level. Their postseason had a remarkable start, not letting any team score more than five points against them at the Metro Boston Conference. Their win at Conferences was to be expected, but the Whiptails have bigger shoes to fill, especially since they are the reigning regional champions. Wellesley may be able to cruise against Bates and lower seeded teams in pool play, but their chances of repeating last year’s success aren’t the highest, especially since Middlebury already has an 8-6 win over them. But the Whiptails are an underdog team and can dig deep under the most difficult circumstances. Captains Annika Wolberg and Ella McHugh have seen the Nationals stage multiple times and have primed their team enough that even the rookies know what it will take to snag a big and make a return.
Trailing closely behind Middlebury and Wellesley is #12 Mount Holyoke, and they can attack at any moment. Daisy Chain had a short regular season, only making it out to the East Coast Invite not even a month ago. Their win over Lehigh and close loss to Haverford/Bryn Mawr didn’t give much insight into what to expect going into the postseason. The story all changed when they secured a 9-6 win over Williams and subsequently won the South New England Conference. These two teams have historically been neck and neck with each other, and now that it’s been a year since Nova has beaten Williams, it’s looking like Daisy Chain has the edge. Jamie Eldridge and Molly Potts are the familiar faces who have fostered Daisy Chain to be successful, even with little regular-season experience. Daisy Chain’s strength can also be attributed to Eva Taberski and Eliza Williams-Derry, who had impressive rookie seasons and can further develop their team to be a greater force to be reckoned with.
#17 Williams is the last team in the region to have a likely shot at picking up a bid, and they are ready to put on a show. Their regular season consisted of travelling all over the East Coast, racking up 13 wins and only five losses, and with that comes a lot of experience that can be essential for this weekend. Rarely seeing any D-III competition, Nova lost to Swarthmore but later redeemed themselves with a 12-10 win in the semis of Jersey Devil. They’ll be looking for another redemption at regionals, this time for a Conferences loss to Mount Holyoke. While they’re in different pools, if Nova want to snag a bid, they’ll likely have to go through Daisy Chain first. But it might not be as hard as it seems – with Williams’ longer and more successful season, they surely encountered new scenarios and have learned how to adjust accordingly. Nothing is going to be brand new for Nova. They bring back Skylar Yarter, Emily Stranger, and Aliza Cotton as captains who all know how to compose themselves around the well-acquainted New England competition. The only relatively new thing Nova are hoping to get is a spot back at Nationals.
Southwest
Score Reporter
Location: Claremont, California
Favorites: #19 Claremont
Contenders: Occidental
Nationals Bids: 1
Excitement Level: 🔥🔥
Much like the endless battles of light against dark, good versus evil, Kyogre against Groudon, Claremont and Occidental battle eternally. What’s at stake year after year? Bragging rights, the regional title, and a trip to Nationals.
In recent years – since 2019 – the division has been firmly Occidental’s. WAC got off to a hot start, building on their 2024 Nationals attendance to finish third at Santa Clara University WLT early in the season. However, and more relevant to this upcoming regional, they went 1-2 at Sinnvite, with one of those losses coming to Claremont 13-6. That is certainly an ill omen for Occidental, but with a strong consistent core from 2024, including stat leaders Lily Pesikoff, Audrey AlQatami, Nora Youngelson, and Lily Snyder, and bolstered by over a line of new recruits, headlined by Atlanta youth product Amelia Darling, mayhaps WAC’ll find a tailwind to two wins this weekend.
As for the #19 Claremont Greenshirts, it may finally be their year to return to Nationals. The one-time USAU champs have had a significant uptick in performance this season. One obvious marker is the previously mentioned head-to-head win at Sinnvite, a tournament that they won outright. Additionally the team found a win over Puget Sound, who just secured their own bid to Nationals, at D-III Grand Prix early on in the season, and found a fifth place finish at Gnomageddon against some solid D-I teams. Another mark in their favor: three games against the same team will be a war of attrition, and the Greenshirts have 40 players rostered for Regionals. Over three-fifths are returners, and their formidable ranks are reinforced by the addition of YCC vets like Grace Flikke and Johanna Edlund.
Although Claremont are the favorites based on their head-to-head, and are certainly hungry for their turn at Nationals, Occidental isn’t going to leave the door open.
One bid, two teams, best of three. Game on.
