Get to know the 20 teams competing for a D-I college title!
May 22, 2025 by Kiana Hu and Bridget Mizener 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.
The D-I College Championships start on Friday! After a long regular season, the deepest field in recent memory is ready to challenge for the title. UNC is still in the running for a historic five-peat, while Tufts hopes to extend their undefeated season, and UBC looks to finally get over the hump and capture the national title. With tournament newcomers, dark horses, pool play intrigue, and a few more championship contenders, the long weekend is sure to bring the thrills.
We’ve got you covered for all the exciting action this weekend, but before the first pull goes up, let’s get to know the teams who will be competing in Burlington. You can follow along on the D-I College Championships event page for updates and livestreams throughout the weekend!
Pool A
Teams: #4 UBC Thunderbirds, #8 UNC Pleiades, #11 Cal Poly SLO SLO Motion, #13 UC San Diego Dragon Coalition, #20 Penn Venus
Overall Strength: 💪💪💪
Star Power: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Upset Alert: 🚨🚨🚨
UBC Thunderbirds
UBC ThunderbirdsI could copy-paste last year’s pool preview straight onto the page — that’s how scarily similar the storylines are for UBC. Just like last year, they’re the No. 1 seed, they have a roster stacked with A-list talent, and they’ve got a bitter taste in their mouth. This spring, it’s because of both a collapse against Colorado at Northwest Challenge and last year’s early Nationals exit. This weekend is another shot at redemption for a Thunderbirds team that has needed just that for a few years now.
Even with some turnover, this year’s roster is just as loaded as we’ve come to expect. Another spring, another double-digit count of Team Canada players, led by World Games selection and Player of the Year frontrunner Mika Kurahashi. Yawn! If all goes to plan in pool play, UBC’s path to semis is as smooth as their side-stack offense, and Kurahashi could lock up the honor for good.
That’s a big if, though. They’ll have to get past a Pleiades unit who love the postseason, and a surging SLO Motion. Not only are those two no pushovers, but questions remain for the Thunderbirds. Can Ella Bolan, who’s been out much of the season with an upper extremity injury, slot seamlessly back into the offense alongside Madison Ong? Can UBC finally shake the mental game narrative after crumbling in key moments two years running? And if they do make semis, can they rebound against the Colorado team that dismantled them this spring?
If their efficiency at Northwest Regionals is any indication, they’ve got the pieces to win their first title since 2008. As they know, though, putting those pieces together is no small feat.
North Carolina Pleiades
Let’s get this out of the way: if you doubt UNC at Nationals, history says you’ll end up looking foolish. This roster features 18 players who’ve already won a title — or put another way, 18 players who’ve never not won one. (Read that again.) Move over, Jimmy Butler. This is “Playoff UNC.”
That being said, this version of the team looks a bit different than last season’s championship squad.1 At the reins now are Emily Przykucki, Kailyn Lowder, and Alli Reilly — still one of the best-coached units in the country, though maybe not quite as explosive or dominant as in years past.
Resume-wise, “thin” is the way to describe it. The closest thing Pleiades have to a signature win is a consolation drubbing of Vermont way back in February. Their strongest recent result? A universe-point loss to Colorado at NWC. Injuries haven’t helped. It goes without saying that if Erica Birdsong is able to take the field for any meaningful amount of time this weekend, UNC’s stock immediately rises.
One way to describe Pleiades’ pool play hopes is that there’s a large gap between ceiling and floor. If UNC is able to get the jump on UBC in Friday’s first round game, the pool could crack wide open. But if they falter early, Pleiades could find themselves in a scrap with SLO and/or UC San Diego for survival. At the end of the day, UNC’s title hopes are smaller than they have been since the pandemic… but unlike most of the field, they’re definitely not zero.
Cal Poly SLO SLO Motion
I’m going to take a little victory lap here for my shockingly accurate prediction: welcome to The Show, Cal Poly! My hot take aside, there’s no denying two things: SLO Motion have massively exceeded expectations, and it’s been worth Margo Donahue’s time to come out of college retirement and join forces with Poppy DeArmond-MacLeod, Brooke Nishida, and company to take a trip to beautiful Burlington.
As a first-time Nationals attendee, the usual questions apply: can SLO handle the bright lights? Will they suffer from “happy-to-be-here” syndrome? Their resume — including a Prez Day Qualifier win and gritty Regionals play after locking up a bid — suggests resilience, but we’ll have to wait for answers.
Those answers will come under pressure. Cal Poly’s path to bracket play likely hinges on one of two things: pulling off an upset against battle-hardened UNC (and overcoming maybe the largest program-level experience deficit of all time) or winning the 12v13 game against UC San Diego — a team they’ve gone 2-1 against this season in games decided by a combined four goals.
The margins could not be tighter. But from where I sit? The fact that they have two solid routes to quarters — a very real shot at a pool 2-seed, and barring that, a place in the bracket that’s theirs to lose — is a pretty good spot to be in for their first go-round.
UC San Diego Dragon Coalition
Every team has what-ifs and close calls at this point in the season, but maybe none more so than D-Co. What if they’d won one more game against SLO Motion, like that Stanford Invite quarters loss? What if they’d closed out Vermont at NWC? What if they’d tinkered with lines more, or been bolder in key moments?
It’s that last one that really intrigues me. UC San Diego has kept Tori Gray mostly on the D-line this season. Will they unleash her this weekend? Sure, Abbi Shilts, Sanam Rozycki-Shah, and Margot Nissen have carried the offensive load capably. But when your season’s on the line, you want your best players out there. And Gray — All-American, Defensive Player of the Year podium, U24 rep — is that player.
No matter how they deploy her, fireworks are likely in the Cal Poly game, where a prequarters berth may hang in the balance. If D-Co finds their rhythm at the right time, they have a golden opportunity to earn their second consecutive trip to the bracket.
Pennsylvania Venus
Pennsylvania VenusOh, how quickly expectations change. A 13-8 regular season with just one win over a Nationals team and a head-scratching loss to D-III Haverford/Bryn Mawr might look like an underperformance for Venus. Let’s not forget though — yes, Penn made the bracket last year, but 2024 was just their third trip to Nationals this century!
That inconsistency added a little intrigue to the proceedings at Ohio Valley Regionals, but Venus answered the bell, rolling through undefeated and comfortably claiming the Ohio Valley title.
So while their regular-season resume is scuffed, Penn’s trajectory is pointing up. They return a Nationals-tested core led by veteran Chaily Derecskey and have emerging underclassman talent in Poppy Wagner. And, of course, they have their ace in the hole: the singular, indomitable, everywhere-everything-all-at-once Grace Maroon. Their pool draw is significantly tougher than last year’s, so a repeat bracket appearance would be quite the surprise. But this is a team that could absolutely play spoiler as the weekend wears on.
Pool B
Teams: #2 Carleton Syzygy, #7 Oregon Fugue, #12 Michigan Flywheel, #14 UC Santa Cruz Sol, #16 UC Davis Rogue
Overall Strength: 💪💪💪💪💪
Star Power: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Upset Alert: 🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨
Carleton Syzygy
Hot off a fantastic Northwest Challenge title run, Carleton is a favorite championship contender to end UNC’s four-peat, which would be a poetic parallel since they ended UNC’s winning streak in the 2024 season. They’ve been tantalizingly close to a championship game berth for the past five Nationals, and their recent results — including a 90-15 romp through North Central Regionals — suggest the stars are aligning.2
Not only has Carleton benefitted from the robust Seattle youth pipeline in pure talent terms, but they’ll also enjoy some degree of home field advantage out in Burlington. Syzygy’s top players in Chagall Gelfand, Naomi Fina, Kyliah McRoy, and Shanti Chier are all very familiar with the rainy Washington conditions, though the infamous North Central conditions have probably prepared the entire team well.
The real question that remains for Carleton: can the sheer amount of talent on the roster carry them deep into the bracket? So far I’m inclined to say yes, given that soccer-playing rookie phenom Eliza Barton is one of their most prolific goal-scorers, not to mention rookie Melba Henley, who has been a fearless defensive stalwart.
Once again, Syzygy find themselves in a daunting 1-2 pool matchup against Oregon Fugue, a team they lost to way back in January at Santa Barbara Invite. The rest of the pool is certainly no cakewalk, either, but even if they suffer a loss, Carleton has shown plenty of resilience throughout the season that gives one confidence they can make it far anyways.
Oregon Fugue
Oregon FugueOregon Fugue may be lucky ducks given their proximity to this year’s Nationals site, but they face a tough challenge in pool play, entering the tournament after an up and down 2025 season and sandwiched by two teams they lost to at Northwest Challenge.
Living up to their name,3 Fugue have been playing a delicate game of weaving a “combination of stars and system,” largely running their offense through their U24 cadre of Acacia Hahn, Syris Linkfield, Miko Magnant, and Trout Weybright while also developing their considerable depth of talented and athletic players. Second-year Anna Carlson has been a standout center handler for Fugue and they boast formidable deep threats in Samaya Madrone and Lily Ellsworth Yow. Beyond these star players, Oregon’s entire roster has been pushed into bigger roles at various parts of the season: “By the end of the day on Saturday [of conferences] we were down to about half of a normal roster,” shared Fugue coach Kate Wilson. “A bunch of people stepped up that weekend and it’s been really great to watch people continue to step up.”
While Oregon’s conferences results may have been cause for some alarm, they bounced back to a respectable third place finish at a deep Northwest Regionals, even with a number of players still recovering from injury. Expected to be at full health, the stage is set for Fugue to have a comeback tournament, especially given an early season win against Carleton.
“We really focused on our psychology and mental wellness this season and how we can be resilient and strong even through really difficult situations,” said captain Tess Keyes. Fugue’s mental toughness will certainly be an important factor for a team looking to make a deep run in the bracket.
Michigan Flywheel
Flywheel have hovered just outside the elite tier for much of the 2025 season, but don’t be surprised if they fly a bit under the radar and then rise fast when it comes time for bracket play. With a program history as storied as Michigan’s, and a respectable top 9 finish in 2024, they’re once again positioned to prove themselves as a team nobody wants to face late in the weekend.
Their season has featured some ups and downs, but a 5th-place finish4 at Queen City and a marquee 12-11 win over Oregon at Northwest Challenge show exactly what Michigan are capable of when they lock in. The Oregon game is particularly telling: not only did Flywheel remain steadfast through a back-and-forth battle, they forced two turnovers on double game point to eke out the win, a true testament to their effective matchup defense.
Flywheel’s roster is full of experience and high-level talent. Kat McGuire, ranked #6 in Ultiworld’s Top 25 Players, is an absolute force on both sides of the disc and will be the centerpiece of Michigan’s efforts deep into the bracket. Not to be outdone, U24 players Sophie Harvey and Calliope Cutchins are equally capable of dictating the field with both precise throwing and intelligent cut timing. All-Region pick Zaza Capriles is a D-line staple who often takes the toughest matchup assignment.
Michigan’s biggest challenge will be consistency — sustaining their high ceiling across four days of competition. They’ve proven that they can hang with the best, and now all they need to do is peak at the right moment.
UC Santa Cruz Sol
No longer Nationals rookies, UC Santa Cruz brings a valuable year of experience5 heading into this year’s competition. The newcomers to the elite tier of college women’s teams have a point to prove after going 1-5 at last year’s Nationals.
Sol’s trajectory has truly skyrocketed in recent years, as evidenced from not being invited to the prestigious Presidents’ Day Invite in 2024 to placing third in the tournament in 2025. Not only that, but they’ve gone from having a sole6 coach to having three, from squeaking by with the last of three bids to a comfortable regional finish (sans game-to-go), and from the “we made it!” mindset to the “let’s win some games” mentality. These changes have made a world of difference to the entire UC Santa Cruz team.
“Last year we were fighting for that last spot at regionals, and we got it. And at times, it felt like we had a target on our back, you know, being that underdog team, but that vibe has since shifted now,” said captain Paige Jenkins. “We’ve been invited to more competitive tournaments, and just played better teams overall.”
Rachel Chang, who did not play at Southwest Regionals, will undoubtedly be a huge boon for Sol if they return from postseason injury, but even without Chang, UC Santa Cruz has plenty of experienced, highlight-making players in Monica O’Brien Saez, Viola Deszily, Zane Bird Smith, Goodness Nwakudu, and Kai Agueros, the last of whom has only been playing frisbee for two years.
UC-Davis Rogue
Welcome back to D-I Nationals, Rogue! UC Davis clinched the sixth bid out of the bounteous Southwest region, without breaking too much of a sweat in a 15-4 win over Southern California. It’s not like Rogue are squeezing their way into Nationals either: they have wins over UC Santa Cruz, Victoria, and UC Santa Barbara.
The core handlers for Rogue’s offense — April Lu, Emily Denio, and Emily Chou — all bring invaluable big-game experience from their 2021 quarterfinal run, as well as elite club experience from San Francisco Nightlock and Sacramento Tower. This time around, they are joined by U20 star cutter Lucy Mertz and capable downfield receiver Katie Angstadt-Leto, as well as the brainpower of frisbee superstar Robyn Fennig joining the UC Davis coaching staff.
Rogue certainly benefit from the sheer quantity of top-quality competition as a West Coast team, but they have little experience playing teams at the caliber of the top seeds in their pool. It would be a mistake to count them out: after all, they started as the 14 seed back in 2021. But do they have what it takes to challenge the best of the best? It may very well come down to how their top end performs when the pressure thickens.
Pool C
Teams: #1 Tufts EWO, #5 Washington Element, #9 UC Santa Barbara Burning Skirts, #15 Utah Spiral Jetty, #23 Georgia Athena
Overall Strength: 💪💪💪
Star Power: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Upset Alert: 🚨🚨
Tufts EWO
Tufts EWO are coming into Nationals with at least one chip on their shoulder — a sparkling, undefeated regular season that somehow earned them only a no.3 seed at Nationals, behind Carleton whom they beat in the final of QCTU. Their somewhat disappointing quarterfinal finish in 2024 after taking down no.1 seed UBC in pool play might be another. This year they’ll be hoping to turn those chips into a ‘ship, which would be the first in program history.
EWO return nearly all of their players from last season, and are playing for more than just themselves: this is their last season with long-time coach Sangwa Hong, who the Tufts captains credit with maintaining the high ceiling of the team through the turbulent pandemic years.
The not-so-secret sauce for Tufts that will give them the edge in the bracket? The throwing capabilities up and down the roster, which has been evident time and time again for this deep EWO team.
“All three of the tournaments we went to, all of the finals were in incredible wind,” said captain Lia Schwartz. “That’s kind of like a mental challenge, because sometimes you have to score and you’re going upwind. Having an eighth defender out there has been really helpful for us.”
The only hesitation about this Tufts squad is that they’ve been relatively untested against the top seeds, namely UBC, Colorado, and Oregon. They have yet to face Washington, against whom they will need to come out firing in their first pool play game Friday afternoon. However, it would be unwise to bet against the unshakeable Tufts handling core, including Schwartz, Kate Gearing, and Sophie Hankin, combined with the dominant cutting from breakout player Annabel White.
Washington Element
Washington Element might just be that one team primed to shake things up at Nationals — after all, they’ve been steadily ramping up all year, featuring a strong postseason run with losses only to the first overall seed UBC. A 15-8 victory over Fugue is a great indicator that Element have ironed out the kinks that have previously prevented them from big regular season wins.
It’s possible that Washington has at times suffered from star-player-itis, reminiscent of the Abby Hecko days7, but Washington captain Megan Louie emphasized their 2025 mentality. “Our ‘Team Over Ego’ mantra has been really big for us this year and the culture that we’ve built is gonna take us far,” she said.
Element’s steady growth over the season shows they have figured out how to balance star power with holistic development, in no small part due to the mentorship of their four-person coaching staff: “Everyone on our team is, like, obsessed with our coaches. Like, they’re actually sick of it,” joked captain Savanna Tucker. “We wouldn’t be the team we are without them.”
Their ability to come out of the gates firing and the quick pace of their offense led by Tucker, Sophia Palmer, Lucy Tanner, and Kelly Tam are going to give them a legitimate shot to take down Tufts in pool play, but their fiery D-line with Lauren Goddu, Isabella Pharr, Rowan Lymp, and Anna Pettis is what’s ultimately going to win them the games when it counts.
UC Santa Barbara Burning Skirts
Let’s be honest: we really underestimated the Burning Skirts8. They had been sitting pretty at the bottom of the Southwest teams for a large part of the regular season, owing to shaky early season performances at Santa Barbara Invite and Presidents’ Day Invite.
Any lingering doubts have certainly been erased by their undefeated run at Southwest Regionals, which included 2+ point margin wins over Stanford, Cal Poly SLO, and UC San Diego. Laura Blume continues to be a complete playmaker for the Skirts, doing whatever the team asks of her and often working in tandem with Devin Quinn, who is likewise an absolutely unstoppable force all over the field. They have also had big contributions from Marlaina Lascano, who has proven capable of the full backfield spectrum, from slicing through zones to putting up big hucks.
The Burning Skirts are riding a six-year Nationals streak, so they’re no stranger to the bright lights and big games.
“One big thing we really want to focus on this year is treating every game like it’s an elimination game and taking every single game seriously,” said Blume, one of the captains.
That mentality should serve them well as their pool play schedule has them playing the bottom to the top seeds in order. Will UC Santa Barbara be able to continue their upward trend as they face tougher opponents? Perhaps the incrementing schedule will play to their benefit.
Utah Spiral Jetty
Like their counterparts in Pool B, UC Santa Cruz, Spiral Jetty have moved past the first-Nationals-jitters into full bloodhound mode: they’re here for business, not pleasure. Utah’s winless debut at the 2024 College Championships was understandable, but already a thing of the past.
Utah Spiral Jetty started off their 2025 season with a bang, taking down Stanford with a 13-5 score that had people asking in the Discord if the game was reported incorrectly9. Over the course of the year, that result became less and less shocking, as Utah went on to beat several top-25 teams and took home the Centex title.
Last year, there may have been some rumblings about Utah “taking” the vacated BYU bid10, but this year, they took matters into their own hands.
“Going into this season, we knew we wanted to earn a bid,” said captain Eleanor Wachtel. “We knew we wanted to earn that bid and then defend it again at regionals.” And that’s exactly what they did.
Utah captains Wachtel, Carly Atwell, and Lucy Leary also spoke passionately about the chance to really build a new team identity. “We’re still forming our identity and don’t really have the history of being a good team to rely on for confidence. But then in the same sense, that’s also a cool thing because we get to decide every game: Okay. Who are we gonna be right now?”
Spiral Jetty have no shortage of talent to build off of, with players Lily Terpstra, Atwell, and Sadie Cutler all gaining pro experience with WUL team Utah Wild. They’ll need these veterans, along with O-line engine captain Elise Francis and rookie Abigail Tauraa to rise to the occasion if they want to make waves in their pool.
Georgia Athena
Once again, Georgia’s appearance as a bottom seed in a pool is a testament to the high caliber of play in the women’s division at Nationals. Athena blazed their way through conferences and regionals competition, securing the bid with an authoritative 15-6 over Georgia Tech. Like a number of other semester schools, the Georgia academic term wraps up early in May, which for Athena meant that their first practice with the whole team since regionals was the Wednesday before Nationals.
In some ways, Georgia has embraced the “happy to be here” perspective in the past, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t gotten close to making prequarters: in 2024, they were three points away, and in 2022, only one point away.
“We’re all just excited to go to Washington and have fun and play,” said Keely Baker, one of Georgia’s captains.
“Just trying to see how we can incorporate being positive, staying happy, and being grateful that we’re there into playing well and stepping up to a level that we haven’t been to yet,” added Quincy Booth, also a captain.
Booth, one of the most capable handlers in the division, leads a talented Georgia squad that includes up and coming players Addy Hale, Jemia Johnson, and Annie Pickren. Combined with Georgia’s tendency to play tight pool play games at Nationals, it’s clear that no match-up is safe.
When asked if they had anything else to share, the Georgia captains wanted to highlight their rookie class, which they describe as being integral to the culture of this iteration of Athena. Their passion for the team manifested in building a TikTok presence: “Instead of like the leadership running it, we gave it to our young and creative and taking-really-easy-classes, rookies, and they’ve put a lot of time and effort into it,” Booth mentioned. You can follow Georgia Athena’s TikTok at uga_frisbee.
Pool D
Teams: #3 Colorado Quandary, #6 Vermont Ruckus, #10 Stanford Superfly, #17 Victoria Vikes, Cornell Wild Roses
Overall Strength: 💪💪💪
Star Power: ⭐⭐⭐
Upset Alert: 🚨🚨
Colorado Quandary
It’s hard not to wonder what might have been for Quandary these past few years, in a universe where Dawn Culton was never born. They’ve made two finals and a semi in the past three years, and in another timeline, they could easily have won three rings by now, Jaylen Brown style. Instead, Pleiades notched a four-peat and ended their season three years running. Now, the title window may be narrowing — if not closing — for Colorado, as Clil Phillips, Liana Bradley, Emma Williamson, and Fiona Cashin11 all age out of the program.
So here’s the question: does Colorado have the horses to get over the hump on the fourth try? Their Northwest Challenge suggests they do. Between a blowout win over title-favorite UBC and finally snapping their eight-game losing streak against UNC, that’s two big monkeys off their back. But with Quandary, talent has never been the issue. They’ve had championship-level rosters year after year. What they haven’t always had is consistency. That same NWC weekend saw them look flat and disconnected in the final — and winning a title means stringing together elite performances across four grueling days.
They’ll need to bring their best early, too. Vermont and Stanford loom in pool play, and there’s plenty of history there. Ruckus annihilated Colorado in pool play in 2024, with these same seeds, just flipped. And while Quandary own two wins over Superfly this season, neither was convincing. A hot start against those two would go a long way toward setting the tone. Because if Colorado wants to make their fourth straight semifinal — and finally take home the crown — they’ll need a wire-to-wire performance.
Vermont Ruckus
All season long, it’s felt like we’ve been waiting on Vermont to click. Not just solid performances — they’ve had those. Not just flashes of brilliance — we’ve seen those too. But the full, undeniable breakout? Still pending. Now, they’re out of time. Nationals is the final chance for Ruckus to turn promise into payoff.
And what better stage than the Pool of Death? No big deal, just a rematch of last year’s semifinal thriller against Stanford and a battle with a very-hot Colorado squad. In both games, the stakes are the same: the winners have a real chance at a deep bracket run.
On paper, Vermont has the goods. They’ve got experience and high-end talent, though less depth than last year’s semis iteration. Caroline Stone, Mae Browning, and Emily Pozzy provide veteran leadership to underclassmen risers Willa Morales, Tatum Cubrilovic, and Ella Monaghan. But there have also been lapses in focus like an ugly Queen City Sunday, and plain-ugly blowouts against the division’s big dogs, UBC and Carleton.
Ruckus have shown some fire, as in their comeback against UC San Diego in March. But they haven’t put together a true statement win. If that changes this weekend, especially against Stanford or Colorado, Vermont could find themselves right back where they were last year: deep in the bracket, with a shot to make history, if not with quite the same title chances as last year.
Stanford Superfly
Stanford SuperflyIt has been a bumpy back half of the season for Stanford. After dropping four straight to close out NWC, a Southwest Regionals upset at the hands of UC Santa Barbara only deepened the sense that things haven’t quite gone to plan. Injuries have played a major role — with Anika Quon and Devy Weir still in concussion protocol, Superfly’s trajectory seems to be trending down. And yet… are you really going to count out Stanford at Nationals?
We say it every year. I’ll say it again. This is a program with a coaching staff that has made a habit of peaking at precisely the right time. Even with key players missing, there’s still plenty of talent here: Harper Baer has stepped gracefully into a larger backfield role, and Sage McGinley Smith is as much a terror as ever – a true cut-timing savant.
It might go without saying, but pop your (breakfast?) popcorn for their Saturday morning pool play showdown with Vermont. Aside from being a measuring stick for both programs, and having clear bracket implications, the fact that it’s a rematch of last year’s universe point semifinal is just plain tasty. If Stanford can gut out that win, they could be right back in the mix to make a run at quarters and beyond.
Victoria Vikes
Victoria VikesIf the Vikes were an investment, you should have gotten in two years ago. The 2023 squad made Nationals with just 16 players; 2024 brought 21; this year’s roster has ballooned to 29. Imagine what Victoria can do with 38% more legs over the course of four days. And these aren’t just any legs — with six Team Canada reps on board, there’s no shortage of high-level talent.
Unfortunately, they’ll be without one of their brightest stars, TC U24 selection Kate Bourdon, who tore her ACL and underwent surgery earlier this spring. Even so, Victoria still boast a strong core including Ericka Edgell and Brynn Freeland, who bring an explosive style on both sides of the ball. But the biggest X-factors might be Arabella Brudney and Mari Nielsen, both of whom missed Nationals last year. It’s hard to overstate the force they exert when they’re on the field, and the team will be a totally different unit with them present.
Victoria managed just one win on their Nationals resume last year, but the path to improving that total this time around is clear as day. A pool play victory over Cornell feels well within reach, and if Stanford’s injuries bog them down, an upset is not out of the question. Whether it’s in pool play, the bracket, or consolation, don’t be surprised if the Vikes walk away with a couple of statement wins by weekend’s end.
Cornell Wild Roses
Cornell Wild RosesFor the first time since 2019, the Wild Roses are back in the big show — and it feels like the start of something. Cornell reasserted themselves atop the Metro East this spring, dispatching their closest regional challengers to punch their ticket and picking up solid wins along the way in the regular season. Now that SUNY Binghamton are out of the picture, the program is, quite simply, back in business.
At the heart of the resurgence is the backfield pairing of Jenna Li, a sophomore handler who brings poise beyond her years, and Eve Lesburg, whose bag of tricks gets the Roses out of sticky situations. Not on the roster for the weekend, though, is All-Region pick Celia Doherty, whose downfield presence will certainly be missed.
Realistically, the goal this weekend isn’t racking up wins in pool play — snagging one in this stacked group would be a tall order, especially with no wins over Nationals attendees on their resume this season. But that’s not really the point. This Nationals is a re-establishing of Cornell’s presence on the national stage, and a laying of the foundation for a return to regional dominance. With a return to prominence and momentum on their side, the Roses are blooming again.
To be fair, that team looked different from the prior year’s… ↩
In what would be a true syzygy ↩
A contrapuntal composition in which a short melody or phrase is introduced by one part and successively taken up by others and developed by interweaving the parts ↩
which could’ve very easily been higher had the format allowed ↩
As long as you’re not counting their 1994 and 1995 titles ↩
See what I did there? ↩
Ah, the irony of me bringing her up here ↩
By we I obviously mean Ultiworld as a unit, not myself because I’ve personally played too many universe games against them to count them out ↩
No discredit to Utah, but I definitely wondered the same thing myself ↩
I’m going to conveniently skip past all the politics of this ↩
who, to be fair, only just joined this season ↩
