Everything you need to know from pool play!
May 16, 2026 by Zack Davis and Theresa Diffendal in Recap
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WAUKEGAN – After three rounds of pool play in wonderfully warm and rather still conditions, only three upsets were had across the entire complex. Macalester Pursesnatchers nearly pulled off an upset over top seed Davenport Panthers to close out play, while Whitman Sweets had one of the unexpected beatdowns of the tournament, thrashing Haverford/Bryn Mawr Sneetches to claim the top spot in Pool B. Read on for the stories of the day, in a nutshell!
A Close Second Tier
While the opening rounds brought little drama and blowouts aplenty, the scores got tighter as the day went on, and the seeds drew closer. No pool top seed quite enjoyed the ease of play of prior years (think back to 2024 when Portland won every pool play game by nine or more points, or last year when Haverford/Bryn Mawr and Whitman beat their poolmates by six or more), as all trailed their pool second seed at some point in the last round of play, and in Haverford/Bryn Mawr’s case, still trailed when the final horn blew.
- Davenport 14 – 13 Macalester | Game Recap
The overall no.1 seed Davenport Panthers trailed Macalester 8-4 at the half as Claire Lee once again put on a show for D-III fans, racking up one goal, five assists, and three blocks in the contest. With standout performances too from Sntachers Dorthea Trelstad Pi-Sunyer and Lucy Manalang, it seemed like Macalester might pull off the upset, leading 12-8 late into the contest. But Davenport’s zone, and the star play of BPOTY Jocelyn Richison, Aiva Zoldan, Charlee Tannahill, and transfer Elleythea Smith turned the contest around, leading the Panthers on a 5-1 run to keep Macalester from snatching a win.
- Carleton Eclipse 15 – 12 Rice Torque | Game Recap
Carleton Eclipse seemed like they might be on one of the aforementioned dominant tears after they opened with tournament with a 15-1 domination of Kenyon Blu-Ray that included a first-half shutout. They played a closer contest against Lewis & Clark, 15-7, but it took until the third round and a showdown with Rice Torque — led by Ria Stevens — for Carleton to feel the pressure.
Stevens has been nigh unstoppable through one day of play and leads the tournament in assists (21) while recording the second-most goals (11). With Radhiya Bharmal serving as a more-than-capable second-in-command should defenses collapse around Stevens, Torque have proved their near-undefeated regular season was no fluke, and scored four in a row to jump out to a 6-4 lead. But Carleton, getting production from their entire roster and playing well-coordinated team defense, righted the ship to break for half 8-7, and later broke again to wrap up Pool C, 15-12.
- Middlebury 15 – 12 Wesleyan | Stream
Ultiworld’s free stream of the day featured two of the division’s heavy hitters going at it in a classic Pool D 4v5 matchup. The game only featured one lead change, with Middlebury stringing together enough breaks to turn a 5-4 deficit into an 8-6 halftime lead they never relinquished.
D-III’s QB1 Ella Widmyer tossed seven assists to only six turns despite frequently going every-other to notch crucial upwind holds, with quick play complemented by rookie handler Ami Li who is putting the division on notice. Lizzie Madden and Izzy Laramee made for sure-handed downfield targets, often finding their way behind even Wesleyan’s strong defenders to reel in hucks from Widmyer. It proved enough to overcome even Wesleyan’s top duo of Milo Brown and Scout Noble, while Nola Busansky had a breakout game that included a diving layout goal.
Wesleyan will now face Mt. Holyoke in prequarters, with the winner facing Carleton, while Middlebury awaits the victor between Rice and Santa Clara.
- Whitman 15 – 4 Haverford/Bryn Mawr | Game Recap
Perhaps the most shocking result from pool play was the breakdown of overall two seed Haverford/Bryn Mawr Sneetches at the hands of Whitman. Top 15 player Gabbie Campbell ran the show to hang early breaks on last year’s finalists, getting a run-through block on one point, scoring a goal on another, and hitting favored receiver Julia Hanson in the end zone for Campbell’s first of six assists on the game as Whitman rolled to an 8-2 halftime lead.
Despite the best efforts of Sneetch lead handler Rufus Helmreich and breakout downfield receivers in Liv Davis and August Kankel, Haverford/Bryn Mawr could only hang two more on the board in the second. They played much of it without the play of star Erica Collin, who decleated after a bid attempt.
Haverford/Bryn Mawr’s path back to the final is suddenly much more difficult. They play a famously strong bracket team in Lewis & Clark in one of a number of must-watch prequarters, the winner of which will face overall no.1 seed Davenport in quarters.
The State of the Field
Kenyon Blu-Ray, Richmond Redhots, Union Jillz, and Colorado College Zenith were unable to collect a win in pool play and find themselves out of title contention. Zenith competed with just eight players, as graduation conflicts kept much of the team from competing in Waukegan. The team nearly made the bracket anyway, rallying from being down 4-1 to play Mt. Holyoke to universe. The Jillz also missed players to graduation, and despite strong play from Anna Davidson, Rylie Feltner, Lindsey Dismuke, and Sarah Skinner, fell to the bottom of pool B.
Richmond also nearly tasted greatness, as the Redhots’ strong core of Keia Linnane, Catie Geraghty, Maggie McFerran, Jole Martin, Genesis Meadows, Lucy Sevetson and Jillian Eldridge capitalized on St. Olaf’s early mistakes to lead 4-1 with a spot in prequarters on the line. But Vortex went on a 7-1 tear to take half 8-5, and finished the game with three straight goals to take the game 15-10. Blu-Ray were dealt a tough hand in pool C, falling to Carleton 15-1 to open their tournament and ending pool play with a 10-7 upset loss to the scariest four seed in Lewis & Clark.
Whitman’s win over Haverford/Bryn Mawr guarantees that a seed outside the top six makes the semifinal round, while one of the top two seeds will not. Indeed, both of last year’s finalists will need to play through prequarters in 2026 as opposed to last year, when Haverford/Bryn Mawr and Wesleyan earned the coveted bye to quarters.
The potential quarters matchups are intriguing, as neither Mt. Holyoke nor Wesleyan have ever beaten Carleton, while Davenport hasn’t played Haverford/Bryn Mawr or Lewis & Clark. That set of quarterfinals is set to be streamed, so tune in to potentially see history being made.
Notes from Around the Complex
- Santa Clara Rage made the bracket at their first-ever Nationals with a 15-4 upset victory over Union to close out pool play. (Game Recap)
- Rice’s Ria Stevens sits atop both the assists and blocks leaderboard for the tournament and is second overall in goals. Through one day of play, Stevens has already slashed a triple double, with an incredible 11G/21A/19B/45T statline.
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Tomorrow, Ultiworld will stream the prequarter matchups of Macalester vs. St. Olaf, Wesleyan vs. Mt. Holyoke, and Haverford/Bryn Mawr vs. Lewis & Clark at 8:30 AM CT, followed by quarterfinal and semifinal play. Follow along with the action first-hand by watching on the tournament event page.
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