The W volleyball found the going tough in the first competition of 2025 at the Emory University Jenny McDowell Invitational at Woodruff Arena. The Owls fell to LaGrange College, 3-1, on Friday evening, before losing twice Saturday in a marathon match versus Oglethorpe University, 3-2, and a sweep by host Emory, 3-0. 

Against LaGrange, MUW lost by set scores of 25-15, 22-25, 25-17, 25-17.  Megan Neeb led the attack with 12 kills. Skye Letson and Madison McBrayer added eight and seven kills, respectively. Avery Watts served up five of MUW’s 10 aces as a team.

Saturday’s first match versus Oglethorpe was especially heartbreaking for The W, after the team jumped out to a 2-0 lead before dropping the final three sets. McBrayer had a double-double of 15 kills and 10 digs, as did teammate Neeb with 13 kills and 15 digs. Setter Kinsley Kennedy had 42 assists – the second-most in a five-set match and third most, ever, in program history – along with a team-leading 17 digs. Watts had six blocks, as well. 

In the finale, The W was swept by unbeaten Emory (25-15, 25-10, 25-15). McBrayer and Sydney Barrett each had four kills. Kennedy added 11 assists.

MUW hosted its home opener yesterday against Freed-Hardeman University.

Men’s soccer

In an intra-aviary battle of Owls versus Owls, it was The W falling to Warren Wilson College, 5-0. The W fell to 0-2, while WWC improved to 1-0-1 in the neutral site bout, played at Huntingdon College

The MUW side trailed just 1-0 at the half, before Warren Wilson erupted for five second half tallies to break things open. 

WWC put the pressure on The W early, with 10 of its 26 shot attempts coming in the first half, five on goal. But MUW goalkeeper Nick Gutierrez making four of his eight saves during his 68 minutes in the nets, including one on a penalty kick in the 31st minute. 

Gutierrez was charged with four goals. Cortland Earl, who had one save in 22 minutes of action, allowed the other.

MUW will next be in action on Friday at Toccoa Falls College.

Women’s soccer

The W women’s soccer completed its two-game season-opening road trip to Arkansas with a 3-0 loss at Hendrix College. The Owls fell to 0-2 on the year, while the Warriors are 1-0.

The W trailed 1-0 at the intermission. However, the host Hendrix squad added two scores in the second half to ice the contest.

The HC defense kept MUW’s attack at bay, not permitting a shot attempt to the visiting Owls. Conversely, the Warriors had 23 shots, 11 on goal. HC also took all four corner kicks in the match, as well. 

The W goalkeeper Cam Lopez had eight saves on the afternoon, four in each half. 

The Owls begin their home slate at 5:30 p.m. today versus Rhodes College at the Roger Short Soccer Complex.

Cross country

Competing against a largely upper-division field, The W cross country teams opened the 2025 season with a couple of key individual efforts. The men’s and women’s teams placed 20th and 21st, respectively, in the five-kilometer races for both. 

For the Owls men’s team, it was newcomer Jarvis Sellers setting the pace. Sellers set an MUW school record by crossing the finish line in a time of 17:39.04 minutes. That eclipsed the previous record – set by Josh Gonsalves in 2002 – by nearly 44 full seconds. 

Sellers was 84th out of the 175-runner field. 

On the women’s side, junior Hannah Owens kept her streak of being MUW’s top finisher – now at 13 straight- of every race she has run for The W alive. Owens hit the tape of the women’s 5K in a time of 21:41.36 minutes, good for 91st out of 177 competitors. Owens’ time was less than three-10ths of a second off of her own 5K school record.