\Williamsburg, Va. - With just three games remaining in the regular season, the Elon women's lacrosse team hits the road Sunday for a pivotal Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) matchup at William & Mary. The Phoenix, currently 3-2 in league play, are in a tight battle for one of four spots in the upcoming CAA Tournament. Elon enters the contest in a virtual tie with Delaware and Hofstra, just ahead of Towson, making every remaining game critical down the stretch.

William & Mary (5-7, 1-4 CAA) picked up a conference win over Monmouth earlier this season but has struggled in its other league matchups, allowing over 14 goals per game. First-year head coach Kelyn Freedman brings familiarity with the CAA from her time as an assistant at Towson and looks to lead the Tribe to a strong finish. Elon holds a 7-2 all-time edge in the series, including last year's 18-11 win at Rudd Field behind four-goal performances from both Sammy Fisher and Mia Zebley.

The Phoenix will look to bounce back following Friday's weather-impacted loss to No. 19 Stony Brook, leaning on standout sophomore MJ Santa Barbara in the draw circle and veteran leadership from Sammy Fisher offensively and Reagan Kuehn defensively. A win in Williamsburg would keep Elon firmly in the postseason picture heading into its final two CAA contests.
 
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THREE THINGS TO KNOW: ELON AT WILLIAM & MARY

1. Dominance in the Draw Sophomore MJ Santa Barbara continues to anchor Elon's success in the draw circle. Since her return from injury, the Phoenix have won draws at a .621 clip—compared to William & Mary's .431 season average. Santa Barbara ranks eighth in CAA history with 219 career draw controls and is just four away from moving into seventh all-time.

2. Crucial CAA Standings Implications With three conference games left, Elon sits in a three-way tie for third place in the CAA standings. A win in Williamsburg would boost the Phoenix to 4-2 in league play and strengthen their chances at returning to the CAA Tournament. Four teams will qualify for postseason play, with semifinal and championship rounds hosted by the top seed.

3. Series Edge and Veteran Firepower Elon leads the all-time series 7-2 and scored an 18-11 win over the Tribe last season behind four-goal efforts from Sammy Fisher and Mia Zebley. Fisher enters Sunday with 32 goals this season and ranks second in program history with 114 career goals.
 

SCOUTING WILLIAM & MARY

• William & Mary is 5-7 on the season, which includes a record of 1-4 in CAA play. The Tribe have a 17-11 win over Monmouth on the league slate, but have been outscored 67-31 in their four CAA losses.
• William & Mary has been strong in ground balls, ranking No. 27 nationally with 18.25 per contest. The Tribe, though, is winning draws at just a .431 clip and allowing 14.25 goals per game.
• Individually, goalie Marin Wilhelm is averaging 9.17 saves per game. Kate Draddy leads the team with 2.42 ground balls per game, followed by Wilhelm at 2.33.
• Head Coach Kelyn Freedman is in her first season as head coach at William & Mary. She has familiarity with the CAA as she was an assistant coach at Towson a year ago. She also has stops at Georgetown, George Washington and Niagara.

 
SERIES HISTORY VS. WILLIAM & MARY

• This will be the 10^th meeting between Elon and William & Mary all-time with the Phoenix holding a 7-2 advantage in the all-time series.
• Elon won 18-11 a year ago but William & Mary won 18-7 in 2023, the last time the two teams played in Virginia. In last year's win, Sammy Fisher and Mia Zebley had four goals apiece. Elon jumped out to a 5-1 lead, but William & Mary cut the lead to one early in the third. The Phoenix scored eight of the next nine goals to put it away.

 
BREAKING DOWN THE CAA

• Four teams will make the CAA Tournament, with the semifinals taking place May 1 and the championship on May 3. Both rounds will take place at the No. 1 overall seed.
• Currently, Drexel and Stony Brook remain the only unbeaten teams at 5-0 each. They are in the driver's seat for the top two seeds.
• Delaware (4-2), Hofstra (3-2) and Elon (3-2) are battling for a spot in the CAA Tournament with Towson (2-3) just one loss behind. Among those four teams, Delaware is 2-0 (wins over Hofstra and Elon), Hofstra is 1-2 (a win over Towson and losses to Delaware and Elon), Elon is 1-1 (a win over Hofstra and a loss to Delaware) and Towson is 0-1 (a loss to Hofstra).
• Delaware plays at Towson Sunday, while Elon is at William & Mary. Hofstra plays at unbeaten Drexel.

 
MJ IN THE DRAW CIRCLE

• Sophomore draw specialist MJ Santa Barbara was named a preseason All-American after bursting onto the scene with a CAA record 151 draw controls a year ago. However, she missed Elon's first six games of the 2025 regular season due to injury. Since her return, she has barely skipped a beat.
• Santa Barbara tied her own single-game program record with 15 draw controls in her first game back at High Point. She set that mark a year ago in Elon's win over Monmouth. The 15 draw controls are tied for the most in the CAA this season (Drexel's Anna Maria Gragnani also had 15).
• Santa Barbara had 12 draw controls in the win over Campbell, breaking the school's career draw control record, in just her 21^st career game, and giving her an even 200 for her career.
• Since that point, she has increased her draw control total to 219, which ranks eighth in CAA history. She is four behind Delaware's Danielle Livornese (2021-24) for seventh and 13 behind Hofstra's Darcie Smith (2017-21) for sixth.
• With Santa Barbara back in the lineup, Elon holds a 108-66 advantage in the draw circle for a .621 win percentage. The Phoenix's draw win percentage over the course of the first six games without Santa Barbara was .493.
• Elon's .621 win percentage since Santa Barbara's return would rank ninth nationally. Loyola Maryland leads the country at .694 and Dartmouth follows at .661.
• Although she does not qualify for the national rankings because of her injury (players must play in 75 percent of their team games), Santa Barbara's 11.33 draw controls per game since her return would also rank third in the country. James Madison's Madison Epke leads the nation at 12.82 and Dartmouth's Maya Kendall is second at 12.00. Arizona State's Anna Vigilone is at 11.29 per contest.

 
LOOKING BACK TO LOOK AHEAD

• Elon went 9-8 in 2024 and posted a 5-3 record in the CAA, qualifying for the CAA Tournament semifinals. That record was a five-win improvement over 2023 both overall and in conference.
• The Phoenix returns seven of its eight leading scorers from a year ago, including Sammy Fisher, who paced Elon with 37 goals and 44 points. She was a preseason All-CAA pick.
• Sophomore Reagan Kuehn is the headliner on defense, earning All-CAA honorable mention status in the preseason. She had 36 ground balls and 24 caused turnovers a year ago.
• MJ Santa Barbara, one of the best in the country in the draw circle, is just a sophomore and earned preseason All-American status by USA Lacrosse. She broke Elon's single-game and single-season draw control record last year, as well as the CAA's single-season draw control mark. Her 8.88 draw controls per game were most in the country for a freshman and ranked No. 7 nationally.

 
PRESEASON AWARDS

• Sophomore MJ Santa Barbara was named honorable mention preseason All-America by USA Lacrosse as a draw control specialist. She is the first Elon player to earn preseason All-America status since Stephanie Asher was named honorable mention All-America by Inside Lacrosse in 2018.
• Senior Sammy Fisher was named to the preseason All-CAA Team as one of five attackers recognized. She led Elon with 37 goals and 44 points, adding 14 ground balls, 16 draw controls and five caused turnovers.
• Sophomore Reagan Kuehn was named honorable mention preseason All-CAA after leading Elon with 36 ground balls and 24 caused turnovers. She added a program record 11 caused turnovers in conference play and had at least one caused turnover in 11 straight games to open her collegiate career.

 
ABOUT THE COACHING STAFF

• Josh Hexter enters his 12^th season at the helm of the Elon lacrosse program in 2025 as the only head coach in the program's history. He is 80-92 in the first 12 years of the program and has a career head coaching mark of 152-134, which includes a 72-42 record in seven seasons at Bridgewater State.
• Assistant Coach Kelly Dowd is in her first season at Elon after two seasons as an assistant at Connecticut. She is a 2017 graduate of Queens University of Charlotte.
• Assistant Coach Katie Brodsky is also in her first season at Elon and most recently served as the lacrosse program head at Seattle Preparatory School. She is a 2023 graduate of Arizona State.

 
INTO THE RECORD BOOKS

• Elon returned three of its top seven goal scorers in program history, along with a wealth of elite statistical talent elsewhere. Listed below are the current student-athletes among the Phoenix's all-time top 10 career leaderboards:

 
Points – 3. Sammy Fisher 137, 4. Cierra Hopson 127, t9. Anna Hackett 71
Goals – 2. Sammy Fisher 114, 3. Cierra Hopson 93, 7. Anna Hackett 64
Assists – 3. Cierra Hopson 34, 7. Sammy Fisher 23, 9. Mia Zebley 20
Shots – 2. Sammy Fisher 274, 3. Cierra Hopson 215, 9. Anna Hackett 139
Free Position Goals – 4. Anna Hackett 22, 8. Sammy Fisher 13, t10. Cierra Hopson 11, t10. Mia Zebley 11
Ground Balls – 8. Caitlin Walsh 64, 10. Reagan Kuehn 62
Draw Controls – 1. MJ Santa Barbara 219, 4. Sammy Fisher 133
Caused Turnovers – 7. Reagan Kuehn 44, t8. Brooke Scheuermann 37, t10. Jessie Penner 36
Games Played – 11. Cierra Hopson 61
Games Started – 8. Sammy Fisher 57, t10. Cierra Hopson 51
Saves – 2. Caitlin Walsh 312, 6. Chloe Herghelegiu 79
Save Percentage – 4. Caitlin Walsh .377, 6. Chloe Herghelegiu .329
GAA – 5. Caitlin Walsh 13.26, 7. Chloe Herghelegiu 14.65
Goalie Minutes – 2. Caitlin Walsh 2335:43, 6. Chloe Herghelegiu 659:26
Goalie Wins – 2. Caitlin Walsh 17, t4. Chloe Herghelegiu 4
 
SINGLE-SEASON MARKS

• With four games remaining in the regular season, Elon is moving into the top 10 in some single-season marks.

 
Goals – 11. Sammy Fisher 32
Assists – 11. Ana Lee Vandiver 10
Shots – 8. Sammy Fisher 81
Draw Controls – 4. MJ Santa Barbara 68
Caused Turnover – 8. Reagan Kuehn 20
Goals Against Average – 10. Caitlin Walsh 12.66
Goalie Minutes – 10. Caitlin Walsh 658:56
 
SINGLE-SEASON CONFERENCE MARKS

• With three conference games remaining, Elon is moving into the top five marks in program history for conference only stats.

 
Points – 6. Ana Lee Vandiver 18
Goals – t6. Ana Lee Vandiver 13, t6. Sammy Fisher 13
Shots – 6. Sammy Fisher 35
Draw Controls – 2. MJ Santa Barbara 53
Goals Against Average – 5. Caitlin Walsh 9.84
 
SINGLE-SEASON FRESHMEN CONFERENCE MARKS

• With three conference games remaining, Elon is moving into the top five marks in program history for conference only stats by freshmen.

 
Assists – T3. Danielle Swietoniowski 5
Free position goals – t6. Danielle Swietoniowski 2, t6. Addie Gilner 2
 
SINGLE-SEASON TEAM MARKS

• With four games remaining in the regular season, Elon is moving into the top five marks in program history for team stats.

 
Assists – 5. Elon 52
Clear Percentage – 1. Elon .898 (167/186)
 
SINGLE-SEASON CONFERENCE TEAM MARKS

• With three CAA games remaining, Elon is moving into the top five marks in program history for team stats.

 
Wins – t4. Elon 3
Points – 3. Elon 88
Goals – t5. Elon 58
Assists – 2. Elon 30
Free Position Percentage – 4. Elon .455 (10/22)
Draw Controls – 2. Elon 85
Clear Percentage – 1. Elon .900 (72/80)
 
AMONG THE NATIONAL LEADERS

• Elon ranks among the national top 25 in the following team and national top 50 in the following individual statistical categories (prior to Friday's game vs. Stony Brook):

 
Team Rankings
Draw Control Percentage – 14. Elon .584
Draw Controls/Game – 22. Elon 15.45
 
Individual Rankings
Caused Turnovers/Game – 41. Reagan Kuehn 1.73
Shots/Game – 29. Sammy Fisher 7.09
Shots on Goal/Game – 21. Sammy Fisher 5.64
 
AMONG THE CAA LEADERS

• Elon ranks among the CAA top five in the following team stats and among the top 10 in the following individual stats (prior to Friday's game vs. Stony Brook):

 
Team Rankings
Caused Turnovers/Game – 4. Elon 8.64
Clearing Percentage – 4. Elon .898
Draw Control Percentage – 1. Elon .584
Draw Controls/Game – 1. 15.45
Shots/Game – 5. 28.27
Shots On Goal/Game – 5. 21.00
Fewest Turnovers/Game – 4. 13.91
 
Individual Rankings
Caused Turnovers/Game – 4. Reagan Kuehn 1.73
Draw Controls/Game – 5. Sammy Fisher 4.18
Goals/Game – 6. Sammy Fisher 2.64
Goals Against Average – 7. Caitlin Walsh 12.12
Points/Game – 10. Sammy Fisher 3.45
Save Percentage – 8. Caitlin Walsh .349
Saves/Game – 7. Caitlin Walsh 5.91
Shots/Game – 3. Sammy Fisher 7.09, 9. Ana Lee Vandiver 5.55
Shots On Goal/Game – 1. Sammy Fisher 5.64