Postseason Honors Accorded To W&L Coaches
Four Washington and Lee University spring head coaches were recently honored for guiding their teams to successful seasons.
Gene McCabe, the men’s lacrosse coach, was named Old Dominion Athletic Conference coach of the year for the fifth time after winning his sixth ODAC title. McCabe led the generals to a 16-6 overall record and a 9-1 mark in conference play to seize the ODAC regular season title. W&L went on to win the ODAC Tournament, posting a 18-8 win over the University of Lynchburg to claim the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. The team finished the regular season ranked fifteenth in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division III poll and registered a 19-10 victory over ninth-ranked Gettysburg College in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. W&L’s season came to an end following a 13-12 loss to Christopher Newport University in the Round of 16. McCabe has coached the Generals for 20 years and achieved his 300th coaching win this spring.
Erin Ness, the women’s tennis coach, was named ODAC coach of the year for the fifth consecutive year and the 10th time in her career. She led the Generals to a 22-3 overall record this spring and a perfect 10-0 mark in conference play. The 22 wins are the program’s most since compiling 24 victories during the 2014-15 campaign. W&L won its 23rdstraight ODAC title with a 4-0 victory over Averett University in the conference tournament championship match. The Generals made it to the NCAA Division III quarterfinals, ending their season with a 4-0 loss to No. 4 Wesleyan University, which would go on to win the national title. Ness has led the Generals to 12 titles in her 13 seasons as head coach.
David Detwiler, the men’s tennis coach, was named the ODAC coach of the year for the seventh time in his 25 seasons. Detwiler guided the Generals to a 12-11 overall record in 2026, including a perfect 8-0 mark in conference play. The Generals claimed their 43rd overall ODAC title with a 4-1 win over Shenandoah University in the conference title match, earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. W&L’s season concluded with a 4-0 loss to ninth-ranked Carnegie Mellon University in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32. He is the program’s all-time wins leader, holding a 393-171 (.697) overall record, including a 217-2 (.991) regular season record against conference opponents.
Jane Hopkinson-Wood was named the Women’s Golf Coaches Association Division III Southeast Region coach of the year. Hopkinson-Wood secured the honor after leading the Generals to a program-best fourth-place finish at the NCAA Division III Championship held May 19-22 at the Desert Willow Golf Resort in Palm Desert, Calif. W&L carded a team score of 292-296-294-292 – 1,174 (+22), also a program-best in the NCAA Championship. Individually, Toral Bhatt ’29 tied for 16th overall with a 69-72-82-70 – 293 (+5). W&L completed the season finishing eighth or better in every tournament in which it competed, with four golfers earning All-ODAC accolades following the season. Hopkinson-Wood has guided W&L to the NCAA Tournament all three of her years at the helm, claiming ODAC titles in both 2024 and 2025. Before arriving at W&L, she was the head golf coach at Centre College, leading the Colonels to a pair of Top 10 finishes at the NCAA Championship, including a sixthplace finish in 2021. She was a three-time Southern Athletic Association Coach of the Year awardee.
