App-5 Season Recap & Nationals Preview

Author: Colin Bourn

Season Recap

The sun is setting on the 2024-25 USQ season and Nationals is nearly upon us! Another season of the App-5 Quadball Conference is in the books with the University of Virginia coming out on top, completing their mission of becoming three-peat conference champions. This UVA squad heads into the D1 College tournament as one of the favorites at USQ Cup 2025, poised to win their first ever national championship. Their stellar regular season did not come quite as easy as last year though. Penn State put up a huge fight in the App-5 championship game, tying the game during flag runner on pitch before ultimately falling 170-120. The conference tournament runner ups followed up this impressive performance with another at Howard County. One of the key wins that secured Penn State their D2 bid was against conference rivals QC Pittsburgh in a golden goal thriller. Pittsburgh will also be competing in the D2 tournament setting up a potential revenge game in pool play. Rounding out the group of App-5 teams competing in D2 is James Madison University, who had impressive showings throughout the season and proved that they can hang with any team they might face at Nationals. 

This year the App-5 conference was able to host four tournaments, each with high quality competition. Here’s a look at how the teams stacked up against each other in all head-to-head conference games:

2024-25 App-5 Conference Champions - University of Virginia

PC: Juli Nuetzel

Team Overviews

D1 - University of Virginia

Virginia finds themselves in a familiar spot as one of the top teams in the nation going into Nationals with the top seed in their pool. They’ve earned this position by dominating the App-5 conference and finishing undefeated at Howard County. UVA’s only losses this year have come on the road to the very talented Creighton program. However, home-field advantage will be on UVA’s side this year as they will be the closest team geographically to Nationals.

UVA is led by their long-time vets and USNTDA stars Zan Siddiqui and Emma Rollins. Siddiqui has wreaked havoc as a high pressing point defender for his four years at UVA and is lethal in transition. Rollins has always been a well rounded player, but this year has taken her passing and vision to a whole other level. She truly looks like a quarterback guiding the offense when the ball is in her hands. Their supporting cast includes many talented off ball quadball players including Nathan Jun and Chantal Siodlarz who consistently find ways to score. Dan O’Connor has become one of the best spark plug players in the Mid-Atlantic and always heightens the energy on the field. UVA has one of the most formidable duos at beater in Rhett Krovitz and Joey Beh. They often played dual male beaters with Krovitz and Beh at Howard County, and it will be interesting to see if they use that at all with the 3-max gender rule required in the D1 tournament. Rachael Brooke is also a valuable option in the beater game and has stepped up in big moments for UVA over the past 2 seasons.

UVA has the depth to win it all this year, but will need to use that depth to make it happen and knock off teams like Creighton and Texas State. This may be the best chance at a national championship Siddiqui and Rollins have had in their impressive careers at UVA.

Key Player To Watch at Nationals: Joey Beh

The second year captain is one of the most versatile players in the college game. No matter what position he’s playing (including seeker) he brings an aggressive style that often overwhelms his opponents. However, he’ll find no shortage of beaters at the D1 level that are willing to match his intensity. If Beh plays a disciplined game at the level he’s capable of, he’ll be a key factor in how far UVA goes this year.

Joey Beh (UVA)

PC: Shane McConaghie

D2 - Penn State University

Penn State hasn’t always brought large rosters to tournaments, but the group that they have has a lot of talent at the top end. They’ve played close games with UVA and last year’s national champions Harvard, proving that they are no easy team. They’ll get to play in one of the easier pools of D2, Pool G, and as long as they have their top line playing to the best of their ability, they should make a good bit of noise in the D2 tournament. 

Captains Alex Coble and Luci Jensen are poised to rack up some wins in the last tournament of their impressive college careers. Jensen has been a field general all season and has made her presence known as one of the best college beaters in the Mid-Atlantic. Coble is a crucial utility player that fits in easily to Penn State’s game whether she’s at chaser or beater. Penn State’s offensive production comes primarily from its speedy and elusive chaser duo Connor Morrow and Arya Mehta. Veteran keeper Kenny Peterson is a great shot stopper and one of the best communicators on the field at any given time. 

Penn State likes to rely on sitting deep on defense in a hoop zone and pouncing on their opponents mistakes. They often try to go for the counter attack and transition. Teams will need to be clean on offense and get back quick on defense or else Penn State is capable of opening up the floodgates on the scoreboard. 

Key Player To Watch at Nationals: Luci Jensen

Jensen is a true leader and Penn State finds success when she is at her best. She’s smart about when to hold vs throw on defense, which is of high importance for beaters in a hoop zone. She’ll also surprise some of the most athletic beaters around with her arm and ability to win exchanges. Jensen has the chance to prove that she’s one of the better beaters in the D2 tournament by taking Penn State on a deep run.

Luci Jensen (Penn State)

PC: Duran Allison

D2 - James Madison University

JMU is back as its own team! Regaining their independence is one of the biggest accomplishments of any USQ program in recent years. After playing the last 3 years as a joint team with Coastal Carolina, West Virginia and Virginia Tech, the Dukes are back to playing independently at Nationals for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic, something that very few joint team programs have been able to do. Not only that, but JMU has put together a solid team that knows how to win close games, something that has haunted their joint programs in the past. They will be playing in a D2 pool with Michigan, Emerson, Baylor and Vermont, a group with which they should have a solid chance to qualify for day 2 if they continue their trend of winning close games.

The biggest improvement we’ve seen from JMU is their ability to get all of their chasers to contribute on offense. Early in the season, JMU’s offense would run through sophomore keeper Levan Tsiskarishvili. And while Tsiskarishvili is still a critical piece to this team, JMU has become more multidimensional and has focused on getting their players comfortable with the ball in their hands. Caitlyn Breslow and Jerrell Simoneaux have blossomed into formidable scorers that opposing defenses will have to respect if they put too much focus on stopping Tsiskarishvili. On top of that, captain Li Rauss and Shannon Dinniman have both made big leaps this year and are confident ball carriers that distribute the ball to their big scorers. The JMU beater core is headlined by starting pair Declan McAlevy and Summer Solis who have great communication skills on the field and have often made big throws to force turnovers on defense. Fifth year senior Ryan Marsh is also another key beater who has been the team’s best at winning exchanges and can run the field during SOP. 

With the D2 tournament having a wide variety of teams this year, it’s easy to point at teams like Sam Houston or Bluejay QC as the favorites. While JMU probably isn’t considered to be in that tier of D2, they have all the pieces and big game experience needed to be a Cinderella team in this tournament and take down some of the big favorites.

Key Player To Watch at Nationals: Caitlyn Breslow

Breslow has been one of the best shot blockers in the App-5 conference for 2 years now and has earned recognition on a bigger scale. She is not afraid of contact and is a great finisher at the hoops on offense. Her level-headed presence on the field is often helping JMU push through in close, high-intensity games. Breslow will be a big factor if JMU is able to be a dark horse in the D2 tournament.

Caitlyn Breslow (James Madison)

PC: Shane McConaghie

D2 - QC Pittsburgh

Despite finishing the season without any in-conference wins, Pitt has shown that they are no push over team. Their three losses to Penn State and JMU were all within two goals or less. Pitt finds themselves back in the D2 tournament after their 2024 absence. In Pitt’s last two trips to Nationals they lost to other Mid-Atlantic foes during pool play, resulting in elimination from the bracket. And this year, Pitt has a shot at revenge against their in-state rivals: Penn State. Pitt’s team culture is one of the best around, and they’ve built one of the most sustainable programs in college. This team obviously believes in each other, and definitely has what it takes to flip the script and make it far in D2.

Pitt’s captain Kevin Oh is the embodiment of what Pitt is like, small but mighty and tough as nails. He surprises even the best beaters in the college game with how well he is able to keep up. Oh is often a 1-2 punch in the beater game with Loghan Hawkes, who’s got great decision making and an even better arm. Pitt’s quadball core is led by veteran keepers Jackson Neofes and Christian Marinescu, who both offer different looks to throw at opposing defenses, with either Neofes’ elite level shooting or Marinescu’s ability to drive through tackles and finish at the hoops. Fourth year player and second year captain Jim Karas has proven to be a key contributor on both sides of the ball and can play effectively no matter what line they’re on. Pitt has also gotten a big boost from Devon Smith this year as they’ve shown huge improvements with their confidence as a ball handler.

Pitt has already proven to be a thorn in the side to many teams competing in D2 this year. Pitt just needs to find ways to pull out wins in close games if they’re going to make it to bracket play. Their FROP game will be a crucial part of their success, as getting catches and finding ways to score on zero bludger opportunities will go a long way for them.

Key Player To Watch at Nationals: Jackson Neofes

Neofes is a grad student in his 3rd year playing for Pitt, and on the pitch he brings everything you could ask for. He has made clutch stops on defense, and scored some critical goals for his team as well. When Neofes is on his game, his shooting is as good as the best in the sport. Pitt will need Neofes to bring his best to Richmond, and if he does, Pitt will be making it to the bracket this year.

Jackson Neofes (QC Pittsburgh)

PC: Allison Slominski

App-5 Conference 2025 All-Star Team

These players were given the honors as All-Stars, voted on by volunteers and captains from the conference.

Keepers

Jackson Neofes (PITT)

Kenny Peterson (PSU)

Zan Siddiqui (UVA)**

Levan Tsiskarishvili (JMU)

Chasers

Sabrina Berry (UVA)

Caitlyn Breslow (JMU)**

Nathan Jun (UVA)

Rylan Moraes (UVA)

Connor Morrow (PSU)**

Li Rauss (JMU)

Emma Rollins (UVA)

Chantal Siodlarz (UVA)**

Beaters

Joey Beh (UVA)

Rachael Brooke (UVA)

Loghan Hawkes (PITT)**

Luci Jensen (PSU)

Rhett Krovitz (UVA)**

Declan McAlevy (JMU)

Summer Solis (JMU)

Seekers

Charlie Bodenstein (JMU)**

Varun Krishna (PITT)

** denotes starter for all-star team