Best Virginia Tech Athletes Across All Ball Sports for 2024-2025

Virginia Tech showcased standout talent across multiple ball sports during the 2024–25 season. From football and basketball to soccer and baseball, here’s a look at the top-performing athletes on each team.

Football: Antwaun Powell-Ryland, Edge

Antwaun Powell‑Ryland capped his Virginia Tech career with a dominant senior season, notching 43 tackles and a team‑leading 16 sacks in just 12 games. That sack total ranked tied for second in the ACC and third nationally. He also forced three fumbles and earned First Team All‑ACC and Associated Press Third Team All‑American honors.

Powell-Ryland is now off to the NFL, picked up by the Philadelphia Eagles with the 209th overall pick.

Men's Basketball: Tobi Lawal, Forward

Lawal enjoyed a breakout first season in Blacksburg as a junior transfer from VCU, averaging 12.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per game on 55.9% shooting. He led the Hokies in both points and rebounds and reached double figures in scoring 20 times, including four 20-point performances. Lawal’s efficiency and consistency made him a central piece in Virginia Tech’s offense, positioning him as one of the team's leaders heading into his senior season this year.

Women's Basketball: Carys Baker, Forward

In her second campaign, Baker emerged as one of Virginia Tech’s most reliable scoring options, averaging 12.6 points and 6.3 rebounds a night. Baker scored a career-high 24 points against Syracuse and her scoring versatility — from deep, inside and at the line — provided much-needed offensive firepower and helped keep the Hokies in the NCAA Tournament conversation for the majority of the year. Baker also canned five straight triples in February against Virginia, tying the record previously set by Cayla King.

Volleyball: Hailey Pearce, Right Side Hitter

Pearce started in all but one match last season, tallying a team-high 331 kills and putting up 17 double-digit kill outputs. Pearce recorded two double-doubles, both against Syracuse; in the first contest, she notched a career-high 21 kills, the most of any Tech player last season. Pearce will not suit up in the maroon and orange this season, however, having transferred to North Carolina in the offseason.

Men's Soccer: Ethan Hackenberg, Midfielder

Hackenberg tied alongside forward Oliver Roche for the most goals on the team (5) and paced the Hokies in total points with 11. His three game-winning goals, combined with making 54.5% of his shots on goal, made him a cornerstone of Tech's 2025 iteration, which went 7-6-4.

Women's Soccer: Natalie Mitchell, Midfielder

Mitchell led the Hokies in points (16) and was second in goals (5), tallying game-winning goals in each of Tech's first two games of the 2024 NCAA Tournament and earning All-Atlantic Region Fourth Team honors for her efforts.

Baseball: Ben Watson, Outfielder

Watson notched a 21-game hitting streak that ended with the Hokies' second-round loss in the ACC Tournament to Clemson. In 2024, he batted .419 over 222 at-bats, setting a school single-season record with 93 hits, including 21 doubles, three triples and four homers. He tallied 51 runs and drove in 48 RBI, posting a .466 on-base percentage. Watson is currently playing for the Washington Wild Things in the Frontier League.

Softball: Cori McMillan, Outfielder

McMillan posted a career-defining season in 2025, hitting .432 with 31 home runs, 65 RBIs, and 75 runs scored over 56 games and pacing the nation in homers. She became the first player in ACC history to hit 30 or more homers in a single season and earned consensus First-Team All-American honors. McMillan’s historic power and run production lifted Tech to an NCAA Regional, where it lost twice to Alabama to close out its 2025 campaign.

Lacrosse: Lauren Render, Midfielder/Attacker

Render led the Hokies in goals during the 2025 season with a 55, the sixth-most in a single season in program history. She delivered eight hat tricks, tallied three game‑winning goals, and was a force, scoring seven times both in the season opener against VCU and an upset of No. 11 Syracuse, the latter of which earned her ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors. Render also dropped a hat trick against eventual national champions North Carolina in the ACC Quarterfinals,a contest that Tech lost 19-9 to close out its season.

Men's Tennis: Alberto Orso

Orso was the lone Hokie on the roster to carry a winning record in ACC play, having secured victories in four of his seven conference matches last season. He also proved particularly resilient in tight moments, going 10‑3 in three‑set matches throughout the year.

Women's Tennis: Mila Mulready

Mulready won ten matches in the spring and went undefeated, 6-0, in conference play. The five-star recruit strung together eight straight wins in March and ended the year on a 7-1 stretch in her final eight matches.

Men's Golf: Gareth Steyn

Steyn was the lone Hokie to finish in the top-5 of an event containing 20 or more participants, tallying a fifth-place effort at the Testudo Cup in April. Steyn tied for 53rd of 75 in the ACC Men's Golf Championship, an event in which Virginia Tech placed last.

Women's Golf: Valentine Delon

Delon led the team with an average score of 72.50, achieving a low score of 65 and placing in the top five three times. In September, Delon finished second of 90 n the Schooner Fall Classic, the only Hokie to finish in the top half. Then, in February, Delon won the Advance Golf Partners Collegiate Tournament by two strokes over teammate Morgan Ketchum.

In March, Delon finished two strokes behind Ketchum at the Ironwood Invitational and tied for 25th at the NCAA Grand Canyon Regional, shooting seven over par. Her score of 70 in the third round marked the highest score of any Hokie throughout the event.

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