RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The Felician University women's volleyball team has qualified for the 2021 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Championship tournament as the No. 2 seed from the North Division.
Guided by eighth-year head coach John Chang, Felician (11-18, 9-8) reaches the CACC playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, a program record. On Tuesday, the Golden Falcons will host the South Division's No. 3 seed, Thomas Jefferson University, in first-round postseason action at Job Gymnasium on Felician's Rutherford campus. First service is set for 6 p.m.
Directions to Job Gymnasium are available at https://felicianathletics.com/information/directions (first listing). Ticket prices for Tuesday's match (CASH ONLY) are $10 for adults and $5 for children, students (with ID) and senior citizens. Children aged three years and under will be admitted free. FELICIAN STUDENTS will be admitted FREE with proper identification!
Additionally, a high-definition live webstream will be available for $4.99 per viewer at https://caccnetwork.com/felician/?bfplayvid=324665. The webcast is made possible through the CACC Network in partnership with Blue Frame Technology. Veteran broadcaster Jerry Milani will be on hand to call the play-by-play. Viewers that purchased a 2021 Felician Volleyball Season Pass through Blue Frame will have Tuesday's match included for no extra charge. A free online statistics feed will also be provided at http://www.felicianathletics.com/sports/wvball/2021-22/boxscores/20211116_v0mr.xml.
More information about the 2021 CACC Women's Volleyball Championship tournament is available at https://www.caccathletics.org/sports/wvball/2021-22/releases/1114Champ.
Felician is making its sixth trip to the CACC Tournament overall and is seeking its first championship. The Golden Falcons reached the semifinals in 2019, when they won their first CACC North regular-season title, and returned to the semis during the abbreviated Spring 2021 campaign. This season, they are 7-4 at home. Paced by senior libero Alondra Diaz Sanchez (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico/Colegio de La Salle) (5.54 digs/set) and junior setter Miquela Martinez (Santa Fe, N.M./St. Michael's) (5.51 assists/set, 3.26 digs/set), Felician leads the 13-team CACC with 18.24 digs per set.
Offensively, junior outside hitter Hannah Chiswick (Pittstown, N.J./Delaware Valley) hits .159 with 3.39 kills, 2.56 digs and 0.45 aces per set. Senior outside Maddle Sloan (Caldwell, N.J./James Caldwell) puts down 2.62 kills per set, and the middle blocker tandem of juniors Jelena Vucic (Smederevo, Serbia/Gimnajiza Smederevo) (.251, 1.43 kills/set, 0.66 blocks/set) and Catherine Lentsch (Elkhorn, Neb./Elkhorn South) (.222, 1.47 kills/set, 0.41 blocks/set) have emerged in recent weeks as threats at the net.
"Making the playoffs is always our immediate goal, and we have worked hard to get where we are," Chang said. "But we are not satisfied and have our eyes on our first trip to the finals."
Jefferson (23-4, 14-4), ranked sixth in the NCAA Division II East Region, enters the playoffs on a six-match win streak. The Rams, who are 9-2 in true road matches, seek their second CACC title. Freshman outside hitter Jess Molen (Newark, Del./Padua Academy) leads the CACC in kills per set (3.61), is second in aces per set (0.61) and also averages 3.10 digs. Freshman middle blocker Sam Mann (Glen Mills, Pa./Garnet Valley) is among the conference's top five in attack percentage (.324) and blocking (0.98/set). Freshman setter Kristine Guenther's (Aston, Pa./Sun Valley) 10.01 assists per set have guided Jefferson to a league-best .219 attack percentage.
Jefferson won the regular-season meeting between the schools, 3-0 (30-28, 25-22, 25-22), on November 7 in Rutherford. The Rams lead the all-time series, 17-1. The Rams and Golden Falcons are meeting in the CACC playoffs for the first time.
"Our match with Jefferson this year was not a good depiction of our toughness," Chang said. "I believe we will come into Tuesday with a different mindset, especially finishing off the regular-season with a very good home win over Wilmington."
Georgian Court University will host the semifinals and finals of the CACC Championship tournament at its Wellness Center Gymnasium in Lakewood, N.J. Tuesday's winner will take on the Holy Family University-Dominican (N.Y.) College first-round winner on Saturday at either 1 p.m. or 3:30 p.m.
The 2021 CACC Championship Match is slated for Sunday, November 21, at noon on the Georgian Court campus. The CACC champion automatically qualifies for the 2021 NCAA Division II East Regional Championship, to be held on the campus of a regional participant.
