RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The Thomas Jefferson University women's volleyball team emerged victorious from each of three tightly-contested sets to claim a 3-0 (30-28, 25-22, 25-22) Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference victory over host Felician University on Sunday afternoon at Job Gymnasium. Jefferson (22-4, 13-4 CACC) is listed at No. 9 in the most recent NCAA Division II Committee East Region Ranking.

The loss, combined with conference results from earlier in the weekend, locked Felician (10-17, 8-7) into the No. 2 seed from the CACC North Division for the upcoming league championship tournament. The Golden Falcons will therefore host a first-round playoff game on Tuesday, November 16. The opponent is still to be determined, with Jefferson as one of the possibilities.

Junior outside hitter Hannah Chiswick (Pittstown, N.J./Delaware Valley) led Felician with 12 kills and freshman right-side hitter Olivia Anderson (Little Egg Harbor, N.J./Pinelands Regional) had eight kills and nine digs on Sunday. Freshman outside Jess Molen (Newark, Del./Padua Academy) paced the Rams with 10 kills and nine digs.

Aided by two Felician service errors, Jefferson recovered from a 22-18 Set 1 deficit. The Rams saved a set point to knot the set at 24-24, only to see Felician gain three sideouts to remain in contention. But at 28-28, Rams Sam Mann (Glen Mills, Pa./Garnet Valley) and Kristine Guenther (Aston, Pa./Sun Valley) teamed for a block and Molen followed with a kill to allow the visitors to come out on top.

The next two sets played out in similar see-saw fashion. Jefferson led, 9-3, in Set 2, but the Golden Falcons recovered to pull even at 15-15. The Rams went back on top, 23-19 before kills by Chiswick sandwiched one from Jelena Vucic (Smederevo, Serbia/Gimnazija Smederevo) to inch Felician back to within 23-22. Molen came up a kill and an ace to end the set, however.

Similarly, Jefferson saw a 15-9 Set 3 edge evaporate. The set was tied three times late, the last time at 21-21, before a block and a kill by Mann forced a Felician timeout. However, a Guenther ace put the Rams on the verge of victory, and the Golden Falcons saved only one match point before another Jefferson block ended the match.

Felician hit just .075 on the day and was outblocked, 12-4. Mann finished with five kills and seven blocks. Felician received 23 kills and 12 digs from junior setter Miquela Martinez (Santa Fe, N.M./St. Michael's), while senior libero Alondra Diaz Sanchez (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico/Colegio de La Salle) finished with 20 digs and three aces.

The Golden Falcons travel to Caldwell University on Wednesday for a 5 p.m. CACC tilt.