CALDWELL, N.J. – No. 5 seed Felician University knocked off host and No. 4 seed Caldwell University, 3-2 (25-22, 15-25, 17-25, 26-24, 15-10), during first-round play in the Spring 2021 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Women's Volleyball Championship tournament on Tuesday night on the George R. Newman Center's Corino Court.

Felician (2-5) advances to meet top-seeded Georgian Court University (7-2) in the semifinals on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the GCU Wellness Center in Lakewood, N.J. Georgian Court enjoyed a first-round bye in the seven-team event.

Felician senior Katie Asbery (Mililani, Hawaii) led all players on Tuesday with a career-high 23 kills.

"That moment when the final whistle blew was just pure happiness," said Asbery, who ended the match with her only block of the night. "Our record in the regular season did not reflect the type of team we are and that was frustrating for all of us. But tonight, we weren't ready for our season to come to an end. We had our struggles through the sets but we stuck together."

Felician fell behind, 2-1, after lopsided losses in Sets 2 and 3. But, boosted by three consecutive Maddie Sloan (Caldwell, N.J.) service aces, the Golden Falcons got out to an 11-4 Set 4 lead. The hosts eventually erased the entire deficit, using kills by Olivia Bellamy (Davison, Mich.) and Elise Smith (O'Fallon, Ill.) to knot the set at 20-20.

The Golden Falcons captured the next four rallies and appeared poised to extend the match, only to see the Cougars roar back for a 24-24 tie. An errant Caldwell attack put Felician back on top, and an Asbery kill gave the visitors the 26-24 win and set up a deciding set.

Felician captured the first three points of Set 5, only to see the Cougars win the next six. The set was tied on three occasions, the final time at 9-9 before a Hannah Chiswick (Pittstown, N.J.) kill put the Golden Falcons on top for good. That point sparked a 4-0 Golden Falcon run which put the visitors on the brink of victory. With her team ahead 13-10, Felician sophomore setter Miquela Martinez (Santa Fe, N.M.) led Asbery for a kill, and the senior's solo block finished off the victory two hours, 12 minutes, after the first serve.

Martinez amassed 49 assists and 18 digs. Chiswick totaled 17 kills, nine digs and four aces. Defensively for Felician, sophomore Gwen Van Goor (West Milford, N.J.) put down a career-best four blocks and junior Alondra Diaz Sanchez (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) lifted 23 digs.

Smith had 19 kills and 11 digs and Amanda Schlitz (Durham, N.C.) accumulated 12 kills, nine digs and eight blocks for Caldwell (3-4).

After not having ever reached the CACC semifinals prior to 2019, the Golden Falcons have now done so for the second consecutive occasion. Tuesday's victory was also the first postseason road win in program history.

"I am very lucky to have a senior season, and I'm so happy that we are continuing on in the playoffs," Asbery said. "We will be ready for Georgian Court."

Per CACC policy, no spectators will be allowed at CACC Tournament matches; check www.caccathletics.org for postseason information.