LAKEWOOD, N.J. – Felician University had its bid for its first trip to the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference women's volleyball finals halted by No. 1 seed Georgian Court University on Thursday evening. The host Lions, who had earned a first-round bye in the seven-team Spring 2021 CACC Championship tournament, earned a 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-15) semifinal victory over the No. 5 seed Golden Falcons at the GCU Wellness Center.

In what was likely the final match of her career, Felician senior middle blocker Katie Asbery (Mililani, Hawaii) led all players with 10 kills.

The Golden Falcons (2-6) reached the CACC semifinals for the second consecutive occasion under head coach John Chang after never having previously done so. Georgian Court (8-2) advances to take on Holy Family University in Saturday's championship match. The Lions and Tigers also met for the 2019 title, with GCU emerging victorious.

"It was fun and truly an accomplishment to make another appearance in the semifinals," said Felician sophomore setter and team captain Miquela Martinez (Santa Fe, N.M.). "Going forward, we need to keep raising the standards our game. If we expect to be a competitive program, we need to continue to train as such."

The Golden Falcons erased an 18-13 Set 1 deficit on Thursday to move ahead, 20-19. The set was even, 21-21, after an Asbery kill, but the Lions claimed the next four rallies, including two on kills from Kayla Wilson (Orange, N.J.), to take a 1-0 match lead.

GCU assumed control of Set 2 in the middle stages. The Lions won five straight points to flip a one-point deficit into a 10-6 edge. Later senior outside hitter Aubrey Binkley (Toms River, N.J.) had two aces during a 6-0 Georgian Court run that extended its lead to 19-9.

The hosts quickly put to rest any notion of Felician extending the match past Set 3, leaping out to leads of 5-1, 11-4, and 17-7. The final blow to the Golden Falcons came on a kill from GCU sophomore Nahomie Alejandro Negron (Bayamon, Puerto Rico).

Alejandro Negron hit 1.000 with nine kills, six blocks and three assists for a Lion squad that put together a .247 attack percentage, eight aces and eight blocks. Junior outside Maddie Sloan (Caldwell, N.J.) totaled nine kills and six digs and Martinez finished with 21 assists and 12 digs for Felician.

Felician seniors Asbery and Melody Carbonell (Jersey City, N.J.) do not intend to use an NCAA-allowed additional year of eligibility stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. Carbonell produced two kills on Thursday.