RUTHERFORD, N.J – Felician University emerged victorious, 3-1 (22-25, 27-25, 27-25, 25-20), from a tightly contested Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference women's volleyball matchup with visiting Dominican (N.Y.) College on Wednesday night at Job Gymnasium. The match was the 2021 CACC opener for both schools.

Felician senior libero Alondra Diaz Sanchez (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico/Colegio de La Salle) amassed a career-high 36 digs, two shy of the school record. Golden Falcon junior outside hitter Hannah Chiswick (Pittstown, N.J./Delaware Valley) turned in a solid two-way effort with 15 kills and 14 digs. Dominican junior outside Emmalyn LaPier (Endicott, N.Y./Union Endicott) led all players with 22 kills and added 19 digs.

The Chargers (2-6, 0-1 CACC) were the aggressors on offense for much of the night, owning large edges in kills (68-47) and total attacks (214-176). But Dominican committed 33 attack errors, and Felician neutralized the Charger attack with 100 digs, a program record for a four-set match. The visitors also erred 14 times on serve, as compared to only four for the Golden Falcons.

Dominican led Set 1, 17-10, but the Golden Falcons eventually drew even at 22-22. The Chargers rebounded to clinch the set on three consecutive LaPier kills.

But Felician (3-6, 1-0) would capture the key points for the balance of the night. The Golden Falcons saved a set point in the second set, returning the favor to even the match by winning the final three rallies -- all on kills by senior Maddie Sloan (Caldwell, N.J.). Set 3 again went past regulation, with Dominican recovering from a late 23-18 deficit only to falter late on serve and on the attack to allow their hosts to escape.

Felician appeared to seize momentum by leading, 10-5, in Set 4, only to see Dominican win the next six points. But with her team down, 15-13, a kill and two aces by Sloan touched off a run of seven consecutive Felician points. Down 24-14, the Chargers saved six match points before finally succumbing on an Olivia Anderson (Little Egg Harbor, N.J./Pinelands Regional) kill two hours, one minute, after the first service.

Sloan hit .286 with 14 kills and freshman teammate Bridget Thompson (Houston, Texas/St. John XXIII Prep) had 10 kills and 13 digs. Dominican received 59 assists and 17 digs from sophomore setter Lily Ainsworth (Colorado Springs, Colo./Vista Ridge) while freshman outside Gracie Carr (Rogers, Ark./Rogers) totaled 19 kills and 18 digs.

Sierra Gallagher owns the Felician single-match record of 38 digs, also in four sets, at Nyack College on Oct. 10, 2019.

Felician steps back out of conference play with a trip to Mercy College on Friday at 6 p.m. in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.