Three South Teams & UB Advance to CACC VB Semifinals
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (November 14, 2023) -- Top overall seed University of Bridgeport will be joined by three South Division foes in this weekend's semifinals of the 2023 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Women's Volleyball Championship. UB, Thomas Jefferson University (S#1 Seed), Chestnut Hill College (S#2 Seed) and Wilmington University (S#3 Seed) were all victorious in Tuesday's quarterfinals. This weekend's semifinals and final will be held on the Georgian Court University campus in Lakewood, N.J.
Bridgeport fended off South No. 4 Seed Georgian Court University, 3-1, while Jefferson, CHC & WilmU all recorded 3-0 wins. The Rams knocked off North #4 Post University, CHC set back N#3 Dominican University and Wilmington was the lone upset of the night as the Wildcats went on the road and defeated N#2 Felician University.
Saturday's semis will feature UB taking on Chestnut Hill at 12 p.m., while Jefferson and WilmU will do battle immediately following at 2:30 p.m. Saturday's two semifinal winners will advance to Sunday's championship final at 12 p.m., with the winner of that contest earning the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II East Region Tournament the weekend after Thanksgiving at a site to be determined.
N#1 BRIDGEPORT 3, S#4 GEORGIAN COURT 1 | Boxscore
Lucia Tomiello posted 17 kills, Hailey Jessen and Datari Mathis followed with 16 each to spark the Purple Knights to the four-set win. UB hit .257 as a team. Giorgia Cappelletti paced GCU with 15 kills. Bridgeport went out to a 2-0 lead with close victories in set one (25-23) and set two (25-19), while the Lions rallied with a 25-23 triumph in set three. UB, however, regrouped for a 25-20 victory in the fourth set to clinch the match.
S#2 CHESTNUT HILL 3, N#3 DOMINICAN 0 | Boxscore
Erika Dubosky logged a team-high 14 kills to lead the Griffins to a three-set sweep, including a 25-7 triumph in set two. Dubosky went for a double-double as she also had 13 digs. Rachel Mace tallied nine kills, eight digs and two blocks. Kaitlyn Carr totaled 10 kills for the Chargers in the setback.
S#1 JEFFERSON 3, N#4 POST 0 | Boxscore
The Rams kickstarted its quest for three-straight conference titles with a three-set triumph over the Eagles. Jefferson won by scores of 25-14, 25-15 and 25-17. CACC Player of the Year Morgan Ritchie and last year's conference player of the year Jess Molen led the Rams with 10 kills apiece. Molen added 10 digs to post a double-double. Caroline Bond had 26 assists and 11 digs, while Cameron Johnson totaled 17 digs. Colleen Romero had 10 kills for the Eagles in the setback.
S#3 WILMINGTON 3, N#2 FELICIAN 0 | Boxscore
Cailyn Smiley had 12 kills for the Wildcats as she hit .310 to spark WilmU's attack. Wilmington won by scores of 25-15, 25-18 and 25-21. Elly Collins had 13 digs and led a defensive surge that limited Felician to a .034 hitting percentage. Karla Maldonado and Megan Barker each had 11 kills for the Golden Falcons in the loss.
ABOUT THE CACC
The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference composed of 12 institutions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The member institutions are Bloomfield College, University of Bridgeport, Caldwell University, Chestnut Hill College, Dominican (N.Y.) University, Felician University, Georgian Court University, Goldey-Beacom College, Holy Family University, Post University, Thomas Jefferson University, and Wilmington University.