NEWARK, Del. - - The Wilmington University volleyball team returns to the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament for the fifth consecutive season and will travel to Felician for a First Round matchup on Tuesday night.
The Wildcats earned the South Division's third seed for the second year in a row by virtue of a 10-6 conference record. They will square off against Felician who finished second overall in the North Division with an 11-5 conference mark.
The Wildcats traveled to East Rutherford during the regular season on October 21 and came back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Golden Falcons, 3-2, on Felician's homecoming. The Wildcats were down 9-7 in the fifth set and turned an 11-11 tie into a 14-11 lead before closing out the fifth set, 15-12.
Tuesday will be the third matchup between the Wildcats and Golden Falcons in the CACC Tournament. The Wildcats won, 3-0, at home in 2013, and the Golden Falcons won, 3-1, at their place in 2019.
Tickets/Admission for CACC Volleyball Tournament:
Adults: $10.00
Students, Children and Senior Citizens: $5.00
Links to Follow the CACC Volleyball Tournament First Round:
Live Stats at Felician: https://felicianuathletics.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Live Video: https://caccnetwork.com/felician/?bfplayvid=757418
CACC Tournament Championship Page: https://www.caccathletics.org/sports/Championship/2023-24/WVB
Scouting the South's No. 3 Wilmington University Wildcats:
The Wildcats are one of only four CACC teams with an overall winning record on the season, coming into postseason play at 16-13. Two other teams are at exactly .500 on the season, as Chestnut Hill and Felician are at 13-13 overall.
As a team, the Wildcats lead all of NCAA Division II with 2,069 digs on the year. They are also sixth in the country, and tops in the CACC in averaging 18.81 digs per set. The Wildcats also lead the CACC in blocks with 214, averaging 1.95 blocks per set. That all leads to the Wildcats holding opponents to hitting just 0.142 on the year, again tops in the CACC and ranking 27th in the country.
Offensively, the Wildcats are sixth in the CACC with 10.75 kills per set and fifth in the league with a 0.159 attack percentage. The team also averages 2.04 aces per set, ranking seventh in the CACC.
Individually, the Wildcats have two student-athletes who lead the CACC in categories, with Elly Collins leading the CACC and ranking second in all NCAA Division II with 602 digs on the year. She also leads the CACC and is 11th in the country in averaging 5.47 digs per set. Shannen Litten leads the CACC and is 57th in NCAA DII in blocking 1.06 attacks per set. She has 116 total blocks on the year, ranking 10th all-time in program history for a single season. Claudia Melendez is fifth in the CACC in serving 0.56 aces per set.
Scouting the North's No. 2 Felician University Golden Falcons:
Felician started the season 0-7 overall but since September 30, the Golden Falcons are 10-3, including coming into the postseason on a three-match win-streak. Since a 3-2 loss at Georgian Court on October 28, Felician ended the year with wins against Post, Jefferson, and Caldwell.
As a team, Felician is second in the CACC and 15th in all of NCAA Division II in averaging 2.18 aces per set. The Golden Falcons rank seventh in the CACC in averaging 10.48 kills per set, eighth in the league with 13.86 digs per set, and fourth in the league in averaging 1.63 blocks per set. The team is hitting 0.160 as a team rankings fourth in the CACC.
Individually, Karla Maldonado leads the team in putting down 3.23 kills per set while Megan Barker is second on the team with 2.55 kills per set. Maldonado also leads the team and is 13th in the country averaging 0.58 aces per set. She has 46 aces on the year.
On the other side of the net, Miquela Martinez leads the team in averaging 4.63 digs per set, ranking third in the CACC. Jelena Vucic leads the Golden Falcons with 59 blocks on the year, averaging 0.79 per set. Sara Betts is second on the team with 58 blocks on the year, averaging 0.56 blocks per set on the year.
Wilmington in the CACC Tournament:
2004 (2-0): #1 Wilmington def. #5 NJIT, 3-0; #1 Wilmington def. #2 Teikyo Post, 3-1
2005 (1-1): #4 Wilmington def. #5 Bloomfield, 3-2; #1 Goldey-Beacom def. #4 Wilmington, 3-0
2006 (0-1): #4 Goldey-Beacom def. #5 Wilmington, 3-2
2007: DNP
2008 (0-1): S#1 Georgian Court def. S#4 Wilmington, 3-0
2009: DNP
2010 (0-1): S#2 Philadelphia def. S#3 Wilmington, 3-0
2011 (1-1): S#3 def. N#2 Dominican, 3-1; S#1 Holy Family def. S#3 Wilmington, 3-1
2012 (2-1): S#1 Wilmington def. N#4 Post, 3-0; S#1 Wilmington def. S#3 Georgian Court, 3-2; N#1 Dominican def. S#1 Wilmington, 3-0
2013 (1-1): S#1 Wilmington def. N#4 Felician, 3-0; S#3 Georgian Court def. S#1 Wilmington, 3-0
2014 (1-1): S#2 Wilmington def. N#3 Dominican, 3-0; N#1 Caldwell def. S#2 Wilmington, 3-1
2015 (1-1): S#2 Wilmington def. N#3 Caldwell, 3-2; N#1 Post def. S#2 Wilmington, 3-2
2016: DNP
2017: DNP
2018 (0-1): N#1 Post def. S#4 Wilmington, 3-0
2019 (0-1): N#1 Felician def. S#4 Wilmington, 3-1
2020: DNP – COVID-19
2021 (1-1): S#2 Wilmington def. N#3 Post, 3-0; N#1 Bloomfield def. S#2 Wilmington, 3-2
2022 (0-1): N#2 Bridgeport def. S#3 Wilmington, 3-0
Overall: 10-13
Season and All-Time Records vs. CACC Tournament Semifinal Participants:
North Division:
#1 University of Bridgeport Purple Knights: 2023 – vs. L 3-1; All-Time – 0-3; CACC Tournament – 0-1
#2 Felician University Golden Falcons: 2023 – @ W 3-2; All-Time – 20-3; CACC Tournament – 1-1
#3 Dominican University Chargers: 2023 - @ W 3-2; All-Time – 22-3; CACC Tournament – 2-1
#4 Post University Eagles: 2023 – vs. W 3-1; All-Time – 20-6; CACC Tournament – 3-2
South Division:
#1 Thomas Jefferson University Rams: 2023 – vs. L 3-0, @ L 3-0; All-Time – 9-26; CACC Tournament – 0-1
#2 Chestnut Hill College Griffins: 2023 - @ L 3-2, vs. W 3-1; All-Time – 27-6; CACC Tournament – 0-0
#3 Wilmington University Wildcats
#4 Georgian Court University Lions: 2023 - @ L 3-0, vs. W 3-1; All-Time – 19-24; CACC Tournament – 1-2
2023 CACC Volleyball Championship Schedule:
Quarterfinals (Tuesday, November 14, at Higher Seeds)
S#4 Georgian Court at N#1 Bridgeport – 6:00 p.m.
N#3 Dominican at S#2 Chestnut Hill – 6:00 p.m.
N#4 Post at S#1 Jefferson – 6:00 p.m.
S#3 Wilmington at N#2 Felician – 6:00 p.m.
Semifinals (Saturday, Nov. 18, at Georgian Court, Lakewood, N.J.)
GCU/Bridgeport Winner vs. Dominican/Chestnut Hill Winner (12 or 2:30 p.m.)
Jefferson/Post Winner vs. Felician/Wilmington Winner (12 or 2:30 p.m.)
** - Highest remaining seed will play in the day's first semifinal match
Championship Final (Sunday, Nov. 19, at Georgian Court, Lakewood, N.J.)
Semifinal Match #1 Winner vs. Semifinal Match #2 Winner (12 p.m.)