New Jersey City University Athletics

 

Christopher Feliciano has built a volleyball legacy at New Jersey City University in a very brief period of time—accomplishments which have led to unprecedented history for conference-affiliated women’s sports at the University. Now in his fifth season as head women’s volleyball coach at NJCU, Feliciano, the 2007 New Jersey Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, is the winningest coach in program history with a 117-28 record in 145 matches for a .807 winning percentage.

A four-year star for the Gothic Knights who proved to be one of the best men’s volleyball players in school history, Feliciano will always be remembered as the first coach to ever bring home a New Jersey Athletic Conference championship in a women’s sport in the history of the institution.

Since taking over the reigns of the program before the 2004 season he has directed NJCU to by far the most successful four-year stretch in its history. Feliciano, a 2003 graduate of the University, has 53 more wins than any other coach in the 25-year history of the program, and is the only coach among the 10 who have served in the position to have a career winning percentage above. 600. He has also coached the most matches in school history.

NJCU appeared in the post-season in each of his first four years as head coach—the only four years the Knights have ever appeared in a post-season tournament. Lizzelle Cintronwas a three-time NJAC Player of the Year, three-time First-Team All-Region and three-time Honorable Mention All-America selection during his tenure. Current senior Jacqueline LeBlanc earned the 2005 NJAC Rookie of the Year and has twice been named First-Team All-NJAC. Additionally, current senior Sarah Torres and former player Michelle Cintron each received Second-Team All-NJAC distinction under his watch.

"I am extremely proud of what I accomplished at NJCU, and I am indebted to those who have believed in me and supported me over the past four years. It has been a true honor working for my alma mater.”

After originally returning to NJCU as its ninth men’s coach on November 8, 2003, he assumed head coaching duties with the women’s program on July 20, 2004, after serving as the team’s recruiting coordinator following his hire as men’s coach.

NJCU was 14-16 the year before his arrival in 2004. In that first season, the Knights won 30 matches for the first time ever, finishing 30-6, and qualified for the first post-season tournament in the first 22 years of the program’s existence. NJCU was selected to the ECAC Division III South Tournament for the first time, and won the Association of Division III Independents championship. The season was also highlighted by a 20-match winning streak, and 29-consecutive game victories. Both streaks and the 30 wins shattered previous team records. The club captured championships of three tournaments in 2004—the 10^th Annual Gothic Knight Invitational, the Women’s Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament, and the Association of Division III North East Regional.

NJCU returned to the NJAC in 2005 after one year as an independent, and during the next three years, the Knights were a combined 23-1 in conference play, winning the league’s regular season title and #1 seed in the NJAC Tournament in 2005 and 2007, appearing in the NJAC championship match in three consecutive seasons. The Knights had never even advanced to the semifinals prior to 2004.

The 2005 season was a year of firsts for the NJCU women. The Gothic Knights went 26-8 and became the first women’s team to ever win an NJAC regular season championship. The Knights finished the regular season with a 7-0 ledger, becoming the first team at NJCU to go undefeated in conference play since men’s basketball in 1979-80. On November 5, the Gothic Knights culminated the season by winning the first NJAC volleyball crown in school history. The NJAC championship was the first for any women’s sports team in school history as an NJCU women’s program qualified for the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time. NJCU also concluded the 2005 season with an active 21-match consecutive home court winning streak.

 

In 2006, NJCU won a single-season school record 33 matches, finishing 33-8 (.805). After finishing second in the conference and losing in the finals, the Knights were the No. 1 seed in the ECAC Tournament and won the championship of the eight-team regional event hosted in Jersey City.

The 2006 team won the Division III national statistical title in hitting percentage with a .338 rate as a program. NJCU received its first-ever Mid-Atlantic regional ranking on October 11, 2006 at No. 7, and climbed to a high of No. 6 on October 18.

In 2007, NJCU was 28-6, won another NJAC regular season title with an 8-0 ledger, before falling in the finals. NJCU was the No. 2 seed in the ECAC Tournament before losing in the quarterfinals. Feliciano earned NJAC Coach of the Year honors for the first time in his career for his efforts. The club won 30 consecutive games and 47-of-48, while stringing together a 16-match winning streak.

During his tenure, NJCU posted a 43-match home-court winning streak from 2004-07. In his four years, NJCU has won 13 tournament titles, including four in 2007.

His recruitment of some of the best players in the state, including Lizzelle Cintron of Elizabeth, NJ—the 2003 Newark-Star Ledger New Jersey High School Player of the Year—changed the culture of the program. Cintron, the 2006-07 NJAC Female Athlete of the Year, concluded her four-year women’s volleyball career in 2007 ranked third in Division III history, and fifth among all Division I, II and III players in career kills with 2,894 in 491 games. She had more kills than any player at any level, whose career occurred entirely during the rally scoring era. Perhaps the most dominant female athlete in a team sport in the history of the NJAC, she was named the NJAC Player of the Week an astonishing 20 times in three years, including eight times in 2007-08, was a 14-time ECAC Division III Player of the Week and a six-time AVCA Division III National Player of the Week.  She won six national statistical championships during her career, including two during the 2007 campaign, when she led the nation in kills (646) and kills per game (6.04).

Feliciano also served as head men’s volleyball coach for four years from 2004-07, finishing with a mark of 72-54 (.571). He was named the 2005 North East Collegiate Volleyball Association Metro Division Coach of the Year. He is the second winningest men’s coach in the programs annals, only behind Frank Cella’s total of 108.

There have been six 20-win seasons in the 19-year history of the men’s volleyball program, and NJCU reached the plateau in two consecutive years under Feliciano’s watch in 2005-06.

In his first season as head coach of the men’s team in 2004, NJCU finished at 13-18 overall; quite impressive considering the Gothic Knights were starting five freshman during a rebuilding campaign.

In 2005, the men improved to 22-14 overall, received votes in the AVCA Division III national poll for the first time since 1997, and qualified for the post-season for the first time in program history, as NJCU played in the ECAC South Tournament Semifinals. For his efforts, he was tabbed the 2005 NECVA Metro Division Coach of the Year.

The 2006 season was one of the most successful in program history, as the Knights finished 20-9, and qualified for the NECVA Tournament for the first time since 2001 as the 10^th seed. NJCU was selected for the ECAC Division III South Tournament for a second consecutive year, advancing to the finals.

On the national level, NJCU received votes in the AVCA national poll in a record six weeks during the season, including a No. 14 ranking on March 14, 2006.

He coached his final season of men’s volleyball in 2007 as the Knights finished 17-13 overall. The Knights fell in the NECVA Tournament play-in game but reached the ECAC Division III South Tournament for the third straight season, again advancing to the finals.

Prior to NJCU, Feliciano coached on the high school level, serving as junior varsity coach at his alma mater—Union High School in Union, NJ—where he led the girls to back-to-back Union County championships in 2002 (19-1) and 2003 (22-1). He was also a volunteer varsity coach at Union from 1997-2001, helping the Farmers reach the county finals three times, winning one title.

He currently is the head coach of the World Select Team for the World Volleyball Training Center in Huguenot, NY, working for this elite camp for the last three years. The program trains players from all over the world, many of who receive Division I or II scholarship.

On the club circuit, Feliciano is the head coach of the ‘18 regional’ team for the Atlantic Volleyball Club in Cranford, NJ. He was a 17-2’s coach for ‘Atlantic’ in the spring of 2004. In the spring of 2005, he served as a women’s assistant coach for the 16-1’s and under elite team for the “Cut Shot” club in Bergen County.

Feliciano was a four-year star for the Gothic Knights at outside hitter from 1999-2000, and 2002-2003, missing the 2001 season with a right knee injury that required surgery. He was a two-year captain from 2002-2003.

Blessed with amazing power from the important outside position, Feliciano finished his career with 1,082 kills, currently third in program history, and sixth most among men’s and women’s players at the institution. He is currently one of only four men’s players to have reached the 1,000-kill club in their careers.

The 6-foot-1 Feliciano proved to be one of the top hitters in the NECVA as a senior, finishing 8^th in the league in kills per game (4.489), 10^th in total kills (422), 10th in total points (476), 13th in total points per game (5.06), and 15^th in hitting percentage (.347). Nationally, he was 11^th in total kills, 11^th in total points, 12^th in kills per game, 16^th in total points per, and 18^th in hitting percentage,

Feliciano earned Most Valuable Player honors of the Ninth Annual Gothic Knight Men’s Volleyball Invitational tournament on February 23, 2003, as NJCU won the tournament for the second time in its history, and the first crown since 1997. Feliciano had 50 kills in three matches during NJCU’s title run, including 22 in the decisive five-game championship against USMMA. He also earned All-Tournament team distinction at the Kings Point Invitational on March 22.

On March 17, 2003, Feliciano was named NECVA and Metro Division Player of the Week for the first time in his career. In what was perhaps the best week of volleyball in his career, he was both stellar and historic, averaging 5.74 kills per game and hitting .410 as the Knights went 4-1 in five matches. It was the same week he joined the 1,000-kill club in the Gothic Knights’ 3-1 win over Polytechnic on March 16. He got progressively better as the week moved along, posting kill totals of 18-20-22-24-25 in successive matches.

Including kills, Feliciano graduated in the top 10 in six major statistical categories, ranking second in total points with 1268.0 (1082 kills, 63 aces, 34 solo, 178 assisted blocks), third in attack attempts (2465), fourth in block assists (178), 10^th in total blocks (212) and 10^th in digs (636). His 422 kills in 2003 are eighth on the single-season charts. Meanwhile, the 4.49 kills per game average ranks third in a single-season and he was fifth in points per game with 4.91 as a senior.

His offensive numbers steadily increased during his career. As a freshman in 1999, Feliciano had 146 kills for 1.51 per game, increasing to 1.94 per game (241 kills) as a sophomore. After missing the 2001 season, he showed dramatic improvement in 2002, despite playing on an injured knee, posting 273 kills for a 3.03 per game average.

Amazingly, his productivity increased by more than 35 percent between his junior and senior seasons, as he smacked 422 kills for a 4.49 per game rate in 2003. At the same time, his accuracy became almost lethal, improving his hitting percentage from a low of .150 as a sophomore to .233 as a junior, and .347 as a senior.

Feliciano was also a consistently reliable player for the Knights, playing in 121 of 122 matches and 405 total games in his career for three different coaches. NJCU recorded a 60-61 overall four-year record when he played, and lost the only match where he did not see action.

Feliciano is a May 2003 graduate of NJCU with a bachelor of arts in Media Arts and a minor in Economics.

A 1998 graduate of Union High School, Feliciano did not play volleyball in high school because the Farmers did not offer the sport for boys. However, he played several years of club volleyball, most notably for Coach Mario Caurso of the Warren Juniors (Junior Olympic team), which won a regional championship and ranked 18^th in the nation during his tenure. He was captain of his U-16 and U-18 Junior Olympic club teams in 1997 and 1998, respectively. He also played two seasons of basketball at Union, including one year of varsity for Coach Ted Zawacki. Feliciano gave up the sport as a junior to concentrate on volleyball.

Athletic prowess is common in his family. His younger sister, Veronica Feliciano, was a Star Ledger First-Team All-North Jersey team selection as a bowler at Union High School. His late mother, Maria Feliciano, was a setter for the Puerto Rican National women’s volleyball team.

Born October 13, 1980 in Elizabeth, NJ, Feliciano currently resides in Union. He teaches at Newark’s Luis Muñoz Marin Middle School.