JERSEY CITY, NJ…CHRISTOPHER FELICIANO, a four-year star for the Gothic Knights who proved to be one of the best players in school history and a native of Union, NJ, has been named as the new head coach of the men’s volleyball program at New Jersey City University, Director of Athletics Larry Schiner has announced.
FELICIANO takes over for OFELIA PANCARICIAN, the head coach of the women’s volleyball program, who served as head coach of both teams the past two years. The move was made to strengthen each program by allowing the head coach of each respective team to concentrate on coaching and recruiting for their particular sport. PANCARICIAN will remain on as a men’s assistant for the 2004 season.
FELICIANO becomes the ninth head coach in the 15-year history of the program. The position is part time.
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, sharing the role in 2003 with Abdel Escalante.
He possesses previous coaching experience on the high school level, serving as junior varsity coach at his alma mater, Union High School in Union, NJ, where he led the 2002 girls’ team to a 19-1 record and the Union County championship. Before becoming coach at Union, he was a volunteer from 1997-2001.
Since graduating from the University in May 2003, he has served as the Recruiting Coordinator for the team, working to rebuild a program affected by the graduation of four of its six starters from the 2003 team, including FELICIANO. In his short tenure as a recruiter, he has taken a non-traditional approach at building a championship-calibre club on the small-college level, combing the country for talent. Among the diamonds he has already brought to NJCU for the 2004 season is Maurice Washington, the top setter in the state of Florida, and a product of Orlando’s Edgewater High School.
Men’s volleyball at NJCU began in 1990, and has been a consistent winner ever since, owning a mark of 214-173 (.553) in its first 14 years of competition. The Knights have had only four losing seasons. However, after finishing 14-14 last year, the Knights will be seeking their first winning campaign since 2001 when FELICIANO guides his club into the 2004 season.
"As we enter a rebuilding year, there are a few things that I would like to accomplish here at NJCU as head coach for the men's volleyball team,” said FELICIANO. “Every goal is a piece to a much bigger puzzle, and that puzzle is to reach the playoffs and to contend for championship. But in order to complete this puzzle we must focus on recruiting and retention. With the returning players and the incoming freshmen the program is headed in the right direction. Greater levels of excellence and dedication will be standards for this upcoming year and the years to follow. I look forward to being a guiding light for this young and ambitious team as we look towards the future.
Blessed with amazing power from the important outside position, FELICIANO finished his career with 1, 082 kills, the second-highest total in the history of the program, and third most among men’s and women’s players at the institution. He was second among both programs when he graduated until Melissa Pablos of the women’s team passed him in October 2003.
He entered the final match of his career on March 31, 2003 at Mount St. Vincent with 1,069 career kills, and notched 13 to pass Jayson Payman (1995-97; 1,075 kills) for second place among the men. FELICIANO is one of only three men’ players to have reached the 1,000-kill club in their careers, joining Payman and all-time leader Satsay Thongvichith (1862 kills) on the list.
The 6-foot-1, 220-pounder proved to be one of the top hitters in the North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) as a senior, finishing 8th in the league in kills per game (4.489), 10th in total kills (422), 10th in total points (476), 13th in total points per game (5.06), and 15th in hitting percentage (.347). Nationally, he was 11th in total kills, 11th in total points, 12th in kills per game, 16th in total points per, and 18th 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 honored by the NECVA when he 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 that he moved into third place in NJCU history in career kills, joining 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 graduates in the top 10 in six major statistical categories, ranking second in total points with 1357 (1082 kills, 63 aces, 212 blocks), third in attack attempts (2465), fourth in block assists (178), 10th in total blocks (212) and 10th 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 a mind-boggling .347 as a senior, meaning the Knights scored a point 34.7 percent of the time FELICIANO attacked the ball.
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, Frank Cella, Henry Martinez, and Ofelia Pancarician. NJCU recorded a 60-61 overall four-year record when he played, and lost the only match where he did not see action, on February 16, 2002 against the City College of New York in the Eighth Annual Gothic Knight Invitational.
FELICIANO is a May 2003 graduate of NJCU with a Bachelor of Arts in Media Art and a minor in Economics. When not coaching, FELICIANO has worked for six years as a supervisor at Costco.
A 1998 graduate of Union High School with a 3.0 GPA, FELICIANO did not played 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 18th 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.
His younger sister VERONICA FELICIANO is a senior at Union High School in 2003-04, where she is an outstanding bowler and was selected to the Star Ledger’s First-Team All-North Jersey team as a junior in 2003. Athletic prowess is also common in the family in his mother, MARIA FELICIANO, who was a setter for the Puerto Rican National women’s volleyball team. He lists his mother as his hero.
Born October 13, 1980 in Elizabeth, NJ as Christopher R. FELICIANO, he is the son of Maria and Ray FELICIANO.
