New Jersey City University Athletics

 

 

NEW YORK, NY…When CHRISTOPHER FELICIANO became head coach of the New Jersey City University women’s volleyball team for the 2004 campaign, he took over a program that had experienced just two winning seasons in the previous eight years, had never advanced past the quarterfinals of the New Jersey Athletic Conference tournament, and never qualified for the post-season. Fast-forward four years, and NJCU has become a regional power, advanced to the post-season in three consecutive years, reached the NJAC finals twice, and won a conference championship.

 

On Thursday night, Feliciano (Union, NJ) reaped the rewards of his hard work, becoming among the quickest coaches in the history of collegiate volleyball to win 100 career matches as NJCU swept a non-conference road match from Baruch College, 3-0 (30-24, 30-18, 30-17) at the ARC Arena. In only his 123^rd match of his career, Feliciano, a 2003 graduate of the University after a successful career as a player, reached the enormous career milestone, and now possesses a 100-23 mark in three and a half seasons at his alma mater.

 

“For me it’s a great feeling to win 100 matches,” Feliciano said of the milestone. “To be honest, it’s hard to put into words how I feel because I love this university, I love this program, and it’s an honor to be able to do it at my alma mater. I’m ecstatic to get to 100 victories and I’m happy I accomplished it.”

 

With the win, NJCU wins its eighth consecutive match to improve to 11-1 overall, while Baruch falls to 2-11. It was NJCU’s first-ever win over the Bearcats, who leads the all-time series, 3-1, and the first meeting between the schools since October 21, 1995.

 

“Day in and day out my players come in ready to work hard, and their hard work and dedication makes the coaching staff look good,” Feliciano said. “I have to commend my three seniors—LIZZELLE CINTRON, GLORINELL PEREZ, and Nadia DaSilva Ducos—who have been committed to the program over the last four years and whom have laid down the groundwork for this program to be successful now and in the future. I also have to thank former athletics director Larry Schiner, who gave me the opportunity to take over this program four years ago, and current athletics director Alice De Fazio, for her support.”

 

While her head coach had the most notable evening, senior middle blocker LIZZELLE CINTRON (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) reached yet another milestone, climbing into fourth place in the history of Division III in career kills and 15^th in the Division I, II or III record book with 2,471 kills in only her 423^rd game. In two games, she finished with 14 kills and only two errors (14-2-22) and hit .545 with six digs, three blocks, and three aces. She passed Division III Wittenberg University’s Dawn Reinhardt (1995-98, 2,458 kills, 529 games) and Division II St. Edward’s Erika Figueiredo (2001-04, 2,466 kills, 514 games) on the all-time list.

 

Freshman setter ALEX JOHANESEN (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) delivered 32 assists, four aces, and one block to quarterback and offense which hit .293 and had 45 kills (45-16-99). Senior libero GLORINELL PEREZ (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) defended 19 digs to go over 1,800 for her career (1,803) and two aces. Junior outside hitter JACQUELINE LeBLANC (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) increased her career kills mark to 1,048, finishing with nine kills in two games (9-4-24) and six digs.

 

No Baruch player had more than five kills. The Bearcats’ top player was junior outside hitter Karlee Whipple (Lund, NV/Lund) who had 12 digs and five kills.

 

NJCU returns to action on Friday, September 20 and Saturday, September 21 in the Salisbury University Invitational in Salisbury, MD. NJCU will face four of the top programs in the region over the weekend, meeting Johns Hopkins University and NJAC rival Richard Stockton College on Friday, and Salisbury and Gettysburg College on Saturday.