The Cabrini women’s volleyball team won the Colonial States Athletic Conference Championship for the second year in a row by defeating the No. 2 seed Baptist Bible College 3-1 at the Nerney Field house on Saturday, Nov. 6.
The win also gave them their second consecutive bid to the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament.
“It’s very exciting to be able to have the NCAA experience again and no matter what happens I’m just happy that we have been able to stay so strong as a team,” Alexis Doss, outside hitter, said.
The Lady Cavs started slow but won the first set in a nine-point comeback rally to defeat the Defenders 25-23.
The Defenders recovered in the second set to take the win 25-18. Both teams were fired up when the third match started, but the Lady Cavs snuck by with a 27-25 win.
With momentum on their side, they took the fourth set 25-16 ending the dreams of the Lady Defenders, and giving them the win for their bid to the NCAA tournament.
“This season went extremely well and I am very proud of my team and coaches because of all of the ups and downs we’ve overcome as a team. We had each other’s backs when the times became difficult, we became a family,” Courtney Abel, junior libero, said.
The Lady Cavs had an exceptional year, with Stephaine Recklau and Abel, reaching the 1,000 club in kills and digs respectively.
Recklau recorded her 1000th kill in a tri-match against Haverford College, Abel recorded her 1000th dig in a victory against Centenary College.
The records earned them both as the Cabrini student athlete of the week during their respected week.
“Every moment we’re on the court together, whether it’s practice or a game, we learn from each other. We learn each other’s tendencies, their strengths and their weaknesses. This year was very different for me personally because I was one of the leaders on the team simply because of my age. We knew having seven incoming players could be a challenge but they are all strong players and we meshed really well together,” Abel said.
The Lady Cavs had six all CSAC selections including Recklau who was named CSAC player of the year for the second year in a row leading the Lady Cavs in attack percentage.
Recklau was also named first team all-conference. Doss was named second team all-conference in her position as a hitter. Alaina Clark, Abel, Megan Ryan and Michele Fitz all received an honorable mention for their play this year. The team sportsmanship honor went to Kristy Riley.
The Lady Cavs will make their second consecutive appearance NCAA Tournament and will play the No. 4 seat Juniata in the first round at Frostburg State University on Friday, Nov. 12 at 3 p.m.
“I would sum up this year as a great learning and building year. We definitely have a very young team and we knew that coming in but they fact that we were able to bring everything together at the end of the year and win the CSAC championship for the second year in a row is a great accomplishment and is only a precursor to what we will be able to do next year since all the freshman will have such a strong year under their belt,” Doss said.
