ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The No. 1 seed Cedar Crest College volleyball team defeated No. 2 seed Notre Dame of Maryland University to capture the 2022 Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) Women's Volleyball Championship on Saturday afternoon at Lees Gymnasium, marking its second-straight conference title.

The Falcons won by set scores of 25-23, 25-13, and 25-15.

The Gators got out to a 9-4 lead in the opening set. Cedar Crest erased the deficit quick with 10-2 run to grab the 14-11 advantage. NDMU pulled to with one, 14-13, after a kill from sophomore Ciarra Bockstie (Nottingham, Md.). The Falcons had another run, this time a 5-0 spurt to go up 19-13. The story of the first set was runs and the Gators tied the set at 23 with a 10-4 jaunt. A kill from sophomore Alexis Cummins (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge) pushed the score to 24-23 and a service ace by junior Ava Grapsy (Macungie, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) gave the Falcons the 25-23 first set win.

The teams traded the first 10 points of the second set. The Falcons pulled in front with a 6-0 run (11-5) and did not relinquish the lead. The middle part of the set featured a 10-1 to push the margin to 11, 21-10, before capturing the frame, 25-13.

The squads split the opening 12 points of the third and final set. A kill by senior Kelsee Schouppe (Stroudsburg, Pa./Stroudsburg) sparked a 5-0 run and a 7-0 spurt late pushed the margin to 10, 19-9. The Gators cut its deficit to as few as seven (22-15), but the Falcons tallied three straight points to win the set and the championship title.

First-year Ellise Everett (Orlando, Fla./Lake Nona) tallied a match-high 12 kills a team-high three blocks. Schouppe followed with seven kills and three blocks of her own. Junior Maddison Minyo (Covington, Pa./North Penn-Mansfield) was named Tournament MVP for the second-straight year after a seven-kill, 18-dig performance. Grapsy registered a double-double of 32 digs and 15 digs. Classmate Rebekka Sanchez-Castro (Columbia, Md./Atholton) had a match-high 23 digs in the victory.

First-year Rosemary O'Brien (Cinnaminson, N.J.) finished with a team-high seven kills for the Gators while Jade Stewart (Hagerstown, Md.) guided the NDMU defense with 18 digs.

With the win in today's CSAC Championship, Cedar Crest (13-8 overall) has earned the conference's automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Tournament, which will be announced on Monday.

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