Tigers Face New Haven to Open NCAA Tournament

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Springfield, Mass. – The Holy Family University women's volleyball team will open the 2021 NCAA Division II Tournament on Thursday night at the East Regional hosted by American International College in Springfield, Mass. The fifth-seeded Tigers will face fourth-seeded New Haven University in the regional quarterfinal starting at 7:30 p.m. at Butova Gymnasium.

Tickets for the 2021 East Region Championship will go on sale 60 minutes prior to the first match on each day of the tournament. Adult tickets are $10 and Seniors, Children & Student tickets are $5. Fans that can't make it out to Springfield can catch all the action online by visiting the official East Region Tournament page by clicking, here.

About Holy Family (24-4, 18-0 CACC)
Holy Family is appearing in its third-ever NCAA Tournament with previous appearances in 2018 & 2019. The Tigers own a 4-2 record in their two trips to the NCAA Tournament advancing to at least the semifinals each year. In 2018, the team's first-ever appearance, Holy Family became the first Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) women's volleyball program to reach the regional final.

The Tigers received an at-large bid after a successful regular season that saw the team finish undefeated in conference play at 18-0. It marked the first time a team finished unblemished in CACC play since the 2012 Dominican College Chargers went 19-0. Holy Family advanced all the way to the CACC semifinals making its fifth straight appearance in the round.

The Holy Family offense is led by All-CACC and All-Region outside hitter Allyssa Hartney (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) who has totaled a career-high 364 kills (3.57 k/s) this season. Fifth-year and former CACC Players of the Year, Camille Johnson (Columbia, Md./Wilde Lake) and Carly Covington (Delmar, Md./Delmar) are averaging over 2.00 kills per set. Johnson has also totaled a career-high 75 total blocks.

The offense is paced by CACC Player of the Year and four-time CACC Setter of the Year, senior Morgan Silks (Norristown, Pa./Archbishop John Carroll), who leads the CACC in assists (1,121) and assists per set (10.78) this season. The program's all-time assists leader with 4,346 career assists was just named to the AVCA and CCA All-East Region teams.

Defensively, the Tigers sophomore Faith Zehnder (Lakewood, Colo./Lakewood) leads the team with 4.76 digs per set. Junior Maeve Boylan (Ridley Township, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) is averaging 2.59 digs per set and her 69 service aces are tops in NCAA Division II.

About New Haven (22-9, 10-3 NE10)
New Haven finished its season with a 22-9 overall record and 10-3 mark in the Northeas-10 Conference (NE10) to earn the number two seed in the postseason tournament. The Chargers advanced all the way to the NE10 Championship match versus American International which featured a five-set final. New Haven received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and is making its 35^th appearance. The Chargers are 37-34 in their previous 34 appearances and have received a bid each season since 2006.

Offensively, the Chargers are led by seniors Jessica Akiona and Emily Barry who each have 393 kills on the season. Freshman Macy Brown has totaled 378 kills. The offense is set up by freshman setter Sophia Leon-Tabor with 1,201 assists on the year. On the defensive side, sophomore Rilee Jessee leads the team with 485 digs.

All-Time Series
Holy Family and New Haven have met six times previously since the start of the 2009 season. The Tigers are 1-5 all-time versus the Chargers with the lone victory coming in the 2018 East Regional semifinals. Holy Family, seeded fifth, came away with a 3-1 victory over top-seeded New Haven, to advance to the regional finals.

Next Up
The winner of Holy Family/New Haven will advance to the semifinals on Friday night to face the winner of the American International/Southern Connecticut State University quarterfinal match.

- HFU -

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Players Mentioned

#9 Maeve Boylan: L/DS; 5' 7"; Junior

#6 Carly Covington: OH; 5' 10"; Fifth Year

#7 Allyssa Hartney: OH/RS; 5' 11"; Junior

#10 Camille Johnson: OH/MH; 6' 1"; Fifth Year

#5 Morgan Silks: S; 5' 6"; Senior

#1 Faith Zehnder: L/DS; 5' 2"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#9 Maeve Boylan
: 5' 7"; Junior
: L/DS

#6 Carly Covington
: 5' 10"; Fifth Year
: OH

#7 Allyssa Hartney
: 5' 11"; Junior
: OH/RS

#10 Camille Johnson
: 6' 1"; Fifth Year
: OH/MH

#5 Morgan Silks
: 5' 6"; Senior
: S

#1 Faith Zehnder
: 5' 2"; Sophomore
: L/DS

Holy Family University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned