Volleyball wins CAA regular season, clinches home court

After winning 11 out of its final 12 matches to end the regular season, the VCU volleyball team clinched the CAA regular season title with Sunday’s win over UNC Wilmington.

VCU finishes the season with a 24-8 record and a 12-2 mark in the CAA, which is good for first place and the first regular season title in school history.

“For me it is about that building of a program to the point where there is a stability issue,” said VCU coach James Finley. “I am so excited to finally get this-last year was so close. But it’s about trying to grasp a hold of that stability and I think that is huge.”

The Rams began the season 6-1 after winning the VCU/Third Degree Sportswear Invitational. In winning their own tournament, the Rams beat well known programs such as St. John’s and Temple.

“It was huge. When you have young players who you know you will have to depend on, giving them some success early is really critical. We wanted to challenge at as high a level as we could but also make sure they had plenty of opportunities for success,” Finley said.

Since then, they have reeled off 18 wins and only finished six points shy of an undefeated season in the CAA.

The freshman class has most likely been the biggest lift for the team.

Lebaro Marisa Low (Carlsbad, Calif./Carlsbad) took over the lebaro position at the half-way point of the season and, according to Finley, since then has been a key in keeping numerous plays alive.

Michaela Kvapilova (Liberec, Czech Republic) came on and made about as big a splash as possible. Although she did not play her usual outside hitter position until almost two weeks into the season, she still finished second in the conference in points scored and kills.

Kvapilova also won CAA Rookie of the Year honors four times.

Alyssa Foster (Richmond/Mills Godwin) and Kristin Boyd (Wilmington, N.C./Hoggard) have also made key contributions to the team as the season has gone along.

Ivana Rich (Cumberland/Cumberland) and Mariel Frey (Lititz, Pa./Manheim Township) are the team captains and have been the team leaders all season.

“I think one thing that we have had from the beginning is very little drama compared to other teams in other years. So just learning to work with one another has been a challenge, but we’re definitely peaking now,” Frey said.

After a historical season, the Rams now look to the CAA tournament which will be held at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.

Rich said having the four-team event on their home floor makes the black and gold very confident.

“It is actually a stress reducer. I think it’s less stress; we don’t have to go through all that traveling and waiting. We’re comfortable here and we want to win. “it gives us more motivation to win in front of our home crowd,” Rich said.

The Rams play rival fourth-seeded William & Mary on Monday at 7 p.m. at the Siegel Center. Delaware and George Mason will play at 4 p.m. and the final will be held on Tuesday.