Five Purple Knights Earn Women’s Volleyball CACC Honors
Four Lady Purple Knights were named to All-CACC teams for their 2023 regular season performances.
New Haven, Conn. – The University of Bridgeport women's volleyball team had five members of the program recognized for the regular season performances by the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. The highlights for Bridgeport were captain Jaden Drollinger (Jr., Queens Creek, Az.) being named CACC Setter of the Year, Freshman Hailey Jessen (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) being named CACC Rookie of the Year and Gary Mullin being named CACC Coach of the Year.
In addition to this, Jaden Drollinger, Hailey Jessen and Lucia Tomiello (So, Caltrano, Italy) were named to the 2023 CACC Women's Volleyball All-Conference First Team with Datari Mathis (Grad., Wethersfield, Conn.) being named Third Team All-Conference.
Head Coach Gary Mullin finished his regular season in his ninth year at UB with a 23-7 overall record and 15-1 in the conference. The Purple Knights, under the leadership of Mullin, also reached a number 10 NCAA Division II East Regional Ranking in the first poll of the 2023 season and enter the CACC Tournament as the top seed.
Jaden Drollinger has had another fantastic season thus far for Bridgeport. The setter leads the CACC and the entirety of NCAA Division II women's volleyball with 1230 total assists where she again leads the conference with 10.34 assists/set. Drollinger also Drollinger led the conference with 68 service aces, tied for the second most in all of DII. She also added 71 kills and averaged 2.15 digs per set for UB.
Hailey Jessen recorded a stellar rookie campaign for the Purple Knights where she topped the CACC in kills with 512 as well as an average of 4.27 kills per set. Jessen sits second in all of Division II with her kill total and 17th with her kills per set mark. The outside hitter attacked with a .250 hitting percentage while adding 161 digs, averaging 1.34 per set.
Lucia Tomiello ended her second regular season in Bridgeport with the highest hitting percentage on the team, swinging at .368 which was the 30th best in the nation. She totaled 234 kills which was an average of 2.11 per set. Tomiello recorded the second most aces on the team with 44, an average of .40 per set and led the team with an average of .66 blocks per set, with 73 total.
Datari Mathis provided experience to the right side of attack in her graduate year for UB. The left-handed attacker supplied 218 kills and averaged 1.83 per set across the 2023 regular season while swinging with a .201 hitting percentage. Mathis added to the Purple Knight defense with 82 digs and 69 blocks, averaging .58 per set.
2023 CACC WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Morgan Ritchie (Thomas Jefferson University)
2023 CACC WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Hailey Jessen (University of Bridgeport)
2023 CACC WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Elly Collins (Wilmington University)
2023 CACC WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL SETTER OF THE YEAR
Jaden Drollinger (University of Bridgeport)
2023 CACC WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL COACH OF THE YEAR
Gary Mullin (University of Bridgeport)
2023 CACC WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Goldey-Beacom College
2023 CACC WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM
L Elly Collins (Wilmington University)
S Jaden Drollinger (University of Bridgeport)
OH Hailey Jessen (University of Bridgeport)
OH Jess Molen (Thomas Jefferson University)
OH Morgan Ritchie (Thomas Jefferson University)
MB Shannen Litten (Wilmington University)
MB Lucia Tomiello (University of Bridgeport)
2023 CACC WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL ALL-CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM
L Cameron Johnson (Thomas Jefferson University)
S Caroline Bond (Thomas Jefferson University)
OH Caley Harper (Post University)
OH Karla Maldonado (Felician University)
OH Nylene Mateo (Georgian Court University)
MB Ava Kidd (Holy Family University)
MB Chelsea Ross (Georgian Court University)
2023 CACC WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL ALL-CONFERENCE THIRD TEAM
L Miquela Martinez (Felician University)
S Mia Caporellie (Chestnut Hill College)
OH Kaitlyn Carr (Dominican University)
OH Rachel Mace (Chestnut Hill College)
OH Datari Mathis (University of Bridgeport)
MB Aaliyah Ellis (Dominican University)
MB Amiyah Woods (Georgian Court University)