NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The Christopher Newport volleyball team will open up the 2013 NCAA Tournament on Friday when the Captains head up to Huntingdon, Pa. for a first-round bout with Cabrini at the Juniata Regional.

Making the program's seventh straight postseason appearance, CNU earned an automatic bid to the Tournament after clinching the Capital Athletic Conference championship last Saturday. Overall, Christopher Newport sits at 24-12 and has won five straight contests entering the playoffs.

The Captains will open up against Cabrini, who earned its spot after claiming the Colonial States Athletic Conference championship. Entering the postseason, the Cavaliers sit at 29-4 and have ripped off 13 straight victories.

The advancing team from Friday's first-round bout will face the winner of the Eastern – Johns Hopkins match on Saturday. In other action at the regional, Stevenson and Salisbury will square off on Friday, while Juniata will battle Gallaudet.

The survivors of Saturday's second-round contests will compete for the Regional Championship on Sunday.

Since 2007, Christopher Newport has appeared in every NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Elite Eight during each of the past four years. The CNU program is also the only one in the nation that has appeared in the Final Four during each of the last two seasons.

This year, Chastity Lacy has been a disruptive force along the net for the Captains, ranking among the top-20 nationally with a 1.16 blocks-per-set average. The team's lone senior also sits second on the squad with 238 kills, 36 aces, and a .252 hitting percentage.

Providing a powerful punch on the outside, freshman Briana Sutton boasts a team-high 281 kills while hitting at a .260 clip. She has been especially impressive over the last six weeks, unloading 10 double-digit kill efforts, including a career-high 19 blasts against Marymount in the CAC semifinals.

Fellow freshman Hannah Miller has also been a force up front with 228 kills and 96 blocks, while Rachel Conway has been named the CAC Player of the Week twice and leads the way with 777 assists. Brooke Moore has led the back row with 346 digs, and Rachel Close has contributed 338.

---CNU---