SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- For the second consecutive November, it came down to Christopher Newport University and Salisbury University for the Coast-To-Coast Volleyball Championship. And for the second consecutive November, the Captains got it done.

With five players posting at least eight kills, the No. 2 Captains clinched an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament with a 3-0 win (25-12, 25-19, 25-15) over the top-seeded Sea Gulls. CNU (24-7) will learn its next opponent and site Monday afternoon.

It will be the Captains' 18^th consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament, their 15^th as an automatic qualifier.

Freshman Emmy Carpenedo led the Captains with 11 kills.  Simara Alexander had 10 with an .833 percentage along with two aces and a shared block for a team-high 12.5 points.

Alyssa Dozier had nine kills (.348) and two solo blocks. Avery Hanly and Samantha Dorn had eight kills each.

Freshman setter Fielding Croft had 38 assists (12.7 per set) and a block. Maddie Hanes had a team-leading 14 digs.

Alexander, who had 20 kills on a .792 percentage in the tournament's two games, was named the Most Valuable Player. Dozier and Carpenedo were selected to the all-tournament team.

In the regular season, CNU won 3-1 in Salisbury and the Sea Gulls prevailed 3-2 in the Freeman Center. With the C2C title on the line 3,000 miles away in Santa Cruz, Calif., the Captains never trailed and finished with a point differential of 75-46.

The Captains dominated the first set with 13 kills, three by Dozier, and three service aces. The lead was 10-8 after an attack error, and CNU added to that with a 7-0 run. Six of those points came on Alexander's serve.

The Captains scored the final four points of the set and clinched on a kill by Alexander with an assist from Croft.

In the second set, CNU used another 7-0 run to stretch its lead to 19-9. Alexander had three kills in that span. The Captains had five set points before a kill by Dozier secured the set.

The second and final tie of the third set came at 5-5. CNU scored 12 of the next 17 points with Carpenedo, Alexander, Dorn and Dozier each scoring a pair of kills.  
 

2025 C2C Volleyball All-Tournament Team

Christopher Newport
Simara Alexander (MVP) 
Alyssa Dozier
Emmy Carpenedo

Salisbury
Gwen Eustace
Julie Altieri 

UC Santa Cruz
Margo Melgoza

Mary Washington
Natalie Brown