Volleyball Falls to Top-Seeded Montgomery in Region 20 Tournament Final

The 2022 season came to an end for the Frederick Community College Cougars women's volleyball team as the Cougars fell to the Montgomery College Raptors 3-1 in the Final of the Region 20 Tournament at Cecil College.

The Cougars entered the tournament as the third seed and would face the sixth seed Cecil College Seahawks. The Cougars fought back in the quarterfinal round when they dropped the first set against the host Seahawks. However, FCC played the following two sets flawlessly, with a hitting percentage of .330 and only two errors offensively. The Cougars took the game down to the wire in the five sets but outlasted Cecil to advance (22-25, 25-15, 25-15, 22-25, 15-13.)

The Cougars would go on to upset the No. 2 seed Northern Virginia Community College Nighthawks in the semifinal match in a similar fashion. The Cougars would drop the first set, go on to win the following two sets, and continue to fight and outlast their opponents in the decisive fifth set to advance (18-25, 25-17, 25-16, 12-25, 15-12) to the championship match.

Montgomery got out to a strong start in the championship match and took the first set, but the Frederick Cougars were not ready to back down to the top seed. Frederick would have some big kills late in the set by Macie Chrisman and Haydyn Wright to tie the set 24-24, and the Cougars would take the second set 26-24. However, the Cougars would not go away quietly in the third set. They trailed by three early and went on a 9-0 run to take a 16-9 lead. Frederick would continue to battle, but the Raptors went on a 16-5 run to take the third set 21-25. Montgomery would take the fourth set 25-7 to win the Region 20 Championship to advance to the Mid-Atlantic District Championship. 

Frederick's Macie Chrisman averaged 20.66 points per match in the three post-season contests, followed by teammates Saige Cochran, who averaged 15 points per match, and Haydyn Wright, who averaged 10.17 points per match. Wright would also average 30 assists, and Cochran averaged 20.6 digs in post-season play. Cougars' Saige Cochran, Haydyn Wright, and Macie Chrisman were selected to the 2022 All-Tournament Team.

NJCAA DII Region 20 Volleyball Tournament Results
Saturday - Quarterfinals
No. 2 Northern VA def. No. 7 Beaver County (3-0)
No. 3 Frederick def. No. 6 Cecil (3-2)
No. 4 Southern MD def. No. 5 Potomac State (3-1)
Sunday - Semifinals
No. 1 Montgomery def. No. 4 Southern MD (3-1)
No. 3 Frederick def. No. 2 Northern VA (3-2)
Sunday - Final
No. 1 Montgomery def. No. 3 Frederick (3-1)

In addition to the team's fantastic post-season run, a handful of Cougars' student-athletes impacted the program's list of individual statistical leaders. Below are those individuals.

Macie Chrisman
Blocks per set (.62)
Blocks (51)
Kills (259)
Hitting % (.238)
Kills per set (3.16)
Aces per set (.7)
Aces (57)
Points per set (4.3)
Total points (355)

Saige Cochran
Kills (169)
Aces (51)
Digs (182)
Total points (229)

Haydyn Wright
Assists (536)
Assists per set (6.54)
Aces (53)

Alexis Melendez
Digs per set (2.11)
Total digs (173)

The vastly improved 2022 Cougars' volleyball team had an excellent season. The team finished 14-8 overall and 9-3 in the MDJUCO with notable wins against Montgomery College on August 25, Hagerstown Community College on September 9 at home, and Potomac State College on September 27 on the road.