Rochester, Minnesota - After winning the Region XIX Championship and the North Atlantic District A Championship the Lions automatically qualified for the NJCAA DIII National Championship Tournament in Rochester Minnesota. This marks back-to-back trips to the Tournament for the Lions as they finished in 10th place in 2019. That year the team entered the tournament as the 12th seed, this season the Lions entered as the 7th ranked team. Unfortunately, the team came up short in their first round game against Finger Lakes Community College and lost 3-1. The loss ensured that the team could only finish the tournament with a ranking as high as #9, if they were to win their last two games. The Lions handled Rockland Community College in straight sets to advance to the 9th place game against Brookhaven College. After dropping the first two sets by large margins the Lions looked like they were going to finish in 10th place for the second year in a row. However, their will and determination saw them tie the score at 2-2 and force a deciding fifth set. Even with all the momentum the Lions still found a way to get down 5-0 to start the final set. Just like the team had done countless times throughout the year, they fought all the way back and won the final set 15-12. The 9th place finish is the highest finish in the program's history. Coach Phil Herro had this to say about the team and the season, "We obviously didn't come out here with the mindset of wanting to finish in 9th place. We constantly talk about growth and becoming better than we were the day before and this team has grown so much. We had to win two very tough games against strong opponents, with a huge deficit in the last game. This team fights and competes with the best of them. That last game against Brookhaven really says a lot about the character of these girls and their will to win. They could have easily accepted defeat and settled for a 10th place finish, but that's not who they are." For her tremendous performance Freshman, Kaili Fitzpatrick, was one of just twelve players named to the All-Tournament Team. Herro added, "Literally one week before the tournament started Kaili sprained her ankle really badly at practice. The thing is still black, blue, yellow and swollen. She wore a walking boot on the airplane and was only able to practice once before the tournament, which she did in Minnesota, on one leg. There was no convincing her she wasn't going to play. The kid is the ultimate competitor and her desire, determination, and sacrifice to put the team first in order to win were an inspiration to us all. There is nobody more deserving of this award." Herro continued about the team. "Going to Minnesota had been our goal since we started practicing outdoors in the Fall of 2020. This team had plenty of obstacles in the way, but they remained focused and refused to be denied. We have a wonderful group of young women here and I am more than proud to be their coach. This group is very talented and I am honored and lucky to be around such inspirational, fun, hard working, and positive athletes every day."
The Lions finished the season with an overall record of 24-6 and a 17-1 record in regular season Region XIX play. The team captured their 4th Garden State Athletic Conference Championship in a row and second Region XIX Title in a row as well. Kaili Fitzpatrick became the program's first Region XIX Player of the Year while fellow freshmen Olivia Sims and Izabela Bar were also recognized as First and Second Team All-Region selections as well, respectively. The team returns all but two players, Sophomores Xaviera Wilson and Karina Arias.
