Rider University Athletics

Christopher Feliciano completed his eighth season at Rider in 2018 as the Broncs qualified for the conference playoffs for the fourth year in a row.
 
Under Feliciano, Rider has 112 wins since 2012, including 44 victories in conference play in the past four seasons and Rider is 40-15 at home since 2014.
 
2018 was a record-breaking year for the Broncs and Feliciano. On September 4, he became just the second coach in program history to record 100 wins at the help of the program. Later in the year he became the winningest coach in program history with his 113 career triumph at Rider. Currently, he has 117 wins. 

In 2018, Rider had its highest finish ever in the MAAC. The Broncs finished the regular season in third-place thanks to posting a 12-6 mark. The 12 conference wins were also a new program record as well. The team ended the year 19-11 overall. The 19 wins were the most for the team under Feliciano and were the most for Rider since the team won 20 in 1994. The Broncs advanced to the MAAC Championship Semifinals for the first time in program history as well.

During the year, freshman setter Anilee Sher was named the MAAC Rookie of the Week a conference-best four times. Junior Rachelle Runyon was named the MAAC Libero of the Week a conference-best four times as well during the year. Junior Meredith Pellegrino also earned weekly accolades for the Broncs as she was once recognized as the MAAC Player of the Week. 

Following the year, senior Hailey Riede earned First Team All-MAAC honors, junior Rachelle Runyon landed on the All-MAAC Second Team and Anilee Sher was named to the MAAC All-Rookie Team. Riede became the first Rider player to earn All-MAAC honors more than an once and ended her career with the third most kills in program history. She recorded her 1,000th kill in the first match of the year and ended up with over 1,300 in her career. Runyon had 574 digs on the season and averaged 4.95 digs per set. That is the third-most digs in a single-season in program history and the fourth-most digs per set. She also picked up her 1,000th career dig in the MAAC Championship second round. Sher became just the fourth player in program history to record over 1,000 assists in a season as she finished with 1,054.   

In 2017, Rider finished above .500 for the second year in a row as the Broncs went 17-15 and posted a 10-8 mark in MAAC play. For the second straight season, Hailey Riede earned First Team All-MAAC honors and senior setter Veronica Koval landed on the All-MAAC Second Team.
 
It was a record-breaking year for the Broncs as both Koval and classmate Emma Aldaya set new program bests. Aldaya set the Rider dig record midway through the season and she ends her career as the only Bronc volleyball to register over 2,000 career digs. Late in the season, Koval became the program’s all-time leader in career assists and she would end up as the only Rider player with over 3,000 career assists. Also, during the campaign Riede earned her 1,000 career point in a match versus Quinnipiac.
 
Feliciano picked up his 50 career MAAC win in 2017 and he currently has the second most victories by a head coach in Rider history.  
 
In 2016, Rider saw Hailey Riede became Rider's first-ever All-MAAC First Team selection, while Veronica Koval took second-team All-MAAC recognition. Koval was also tabbed as the league's Setter of the Year. With Koval's selection as Setter of the Year, the Broncs have now had a major award winner in three of the past four years. The Broncs also had six student-athletes earn MAAC All-Academic honors.
 
During the campaign, Ryan Ackerman recorded her 1,000th career kill and Rider also ran off two different four-game winning streaks.
 
In 2015, under Feliciano's leadership, Rider had a freshman earn MAAC Rookie of the Year honors for the second time in three seasons with Hailey Riede earning the accolade and junior Kaitlyn Griffin was a Second Team All-MAAC honoree for the second year in a row. After spending much of the season in first place after opening MAAC play 7-0, Feliciano earned votes for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.
 
During the season, several milestones were reached with sophomore Emma Aldaya recording career assist 1,000, senior Brandie Hill picked up career assist 1,000, junior Kaitlyn Griffin recorded career point 1,000, sophomore Veronica Koval recorded career assist 1,000 and the team won seven of nine matches in Alumni Gymnasium. The Broncs qualified for the MAAC Tournament for the first time since 2004.
 
In 2014, Feliciano's squad went on a seven match winning streak and opened conference play 5-0 enroute to its most wins (17) since the 1994 season and the sixth most wins in team history.
 
As part of that campaign, sophomore Kaitlyn Griffin earned Second Team All-MAAC honors with Emma Aldaya and Jennifer Borio earning a spot on the MAAC All-Rookie team.  In addition to those accolades, senior Ashlee Amatulli graduated with 2,771 assists and senior Jaclyn Webber hit the 1,000 plateau in points, digs and kills.
 
In 2013, Feliciano led Rider to its most victories in a decade with the team improving its win total for the third season in a row.
 
En route to the 15 win campaign, Feliciano guided two members of the MAAC All-Rookie team, Kaitlyn Griffin and Ryan Ackermann with Griffin earning MAAC Rookie of the Year honors.
 
In his first season, 17 of the 30 matches went at least four sets and in 2012, Rider doubled its win total, posting the most wins (11) since the 2004 season when the Broncs won 15 and advanced to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament with Nicole Moorman earning MAAC All-Rookie honors.
 
Feliciano was hired as the head coach of the Rider University volleyball team on January 11, 2011.
 
Feliciano came to the Broncs from the Bronx (Fordham University) where he served as an assistant coach for the Rams in 2010.
 
"Chris emerged as our leading candidate because of his successful head coaching experience combined with his Division I experience as an assistant coach," said Director of Athletic Don Harnum.  "His passion for teaching the game, combined with his desire and work ethic in recruiting quality student-athletes, will be real positives for Rider's volleyball program."
 
Feliciano helped Fordham to a 17 win season with the Rams qualifying for the Atlantic 10 Championship Tournament, losing to Duquesne in five sets.
 
"I am really excited to be here," Feliciano said upon his hiring.  "Don Harnum has given me a great opportunity to be part of a great University and I am excited to work with the program.  Our goal is to be competitive in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference every year."
 
At Fordham, Feliciano helped scout opponents and also worked with individual players via video training sessions and identified recruits for the Ram program.
 
Feliciano is a 2003 graduate of New Jersey City University where he served as the men's and women's head coach for volleyball until 2007.
 
Feliciano was the winningest coach in NJCU history with a 131-39 record in 170 matches for a .771 winning percentage and was the 2007 New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Coach of the Year.
 
NJCU appeared in the postseason in each of Feliciano's years as head coach, the only four years the Knights have ever appeared in a postseason tournament. In that first season, the Knights won 30 matches for the first time ever, finishing 30-6, and qualified for the first postseason tournament in the first 22 years of the program's existence. NJCU was selected to the ECAC Division III South Tournament for the first time, and won the Association of Division III Independents championship.
 
NJCU returned to the NJAC in 2005 after one year as an independent and during the next three years, Feliciano led the Knights to a combined 23-1 record in conference play, winning the league's regular season title and earning the #1 seed in the NJAC Tournament in 2005 and 2007, appearing in the NJAC championship match in three consecutive seasons. The 2005 season culminated with the first NJAC volleyball crown in school history, as well as the first for any women's sports team, and a berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
 
In 2006, NJCU won a single-season school record 33 matches. After finishing second in the conference and losing in the finals, the Knights were the No. 1 seed in the ECAC Tournament and won the championship of the eight-team regional event hosted in Jersey City.
 
In 2007, NJCU was 28-6, won another NJAC regular season title with an 8-0 ledger, before falling in the finals. NJCU was the No. 2 seed in the ECAC Tournament before losing in the quarterfinals. Feliciano earned NJAC Coach of the Year honors for the first time in his career for his efforts. The club won 30 consecutive games and 47 of 48, while stringing together a 16-match winning streak.
 
Feliciano also served as head men's volleyball coach at NJCU for four years from 2004-07, finishing with a mark of 72-54 (.571). He was named the 2005 North East Collegiate Volleyball Association Metro Division Coach of the Year.
 
Feliciano worked in the Newark Public Schools as a seventh grade Language Arts Instructor, technical director for the YMCA of Greater New York and spent three years as a 16s National head coach and mentor at the Atlantic Valley Volleyball Club in Westfield, New Jersey.
 
Feliciano was a recipient of the 2009 American Volleyball Coaches Association '30 under 30' award.
 
Before Feliciano was hired, the volleyball team had a streak of 24 straight semesters (since the Spring, 1999) with a team grade point average over a 3.00 and his oversight on the academic side has pushed that mark to 35 semesters in a row, through the Spring of 2016.
 
The team has received the American Volleyball Coaches Association National Academic Award tive times, in 2005-06, 2009-10, in Feliciano's second season, (2012-13) when the squad compiled a 3.50 g.p.a., in 2014-15 when the team also had a 3.50 g.p.a., and in 2015-16 when the squad compiled a 3.49 grade point average.
 
"Coming from Fordham, they have been a recipient of the AVCA academic team award and I expect to continue that at Rider," Feliciano said.  "I firmly believe that being a student-athlete is a correlation of academic and athletic excellence.  If they are focused in the classroom, they will bring that same focus to the volleyball court."
 
Feliciano is a member of the NCAA volleyball rules committee. He served as an AVCA Coaches Mentor from 2013-16 and was an AVCA Top-25 Voting Committee member from 2013-16. Amongst other duties on campus, Feliciano has also served as an advisor for Lambda Theta Phi since 2014. During the 2016 season, he also earned his 200th career NCAA victory at a tournament hosted by Boston College.
 
Feliciano is the eighth coach in the history of volleyball at Rider, which will begin its 42nd season of competition in 2018. In 2017 he earned his master’s degree in Athletic Leadership.
He is married to Emily Feliciano.
 

Christopher Feliciano  - Rider Coaching Record