Defending NJCAA champion College of DuPage earned an opportunity at defending its national championship at last week's tournament in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
 
And while the Chaps did not repeat, their winning the 5^th-place consolation championship exceeded expectations for the 2023 campaign.
 
COD, which received the No. 11 seed as an at-large participant, defeated No. 6-seed Finger Lakes 3-0 (25-17, 25-10, 25-14) in the opening round. The Chaps hit .333 in the opener (34 kills/8 errors/78 attacks) and took advantage of their season-long strength at serve receive. Led by Cyd Martinez and Jaidyn Tan's combined 10 aces, COD totaled 16 on the match with just six receiving errors. Melissa Alvarez led in kills with 12.
 
The Chaps then advanced to the second round, where it lost to eventual national runner-up Century College of White Bear Lake, Minn. COD dropped a 3-0 decision (25-17, 25-13, 25-16) after hitting .038 (23/19/104). The 19 attack errors and seven service errors were not enough to overcome Century's .316 attack percentage.
 
In Friday's consolation round, COD defeated Dallas-Brookhaven 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-21) and earned a bit of payback after losing to the Bears in regular-season play in September in Brenham, Texas. Melissa Alvarez led the way in the three-set victory with 17 kills and teammate Amanda Leibrock adding 14. Both Tan and Martinez had three aces apiece.
 
And to wrap-up the tourney, the Chaps earned fifth-place with their 3-1 (15-25, 25-23, 25-17, 25-21) victory over Delta (Mich.) College. Alvarez led again in kills (22) and Josephine Becker (11) and Leibrock (10) also earned double-digit efforts. Martinez led in aces with four and Abigail Alonzo added three.
 
Setter Ashley Bylsma made a return to the NJCAA tourney, after sustaining an injured finger late last month. Bylsma averaged 31 assists in the final two matches.
 
Martinez ended the season ranked No. 1 in digs with 826 and receptions (931). She finished third in service aces (125) — the only player in Division 3 to rank in the top three in those two categories.

Martinez was the only Chaparral named to the All-Tournament team.
 
Coach Tolis Koskinaris says
"We finished the last two seasons with a combined 57 wins and that really is remarkable. A completely different team from a year ago, where this year's strengths were about keeping the ball in play and having an advantage on our serve-receive. We started out very strong in our opener against Finger Lakes, and then faced a team in Century that fired on all cylinders and eventually reached the championship match. I credit our six sophomores — Cyd Martinez, Jaidyn Tan, Ashley Bylsma, Abigail Alonzo, Grace Beacom and Amanda Leibrock — for putting our team in a position to play great volleyball during the consolation rounds. We refused to pack our bags and give-in. Those six made it known that we were going to get after it and they did. And it certainly makes it a lot more enjoyable to coach when you have players that have that attitude. We made the most of an at-large bid and proved that we definitely belonged in the national championship. I am just as proud of how we finished in 2023 as I am of our title from a year ago.''