Women's Notebook puts a bow on the 2021-'22 season

Women’s Notebook – Season ending thoughts

By Stephen Zerdelian 

So, that was fun. An exhausting 2021-‘22 season chock full of COVID stoppages, cancelled and postponed games and ultimately a balanced and unpredictable regional tournament, ended in Birmingham, Alabama last week when Pace lost to North Georgia at the NCAA Elite Eight. After a short period of reflection, I wanted to clarify some thoughts and draw a line under the season.

For me, the overriding stories (aside of the hopefully in-the-past COVID issues) of the campaign were (1) Pace’s unexpectedly successful season and (2) the movement/departure of teams/schools in the region. 

Carrie Seymour’s Setters were a mix of old (six veterans) and new (a batch of newcomers) which, much like other teams, had to figure out who they were as this season began. As documented in my last column, Pace found chemistry early in the season, going 11-1 to kick off the campaign. Chosen 5^th in the pre-season Northeast-10 Southwest Division poll, the Setters blasted out of the gate behind Lauren Schetter and staked a fast claim to one of the spots in the regional elite. Although they came back to earth a bit after the quick start, Pace never fell into a serious tailspin and eventually made their run to the regional crown. 

A relative lack of postponements and cancellations helped Pace keep their momentum as the calendar turned to January and February, and they managed to overcome an NE10 playoff loss at home to Stonehill to regroup and win their first regional title since 2001. Despite the defeat to North Georgia, the Setters did themselves and the region proud. Great work. 

As for (2), things are afoot in the region but not all will reveal itself this summer. As we all know, the University of the Sciences has played their final game and will leave a big hole in the region. The CACC is going to add the University of Bridgeport from the ECC and will plug the Purple Knights into the North Division, getting that section back to seven teams while the South Division will fall to six teams. One bit of great news in the CACC is that Bloomfield announced a partnership with Montclair State, ensuring their solvency for the time being. Thus, the Bears will keep doors open, their place in the league, and will continue to be a regional staple. 

Elsewhere, the ECC will be at nine teams next season with the departure of Bridgeport and the NE10 may suffer a loss (or two) with programs seriously exploring Division 1. But this space does not traffic in speculation or rumor, so until/unless a move is officially announced, it won’t show up here.

Glenville State won their first national championship in Birmingham at the Elite Eight last week, beating Western Washington in a fast-paced title game. From a regional perspective, Pace’s defeat means that the East has not won a game at the E8 since 2016, when Bentley advanced to the semifinals. The following season the NCAA began to re-seed the E8 once regional play was finished, and it’s been an 0-5 run for the region in the interim:

It has not been pretty. Our region, which last won a title in 2014 (Bentley), is usually very balanced and competitive, which is great while the season is ongoing. But that balance lends itself to a lack of a powerhouse, and thus the dearth of recent Elite Eight high seeds or success. Let’s hope the East can find a way to advance next season and restore some national shine to the region.

No need for me to go much deeper. It’s almost April, and the 2021-’22 season is done. The relative return to normal this winter was good news for all but let’s hope that the 2022-’23 campaign is really a return to normalcy. All of us who partake in the region (players, coaches, administrators, media, referees, fans, etc.) care a lot about product and the experience. Having it splintered with outside factors doing the damage is hard to handle. Now that we have returned to crawling back to pre-pandemic norms, maybe we can get back into a full sprint by November.

Any feedback is more than welcome, so feel free to reach out at Anfield13@aol.com and let me know what you think about this, or any, of my columns. I’ll spend my time until November writing, researching, and trying to create more content that will satisfy my soul, and hopefully entertain and inform the readership. My thanks to all the folks that helped along the way, we need you more than you know! Thanks for supporting us, we all really appreciate it. Until next time, take care.