Playing in front of a packed arena, the ninth-ranked Christopher Newport volleyball team got the crowd jumping and held tough against top-ranked Calvin before dropping a hard-fought decision to the Knights, 3-1 (25-21, 25-15, 22-25, 25-16), during the quarterfinals of the National Championships on Friday evening at the Freeman Center.

With the setback, Christopher Newport wraps up the 2014 campaign with a 34-4 record after reaching the Elite Eight for the fifth time in the last six seasons. Calvin advances to the National Semifinals for a meeting with No. 2 Hope, which will take place tomorrow at 7:30 p.m.

CNU's trip to the Elite Eight marked the second time a CAC team has reached the quarterfinal round, with the other being Salisbury in 2012. 

Facing the No. 1 team in the nation, the Captains kept it close and won the third set before coming up just short in the end. All-American Hannah Miller pieced together a strong performance with 10 kills and three blocks, while Briana Sutton pumped nine kills and added four aces. Eliza Fisher also crushed eight kills without a single attack error, and Rachel Conway dished out 28 assists.

Holding tough against one of the top attacks in the country, Brooke Moore did commendable work on the back row with eight digs and also converted 24 of her 26 reception attempts. Abby McIntyre also was a perfect 23-for-23 on serve-receive.