The Villanova Supernovas are moving onto the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCAs) semifinals on March 22 after placing second in the quarter finals on Feb. 22.
The semifinals will be taking place in Wilmington, DE, where the Supernovas will compete to move on to finals next month. The Supernovas will be competing against 10 teams across the Mid-Atlantic region, including Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland.
The last time the group advanced to the semifinals was in 2023, and in 2022 they made it to finals.
“We’ve been to finals once before,” senior Caleb Zettell said. “It is exciting because it kind of extends your season all the way to the end. Of course, it can never be an expectation because of how incredible all of the talent is.”
The Supernovas consists of 15 members, five of which are seniors. The rest of the group consists of three juniors, three sophomores and four freshmen.
Led by senior and President Bridget Duffy, the group has been working non-stop to improve and prepare for the next level of competition.
“I’m always thinking very strategically about, like, okay, how are we going to best spend our time and how do we motivate people and how do we make sure that they’re connected to what we’re doing and each other,” Duffy said.
The group has only had a few weeks to prepare for the semifinals, with Spring Break landing between the two competitions. The group traveled together over break to Boston and Miami, but spent less time practicing during that week than one may think.
“We were all together Spring Break,” junior Declan Mahoney said. “Which definitely helped us. We sang a little bit, but nothing too important.”
Showcased through their Spring Break and other trips throughout the school year, the key factor that sets the Supernovas apart is the sense of community in the group, according to its members.
“It takes a lot of hours to be able to put together the set that we want to,” junior Gavin Crozier said. “We spend a lot of time together just professionally, and so it is definitely a big benefit that they’re 14 of my best friends, and so, I don’t care that I’m spending time doing professional things because I’m having a blast doing it.”
Additionally, their social connection helps them to thrive on stage.
“When you are on a stage together, and you can lock eyes with somebody when you’re super nervous and you’re, like, hey, this is one of my best friends, I think it is a really powerful thing and it’s something that, in terms of success in the competitions has been great, but I think in more importantly it is really cool that I am able to share this moment with all these people that I care so much about,” Zettell said.
The stakes are high for the semi finals, as only one of the 10 teams competing will advance to the finals. For Zettell, Duffy and the other three seniors in the Supernovas, this could be their last time performing on an ICCA stage.
“It is hard to put into words, because it is so easy to overlook what the group means intrinsically,” Zettell said. “I’ve talked to a couple of the other seniors about it, kind of often actually. It’s one of those things that you don’t realize what you have until it is almost gone.”
The drive to compete and keep the seniors in the game is a large motivation for the members of the Supernovas to compete their best on Saturday.
“It was obviously great for the seniors,” sophomore Lance Hoover said. “Their final year we could have something like this happen.”
The Supernovas will be competing a set arranged by Crozier, the music director, and choreographed by Zettell. The set is composed of “Still Rolling Stones” by Lauren Daigle, “Haze” by Amber Run, “The Fear is not Real” by Willow and “Who We Are” by Hozier. The soloists are Zettell, sophomore Gianna Angelone and freshman Olivia Rengen.
The Supernovas will be performing in Villanova’s A Cappella Palooza Friday, March 21 before traveling to Delaware to compete the following day. Tickets for Acapalooza and tickets for the ICCA semifinals can be purchased online.
