CALDWELL, N.J. – In an Election Day upset, the Georgian Court University volleyball squad downed Caldwell College, 25-23, 19-25, 25-23, 25-21, in the quarterfinals of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament Tuesday night in the George R. Newman Center. The Cougars, who are the two-time defending CACC Tournament champions, end their season at 20-14, while the Lions (16-15) advance to Friday’s semifinal round for the first time since 2009, the year of the Lions' fourth consecutive conference title.
After Georgian Court held off Caldwell in the first set to take a 1-0 lead, the Cougars tied up the match with a 25-19 win in the second set. Senior outside hitter Susan McDonough (Saline, MI/Saline) delivered four kills with no errors in nine attempts in the set. The third set saw Caldwell take a 17-13 lead before the Lions scored eight of the next 11 points for a 21-20 advantage. A kill by junior middle blocker Kasey Bausch (Bellmore, NY/Holy Trinity) tied the score at 21-21, but GCU scored three of four points to create set point, 24-22. Following a kill from senior right side Amber Mosher (Flanders, NJ/Mount Olive), Tatiana Villariny-Rodriguez put the set away in favor of the Lions with a kill.
In the fourth set, GCU built a 20-13 lead to close in on the victory. But Caldwell battled back with six of the next nine points to make the score 23-19. After a kill by Amy Berry set up match point, a GCU attack error and a kill by Mosher made the score 24-21 and kept the Cougars in the match. It proved to be too little, too late, as Jhoan Agosto put down the final kill, the 17th of the set for the Lions, to clinch the win.
Berry paced Georgian Court with 17 kills, while Villariny-Rodriguez and Anabelle Barinas contributed 14 apiece. Jaslene Lopez earned an impressive double-double with 50 assists and 10 digs. Francheska Cedres notched 29 digs.
McDonough led Caldwell with 17 kills and 20 digs for her 23rd double-double in 34 matches this season. Bausch finished with 10 kills and a .320 hitting percentage, while Mosher had six kills. Junior setter Lisa Roth (Gilbert, AZ/Williams Field) recorded 37 assists and sophomore libero Jaclyn Del Cid (Bogota, NJ/Bogota) tallied 19 digs.
Georgian Court, which is hosting the semifinals and finals, will play top-seeded Wilmington University on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Philadelphia University will face off against Dominican College in the other semifinal match.
