(Courtesy of Chestnut Hill College Sports Information)

Philadelphia, Pa. – Lasting five grueling sets, tonight's Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) match went down to the wire as Georgian Court University claimed the deciding frame, 15-11, to defeat Chestnut Hill College in a 3-2 (25-22, 16-25, 21-25, 25-22, 15-11) final.

Junior outside hitter Rachel Biro (Nazareth, Pa.) went for 20 points for the second time in four matches while sophomore outside hitter Madison McBride (Long Beach, Calif.) joined her in the Griffins frontline assault and sophomore libero Regina Trabosh (Norristown, Pa.) anchored the defensive effort with 21 digs.
 
After four draining sets, Chestnut Hill College (10-11, 5-5) won the coin flip to offer the deciding set's opening serve. McBride served the Griffins to a 1-0 lead but the set remained tied as late as 10-10 before a Georgian Court University (11-10, 7-3) kill forced the Griffins into a timeout, 11-10. Following the huddle, the Lions extended their advantage to 14-11 before recording the evening's final point after another Griffins timeout, 15-11.
 
The Griffins gave away an early lead in the first set, 4-2, only to trail the Lions to a 21-20 spread at the set's first timeout. After an exchange of blocks, 22-21, a bad Lion set knotted the match at 22-22, before a three-point rush on the play of senior outside hitter Tatiana Villariny Rodriguez (Rio Grande, P.R.) brought the visitors a 25-22 win, 1-0. Biro gave the home team a boost in the second and third sets, killing 12 balls in the process of gaining the Griffins a 2-1 advantage with set wins of 25-16 and 25-21.

The Griffins ran away with the second set as junior setter Alyssa Tamsing (Ventura, Calif.) began to spot Biro. They first gained a 9-2 lead before calling a timeout after a Lion rally that cut the margin to 14-11. But a refocused pride of Griffins rattled off four consecutive scores to expand their advantage to 18-11 and an eventual 25-16 victory, 1-1. With the momentum, the Griffins led the Lions the full way in a tightly-played 25-21 third-set win, 2-1. Unfortunately, the Lions evened the playing field with their 25-22 fourth-set win, 2-2.
 
Rodriguez led the Lions with 19.5 points on 16 kills, two aces, and 1.5 blocks. She was joined in double-digit kills by senior outside hitter Anabelle Barinas (Newark, N.J.) and senior middle hitter Jhoan Agosto Rivera (Carolina, P.R.). Barinas added two aces and nine digs to her 17 kills while Rivera offered ten kills, an ace, five digs, and four blocks. Sophomore setter Kelsey Oliver (Vancouver, Wash.) recorded 49 assists while four others recorded double-digit digs.

Biro scored her 18 kills on a .217 (18K-8E-46TA) hitting percentage; she added to her production with three digs and three blocks. McBride provided her fourth double-double of the season, adding 14 digs to her 16 kills. Tamsing totaled 39 assists, an ace, and ten digs while Trabosh's 21 digs was supported by four others who reached double-digit digs and five blocks from freshman middle hitter Melissa Shunk (Laguna Niguel, Calif.).