Lakewood, N.J.- With another successful Georgian Court University Volleyball Invitational in the books,the host-Lions concluded the annual event with a 2-2 record over the two days, which includes Sunday's spilt with Stonehill College and Mercy College.

GCU began the day with a 3-1 setback vs. the Skyhawks before closing the afternoon on a high note with a 3-1 victory over the Mavericks (0-4).

In the opener, Stonehill (3-1) swiped the first set, 25-20, before the Lions evened the score with a second stanza win of 25-21. The Skyhawks wore out the Lions in a back-and-forth third game, escaping by a 25-22 score, before running away,25-13,in the fourth and final set.

Kelsey Weymouth (Sr.-North Attleboro, Mass.) topped the Skyhawks with nine kills to go along with nine digs. Taylor Stevens (Jr.-Foster,R.I.) dished 20 assists and gathered nine digs while teammate Claire Manuszak (So.-Indianapolis,Ind.) led all players with her 17 digs.

As for the Lions, Jennifer Smith contributed nine kills and nine digs while Kelsey Oliver distributed a match-high 27 assists. Nerishka Cruz De La Rosa and Peggy Rosario tied Smith with nine digs to lead the home team.

In the nightcap,the Lions appeared to be anxious to get a belated Labor Day holiday underway by defeating Mercy College soundly in the first two sets, 25-10 and 25-14. The Mavericks were not so ready to get out of Lakewood, however, as the Mavericks,taking advantage of some turbid play by GCU, took set three, 25-12. 

Georgian Court would proceed to recover from its momentary brain blip and go on to victory in the fourth game, 25-17.

Jessica Pedroza enjoyed the best match of her young GCU career, smashing a team-best 10 kills to go along with seven digs. Oliver topped all players with her 29 assists while Cruz De La Rosa did the same with her 30 digs. Taylor Winchester corralled 20 digs of her own.

Peyton Olson (Fr.-Albany, Ore.) posted a solid double-double consisting of 14 kills and 14 digs in the loss for the Mavericks. Toni Parente (Fr.-East Patchogue, N.Y.) dished 25 assists for Mercy, while Brianna Heffernan (Fr.-East Islip, N.Y.) and Andrea Velasco (Jr.-Whittier, Calif.) compiled 19 and 13 digs, respectively.

The Lions will next take the court on Thursday evening with a non-conference road match at Southern Connecticut State University.