Philadelphia, Pa. - Georgian Court University collected the sixth Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference women's volleyball championship in program history (and first since 2013) as the top-seed Lions dismissed reigning-champion Holy Family University, 3-1, Sunday afternoon in the HFU Campus Center.
The Lions, winners of seven-straight matches (30-6 overall) now earns an automatic berth in the 2019 NCAA Division II Regional Tournament. GCU will found out where they are headed when the seeds are announced Monday evening at 7:30 p.m. on
NCAA.com.
Holy Family (24-9) drew first blood in the final as the Tigers took a 1-0 lead after taking the initial set, 25-22. Georgian Court countered in the second frame, courtesy of a 3-0 spurt to start the set and a 7-0 run midway through en route to 25-18 victory.
Trailing 18-14 in the third, HFU clawed its way to through a 6-0 sprint to go ahead, 20-18. With the Tigers later owning a 23-22 surplus later in the set, the Lions rallied to take the final three points to take a commanding 2-set-to-1 advantage.
The Tigers, looking to get back into the game, authored a slim 13-12 lead in the fourth set, GCU proceeded to grab seven of the next eight points to go up 19-14. Inching to within three at 22-19, the Lions poured it on at the end to floor three straight points, securing their sixth conference title in the process.
Aubrey Binkley, the tournament MVP, ripped a team-best 16 kills in the triumph, while adding 15 digs for the double-double performance.
Kinsy Haschke (15 kills, 17 digs),
Emily McCurley (15 digs),
Shana Rayside (10 kills, three blocks) and
Jaime Sweeney (30 assists, six digs) joined their teammate on the All-Tournament team.
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