LAKEWOOD, N.J. (Oct. 13) - Georgian Court Women's Volleyball was down but not out. They overcame two deficits, 1-0 and 2-1, to come from behind and upset Wilmington at home in a thrilling five-set win (14-25, 25-23, 14-25, 25-23, 15-10).

How it Happened
• The final numbers favor Wilmington because in their two set wins they won each by 11 points. The Lions played it down to the wire in their set wins. They had two two-point wins and then a five-point win in set five so Wilmington outscored the Lions 106-93 in total points, but where it mattered, the Lions won 3-2.
• Wilmington hit .307 for the match while the Lions were at .179. The Wildcats totaled 60 kills while GCU landed 56.
• The Lions held and 8-4 advantage in service aces and each team committed eight service errors. The Wildcats put back 10 blocks and the Lions just three.
• One game after struggling defensively, the Lions scooped up 61 digs, same as the Wildcats.
• Georgian Court battled early in set one to get within a single point, 10-9, but the Wildcats extended their lead to five with a 5-1 run. Wilmington finished the set strong as well scoring eight of the final nine points.
• The Wildcats momentum stopped at the final point. Georgian Court started set two on a 4-0 run getting kills from Nylene Mateo, Iciar Zayas and Emma Gildea. Wilmington tied on a number of occasions, 10 times actually, but never grabbed the lead themselves. Tied at 20, GCU scored three straight kills, but again there was Wilmington to answer with three straight of their own. In a set the Lions needed to avoid going down 2-0, an attack error and Mateo kill gave them the 25-23 win to tie things at one.
• Wilmington regained control of the match with another 25-14 win in set three. They led for most of the way and closed things with a long scoring rally, scoring seven of the final eight points.
• Set four saw the Lions trail by as many as three points, 11-8, but this time they refused to let the Wildcats extend the lead. GCU used a 6-2 run to take a 14-13 following an Emma Gildea service ace. The teams traded the lead five more times and neither team took more than a two-point lead the rest of the way. Tied at 20, a service error and Gildea kill put the Lions ahead for good. Down to set point, 24-23, the Wildcats' Heather Pedrick sent one long and gave the Lions new life and a fifth set.
• Georgian Court held on to their momentum from the set four win and never trailed in set five. Amiyah Woods and Mateo started things with kills and GCU pushed their lead to three, 7-4. Wilmington used a 4-1 spurt to tie the set at eight, but the Lions scored three straight, helped out by two Wildcat attack errors. Georgian Court scored seven of the final nine points and back-to-back aces from Jessica Sprankle and a kill from Mateo clinched the win for the Lions.

Lions Stat Leaders
• Georgian Court went to Nylene Mateo early and often. She scored 23 kills on 76 swings while adding 10 digs.
• Iciar Zayas controlled the offense passing out 44 assists. She added 14 digs as well.
• The Lions used their middles well. Amiyah Woods hit .636 with seven kills and no errors.
• Emma Gildea was just shy of double-figures with nine kills and hit .353.
• Chelsea Ross chipped in eight kills and two blocks.
• Jana Borkovic picked up a game-high 24 digs while adding five assists.
• Jessica Sprankle landed three aces and scooped up six digs.

For the Wildcats
• Heather Pedrick led the offense with 16 kills.
• Kacey Affrunti hit .464 with 15 kills and nine blocks.
• Brice Hansen had a double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs.
• Elly Collins totaled 14 digs.
• Katie Bushong finished with 51 assists.

News and Notes
• The win snaps a season-long four-match losing streak.
• This was just the Lions second five-set match of the season and first win.
• Jana Borkovic's 24 digs match a season-high. She also surpassed 300 for the season.
• Nylene Mateo's 76 attempts were a season high. She has double-figure kills in six straight matches.
• Iciar Zayas moves into 11th all-time in career assists with 583. Her 44 are the most since Sept. 3.
• Jessica Sprankle reached 100 career service aces, just the 16th Lion all-time to reach that benchmark. 
• Amiyah Woods surpassed 200 career points. 

Up Next
• Next match is homecoming! The Lions host Alliance Saturday, Oct. 15 at 11 a.m.