CALDWELL, N.J. (Oct. 22, 2022) - Georgian Court Volleyball needed just one more point to get out of Caldwell with a five-set win. The Cougars though stared down set point to come back and ultimately take set five and the match 3-2 (20-25, 25-16, 21-25, 25-17, 19-17. 

How it Happened
• Plenty of points and kill in this five-set thriller. Georgian Court scored 10 more points, 78-68 and landed five more kills, 59-54.
• Caldwell held a small hitting percentage advantage .172-.152.
• The Lions landed 14 service aces but also hit 13 service errors. Caldwell landed seven aces and nine errors.
• Defensively, Caldwell secured 90 digs and Georgian Court 89. The Cougars also led in total blocks, 7-5.
• The Lions took advantage of some Cougar attack errors early in set one to jump out to a 5-1 lead. Nylene Mateo landed a kill and the Lions pushed their lead to five, 8-3. Caldwell then went on a 7-2 run to pull even at 10. They took their first lead 12-11 and went up three, 14-11 forcing a GCU timeout.
• Coming out of the break, Georgian Court cut the lead down to one, 14-13, but couldn't get any closer. The Cougars went up as much as eight, 21-13 and went on to win the opening set 25-20.
• Georgian Court led from the get-go in set two, scoring the first four points. Twice Caldwell brought the lead down to one, but Georgian Court responded each time. Up two, 11-9, GCU scored five straight, including back-to-back Jana Borkovic service aces bringing the lead to 16-9. The teams traded points the rest of the set and the Lions evened the match at 1, 25-16.
• Unlike sets one and two, Georgian Court got down early in set three, 7-2. The Cougars pushed their lead to as much as nine, 20-11, but the Lions weren't ready to give in. They went on a 9-1 run to cut the lead all the way down to two, 21-19. That's as close as the Lions got though, as the Cougars scored four of the final six points to hold on for a 25-21 win.
• Caldwell look to finish the match in four, taking an early 3-1 lead, but the Lions had other ideas. They used a 5-0 run to take a 6-3 lead and never trailed the rest of the set. Caldwell got to within one, 15-14, but GCU finished on a 10-3 run to win going away, 25-17, and forced a fifth set. Nylene Mateo put the finishing touches on the set with a block and a kill.
• In the decisive fifth set, Georgian Court used a 5-1 run to take a 7-2 lead. Mateo landed two service aces during the stretch. The Cougars came back on a couple of occasions, getting to within one. The Lions were on the brink of a victory, 14-11, when the Cougars scored three straight to tie at 14-all. Each team had a chance to take the win getting the advantage. Georgian Court led 17-16, but the Cougars scored the final three to comeback with a 19-17 win to take the match.

Lion Stat Leaders
• Nylene Mateo landed a season-high tying 32 kills. She also added 21 digs for a double-double and hit five service aces.
• Jana Borkovic totaled a team-best 27 digs and four service aces. 
• Iciar Zayas passed out a season-high tying 51 assists. Her 15 digs gave her a double-double.
• Chelsea Ross was in double-figure kills with 10.
• Jessica Sprankle finished with eight digs, two aces and two kills. 

For the Cougars
• W. Schubert-Brown finished with a team-best 15 kills and hit .294.
• Reese Sherwood also hit 15 kills and passed out 22 assists.
• Humiko Stormer had a team-high 26 digs and eight assists.
• Amanda Schlitz chipped in 11 kills.
• Sarah Saltzman had a double-double with 21 assists and 10 digs.

News and Notes
• Jessica Sprankle entered the GCU top-15 for service aces. She now has 108 for her career. Sprankle also picked up career dig number 600.
• Jana Borkovic landed career ace number 25. She also set a season-high with 27 digs. 
• Chelsea Ross surpassed 200 career kills. 
• Iciar Zayas is now in the GCU single-season top-10 for assists. She also went over 200 digs for the season.
• Nylene Mateo scored her 800th career point. Her 90 attempts are a season-high and 32 kills match a season-best. 

Up Next
• The Lions return home Tuesday, Oct. 25 for a match with Holy Family. First serve is 6:00 pm.