WILMINGTON, Del. (Oct. 25, 2023) - Georgian Court Volleyball traveled to Wilmington, Del. looking for a season sweep of the Wildcats. GCU swept the Wildcats in Lakewood back in Sept. 3-0, but this time, Wilmington was able to come out on top in four sets defeating the Lions 20-25, 25-17, 28-26, 25-22. The loss puts GCU at 11-10 this season and 5-6 in the CACC.

How it Happened
• Wilmington outhit the Lions for the match .256-.207 and were over .300 in two sets.
• On the serve, the Wildcats were +5 as they landed eight aces to six errors while the Lions totaled five aces but hit eight errors.
• Wilmington also put back three more blocks than the Lions 9-6 and led 85-78 in digs. 
Set 1
• With the set tied at four, Georgian Court went on a 5-0 run for a 9-4 lead. The Lions hit four kills and block during the run.
• GCU kept the Wildcats within five for much of the set. The Lions got the lead to eight, 23-15, before Wilmington cut it in half to 24-20 as the Lions called timeout.
• After the timeout, Giorgia Cappelletti landed a kill to give the Lions a 25-20 win.
• GCU hit 16 kills with just three errors and hit .342 in the frame.
Set 2
• The two teams traded points in the early going of set two.
• Neither team got ahead by more than a point until Wilmington took an 11-9 lead.
• Leading by one, the Wildcats scored four straight getting ahead 15-10 and forcing a Lions timeout.
• Wilmington pushed the lead to nine, 20-11 but GCU scored five straight getting to within four, 20-16.
• The Wildcats scored five of the final six points and evened the match with a 25-17 win. 
• Wilmington hit just two errors and .333 for the set while GCU hit just .116 with 11 kills and six errors.
Set 3
• The pivotal set three saw the Lions jump out to a 2-0 lead. That was wiped away with Wilmington tying the frame at five.
• Georgian Court scored five of the next eight for a 10-7 lead, but that too didn't last as the Wildcats scored five straight for a 12-10 lead and GCU needed timeout.
• The Lions rallied and reclaimed a 14-13 lead.  After that the set was incredibly tight the rest of the way.
• With the set once again tied at 23, Wilmington took set point, 24-23.
• GCU was able to tie and Martina Croce brought the Lions to within a point, 25-24.
• The set was once again tied up at 26 when the Wildcats were able to score two straight, the final on a service ace to take set three, 28-26.
Set 4
• The fourth set again started with the two teams trading points. Tied at five, Wilmington scored four straight to go on top 9-5.
• Wilmington never trailed again despite the Lions making multiple comeback attempts.
• The Lions trailed 13-9 but scored four of five to get to within one, 14-13.
• After Wilmington responded going up four again, 19-15, GCU scored three straight and Wilmington needed timeout up just one.
• Out of the timeout, the Wildcats scored four straight and were at set point, 24-19. The Lions had one more rally in them, scoring three straight getting to 24-22 as the Wildcats needed another timeout. They stopped the Lions comeback attempt though with a kill and a 25-22 set win.

Lions Stat Leaders
• Nylene Mateo scored 16.5 points with 15 kills and two blocks. She added 13 digs for a double-double.
• Giorgian Cappelletti also had a double-double with 14 kills and 23 digs.
• Martina Croce and Amiyah Woods each had nine kills. Woods added three blocks and Croce 15 digs.
• Dayna Diaz entered in the middle of set one to take over setting duties and passed out 41 assists with three kills and 11 digs.
• Chelsea Ross had seven kills and with three blocks.
• Carmen Rivera added 12 digs. 

For the Wildcats
• Cailyn Smiley had a match-high 19 kills with 15 digs.
• Shannen Litten nearly had a double-double with 10 kills and nine blocks.
• Brice Hansen had a 13-kill, 13-dig double double.
• Katie Bushong passed out 48 assists with 13 digs.
• Elly Collins finished with a game-high 26 digs.

News and Notes
• Nylene Mateo landed her 1,000th career kill in the third set. She became just the sixth Lion in program history to reach the milestone. 
• Chelsea Ross moved into the Lions all-time top-10 in blocks, getting over 190.
• Giorgia Cappelletti eclipsed 200 digs this season and Martina Croce 100. They also each set season-highs in digs. 
• Dayna Diaz surpassed 200 career assists.
• The Wildcats win evens the all-time series at 23-23.

Up Next
• Georgian Court will return home Saturday, Oct. 28 for a 12 p.m. match against Felician.