EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. (Sept. 15, 2023) - Georgian Court Volleyball finished off an excellent week with a pair of wins at the East Stroudsburg Tournament. They took down the College of Saint Rose in five sets before sweeping host East Stroudsburg 3-0. With the two wins, Georgian Court is now 6-3 on the season. 

Game One - Georgian Court 3, The College of Saint Rose 2 (25-21, 25-22, 23-25, 14-25, 15-13)
How it Happened
• In another evenly matched game between these two teams, Saint Rose held a slight edge hitting .208 while the Lions were at .193.
• GCU put down four more kills though, 60-56.
• Service numbers were also even. The Lions landed six aces with 11 errors. The Golden Knights had seven aces and 10 errors.
• The College of Saint Rose put back two more blocks, 9-7. Each team finished with 67 digs.
Set 1
• Saint Rose came out scoring four of the first five points with three kills from three different Golden Knights.
• The Golden Knights pushed that lead to as much as six, 14-8, when the Lions came roaring back. 
• GCU went on a 6-0 run and tied the set at 14-all. 
• Still trailing by one, 18-17, the Lions finally got their first lead, 19-18, thanks to a service error and Nylene Mateo kill. Tied again at 19, Georgian Court ended the set on a 6-2 run to take a 1-0 lead in the match, 25-21.
• Both teams hit well in the opening set, but the Lions had the advantage .324-.237. GCU hit just two attack errors while the Golden Knights hit seven.
Set 2
• Saint Rose again held an early lead, forcing the Lions to come from behind. Saint Rose led by four, 12-8, when another 6-0 run from the Lions gave them the lead, 14-12.
• Georgian Court never trailed the rest of the way and finished the set off with a Chelsea Ross kill and a bad set was the deciding set-point.
• After just one block in the first set, GCU put back four in the second of their 25-22 win. 
Set 3
• The third set was the Lions turn to get out in front early. They led by as much as four, 7-3.
• Saint Rose played the role of GCU in this set, coming back to tie, 10-10 thanks to a 7-3 run of their own.
• Georgian Court rebounded from that stretch by scoring four straight and reclaiming a four-point lead, 14-10, but it was short lived. Saint Rose went on a 9-2 run going up 19-16.
• The Golden Knights were on set point, 24-20, but GCU had one more rally in them. Kills from Nylene Mateo and Martina Croce along with a Jessica Sprankle service ace got the Lions to within one, 24-23. This time they couldn't complete the comeback as the Golden Knights got back into the match with a 25-23 win.
Set 4
• Georgian Court trailed early in set four and this time were unable to make a comeback. Saint Rose got ahead 7-2 and forced a Lion timeout.
• Out of the break, Jessica Vargas landed three straight kills, bringing the lead to eight, 10-2.
• The Lions best shot to get back into the set followed as they scored six straight to bring the lead to two, 10-8.
• The Golden Knights though ended the set scoring 15 of the final 19 points.
• Georgian Court hit .033 for the set with eight kills and seven attack errors. 
Set 5
• The Golden Knights set four win forced a fifth set. They kept that momentum going getting ahead early, 3-1.
• GCU quickly tied things and the two teams traded points back-and-forth nearly the entire rest of the way.
• There was only one instance of a one-point lead from the time it was 3-3 until Nylene Mateo landed back-to-back kills to make it a 12-10 Lion lead.
• Mateo scored two more kills putting the Lions at match-point up 14-11.
• Saint Rose answered with two points of their own and clinging to a one point lead, 14-13, the Lions called timeout.
• The timeout worked as a service error on the next point gave the win to the Lions, 15-13. 

Lions Stat Leaders
• Giorgia Cappelletti led all scorers with 19 kills. She had a double-double with 10 digs as well.
• Nylene Mateo finished with 17 kills hitting .275.
• Martina Croce was a dig shy of a double-double with 12 kills and nine digs.
• Iciar Zayas ran the offense with 47 assists. She also added 12 digs.
• Chelsea Ross landed seven kills.
• Amiyah Woods hit five kills and four blocks.
• Jessica Sprankle led the defensive effort with 14 digs. 

For the Golden Knights
• Jessica Vargas led the Golden Knights landing 18 kills on 46 attempts. She compelted a double-double with 12 digs.
• Karleigh Fripp was also in double-figure kills with 11.
• Alandra Hasbrouck passed out 49 assists to go along with 12 digs.
• Katelyn Atchinson finished with a match-high 14 digs.
• Julia Cavalcanti did a bit of everything for Saint Rose with nine kills, six digs, six blocks and two service aces. 
• Joanna Forrest chipped in nine kills.

Game 2 - Georgian Court 3, East Stroudsburg 0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-22)
How it Happened
• After an emotional five-set win in game one, Georgian Court carried all that momentum into game two. They were in control throughout the entire match outhitting ESU .189-.091.
• The Lions landed 56 kills to the Warriors 39 and scored six service aces while only giving up two. 
Set 1
• Georgian Court got on top early and after a 1-0 ESU lead, never trailed in the set.
• They scored three straight with a kill and service ace from Giorgia Cappelletti and were in charge the rest of the way.
• GCU built a comfortable 21-12 lead and were able to cruise to a 25-17 set win finished off with a Chelsea Ross kill.
• GCU hit .186 in the frame while the Warriors had six kills and nine attack errors.
Set 2
• GCU jumped out to a 6-1 lead with kills from Croce, Mateo, Ross and Woods.
• East Stroudsburg answered though scoring six straight and took a 7-6 lead of their own.
• Down 13-11, Georgian Court scored five straight to go back up by three and never trailed again.
• ESU tied the set at 23 but a Mateo kill and Warrior attack error gave GCU a 2-0 lead.
Set 3
• ESU took an early lead in set three, 8-4, but a 5-1 GCU run tied things at nine.
• The teams traded points before the Warriors gained a two-point edge, 17-15.
• The Lions took over after that scoring seven straight to go back on top 22-17.
• ESU got back to within two, 24-22, but a Cappelletti kill ended the match in three.

Lion Stat Leaders
• Giorgia Cappelletti led GCU landing 15 kills and hitting .353. She had 12 digs as well.
• Nylene Mateo had a double-double as well with 10 kills and 11 digs.
• Iciar Zayas passed out 37 assists, averaging more than 12 assists per set. She also led GCU with 16 digs
• Jessica Sprankle picked up 13 digs.
• Chelsea Ross was a force in the middle with eight total blocks and three kills.

For the Warriors
• Claire Choloux led GCU with 10 kills and 15 digs.
• Taylor Haan passed out 28 assists.
• Anna Coulter chipped in nine kills.
• Makayla Baca added 14 digs.

News and Notes
• The match vs. Saint Rose played out similarly to a year ago in Lakewood. That match saw the Golden Knights come out on top in five with four of the five sets determined by two points.
• The match with Saint Rose was just the second five-set match for GCU this season and the first they've won. 
• GCU set single-game highs this season against Saint Rose with 60 kills, 56 assists and 73 points. 
• Nylene Mateo entered the Lions all-time top-10 in kills. 
• Amiyah Woods scored her 300th career point.
• Jessica Sprankle passed out her 200th career assist. 
• The Lions 11 service errors against Saint Rose match a season-high. 
• Giorgia Cappelletti totaled 34 kills and 22 digs in the two matches.
• Iciar Zayas moved to eighth all-time in career assists and now has 997.

Up Next
• Georgian Court is on the road still next Tuesday, Sept. 19, when they play at Pace with a 6 p.m. first serve.