MANCHESTER, NH (Sept. 2, 2023)- Georgian Court finished up day one of the Southern New Hampshire/St. Anselm Volleyball opener picking up a win on the road at St. Anselm. GCU dropped the first set, their fourth straight to start 2023 before rattling off three straight to win the set 3-1, 19-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-23. After the first day of the 2023 regular season, GCU is now 1-1.

How it Happened
• Georgian Court's offense was incredibly efficient hitting .314 for the match with 51 kills.
• The Lions also held an advantage on the block putting back 10 to the Hawks five.
• Defensively GCU scooped up 56 digs to the Hawks 49. 
• Saint Anselm held an advantage on the serve landing 10 to GCU's six.
Set One
• Georgian Court got down early in set one as the Hawks took a 9-3 advantage.
• GCU was able to get close a handful of times, getting to within two, 17-15, in the middle of the set. St. Anselm though finished on an 8-4 run and with a service ace took set one 25-19. 
• The Hawks hit .214 in the frame while the Loins were at .080 with seven kills and five attack errors. 
Set Two
• After getting down 8-5, Georgian Court rallied to score seven of the next eight points and took a three-point lead of their own, 12-9.
• The Lions kept that lead the rest of the way. After the Hawks got to within two, 14-12, GCU went on another 6-1 run for a 20-13 lead.
• Kills from Amiyah Woods and Nylene Mateo plus a Jessica Sprankle service ace ended the set in the Lions favor 25-18. 
• Georgian Court hit .581 in set two with 19 kills and one attack error on 31 attempts.
Set Three
• The Lions hit .387 in the third set to take a 2-1 lead in the match. They landed 15 kills and four blocks.
• After both teams were tied at six, Georgian Court took over taking a 9-7 lead and never looked back. They outscored the Hawks 10-5 for a five-point lead.
• GCU maintained at least a three-point lead the rest of the way and a bad set put the Lions ahead 2-1 with a 25-18 set three win. 
Set Four
• Georgian Court had another big comeback in set four to take the match 3-1. Tied at five, St. Anselm went on a 5-1 run for a 10-6 lead and looked like they were primed to tie the match.
• The Lions though stormed back and tied the set at 17-all. 
• GCU took a 19-17 lead helped out by a Nylene Mateo and Chelsea Ross block and never looked back. Down to match-point it was Ross again landing her fifth kill to put the match away 3-1 in favor of the Lions.

Lion Stat Leaders
• Nylene Mateo led GCU with 17 kills and hit .382 for the match with 15 digs.
• Georgia Cappelletti hit .367 landing 13 kills on 30 attempts with five digs.
• Dayna Diaz entered the setter role and passed out 33 assists with nine digs and three kills.
• Martina Croce helped out with seven kills.
• Jessica Sprankle picked up 15 digs with two service aces and five assists.
• Chelsea Ross and Amiyah Woods each put down five kills and four-plus blocks.

For the Hawks
• Melis Kocak led St. Anselm with 11 kills and hit .286.
• Kaitlin Brown was also in double figures with 10 kills and added four digs.
• Sam Pila dished out 40 assists with three kills and five digs.
• Hollyn Franco led the Hawks with 13 digs.

News and Notes
• Head Coach Shana Rayside picked up her first win as head coach of the Lions.
• Dayna Diaz's 33 assists are a new career high.
• Amiyah Woods landed career kill 200.
• The Lions .314 attack percentage is higher than in any match from 2022. 

Up Next
• Georgian Court finishes up the SNHU/St. Anselm Opener with a match against St. Michael's tomorrow morning at 11 a.m.