MANCHESTER, NH (Sept. 3, 2023) - Georgian Court finished their opening weekend in Vermont locked in a five-set thriller with St. Michael's. The Lions dropped the first set before winning the next two, but couldn't hang in a 3-2 loss to the Purple Knights. In three matches this weekend, Georgian Court finished 1-2. 

How it Happened
• St. Michael's had the advantage hitting .149-.118. They landed 10 more kills than the Lions 61-51.
• The Purple Knights also scored more on the block with 13 total blocks to the Lions four. Also on defense, St. Michael's picked up 86 digs while the Lions scooped 69.
• Both teams committed seven service errors, but St. Michael's was able to score 10 aces. GCU scored just six aces in five sets. 
Set One
• Georgian Court got out to an early lead in the opening set, scoring the first two points and building an 8-4 edge.
• St. Michael's though responded with a 7-3, tying the set at 11-11. GCU regained the lead until three straight Purple Knight points gave St. Michael's their first lead, 16-15.
• With the set tied at 16, St. Michael's took over outscoring the Lions 9-3 the rest of the way to take the early 1-0 lead in the match.
Set Two
• Once again Georgian Court built an early lead, getting out on top of the Purple Knights 10-4, take advantage of St. Michael's errors. 
• St. Michael's was able to get to within two points, 19-17, but Georgian Court never lost the lead. 
• Still up by two, 23-21, back-to-back attack errors gave GCU the set two win.
• St. Michael's hit -.098 in the frame with 10 kills and 14 attack errors. 
Set Three
• The third set was back-and-forth the entire way. In the early going, neither team was able to get more than a two-point lead.
• Tied at eight, GCU went on a 4-1 run getting a kill from Giorgia Cappelletti and a service ace from Jessica Sprankle.
• The Purple Knights came back and tie and eventually take a lead of their own. St. Michael's built their largest lead in the set, 22-17 and forced a Lion timeout.
• GCU didn't quit though and scored four straight with two kills from Cappelletti and one from Amiyah Woods. 
• Georgian Court tied things at 23 and held set-point at 24 and 25. Still tied at 25, consecutive kills from Nylene Mateo secured the come-from-behind set win 27-25.
• The Lions hit .350 in the set landing 17 kills to just three errors. 
Set Four
• It was another tight set throughout similar to set three.
• In the middle of the frame, Georgian Court held a 14-13 lead when there was a delay on the court of about 10 minutes due to technical difficulties with the scoreboard.
• After the delay, GCU upped their lead to two, 17-15.
• St. Michael's rallied with a 4-1 run and reclaimed the lead 19-18. St. Michael's was still up one, 21-20 when they scored the final four points of the set, the last two coming on GCU attack errors to tie the match at two.
Set Five
• Georgian Court got out to a quick lead, 5-1 and forced a St. Michael's timeout. 
• Following the timeout, the Purple Knights got back into the set with a 5-2 run to get to within one, 7-6.
• At the switch, Georgian Court led 8-6, but the Purple Knights came back to tie things at eight and took their first lead, 10-9 on a service ace as the Lions needed a timeout.
• St. Michael's never let off the gas and scored the final five points winning 15-10 with another service ace. 

Lion Stat Leaders
• Nylene Mateo led the GCU offense with 17 kills and added 13 digs and three service aces.
• Martina Croce finished with 13 kills and seven digs.
• Dayna Diaz passed out 44 assists and helped with nine digs.
• Giorgia Cappelletti was a kill shy of a double-double with nine kills and 15 digs.
• Jessica Sprankle led the Lions defensive effort with 18 digs. 

For the Purple Knights
• Ella Patterson finished with a game-high 23 kills and added six digs and three blocks.
• Grace Almeida scored 18.5 points with 12 kills, six blocks and a service ace. 
• Dana Welch chipped in 10 kills and seven digs.
• Alexandra Baez Rentas finished with a match-high 53 assists. She had a double-double with 22 digs as well.
• Kyla Farnan added 18 digs and scored two service aces.

News and Notes
• Dayna Diaz again set a new career high in assists with 44.
• Nylene Mateo surpassed 800 career kills. 
• This was the first match between Georgian Court and St. Michael's since the Lions became an NCAA Division II school. 

Up Next
• Georgian Court returns to action next week as they host a tri-match with St. Thomas Aquinas and Bowie State Friday, Sept. 8 beginning at 12 p.m.