LAKEWOOD, NJ (Sept. 8, 2023) - Any time you can pick up two wins in a single day, it's a pretty good good day. And Georgian Court Volleyball had themselves a day Friday afternoon going 2-0 as they hosted the GCU tri-match with wins coming over St. Thomas Aquinas and Bowie State. With the two wins, GCU is up over .500 at 3-2 on the season.

Game 1 - Georgian Court 3, St. Thomas Aquinas 1 (23-25, 25-14, 25-12, 25-14)
How it Happened
• The opening match of the day saw the Lions hit .250 while holding STAC to .089. The Lions landed 45 kills to the Spartans 33.
• GCU's defensive effort was strong with 61 digs and eight blocks.
• Off the serve, Georgian Court scored 10 aces and limited the Spartans to just four. 
Set 1
• Things got off to an inauspicious start as St. Thomas Aquinas scored seven straight points and jumped out to an early 8-1 lead. Trailing 10-4, the Lions came back with six straight of their own getting three points and taking advantage of three Spartan errors.
• The two teams went back and forth for a bit until STAC went on another run, this time scoring six straight with four kills coming from Jaizahir Marrero-George to take a 21-15 lead. The Lions were able to creep closer, getting to within one, 25-24 thanks to a 4-0 run, but another Marrero-George kill gave the Spartans the set one win. Marrero-George hit .556 with 11 kills in the set.
Set 2
• In set two it was the Lions turn to start quickly. They grabbed six of the first seven points, the last two on Nylene Mateo kills.
• STAC cut the lead down to one, 7-6, but a 5-0 Lion stretch gave them some breathing room and then a 6-0 run put them ahead for good at 19-8. Iciar Zayas had a pair of service aces during the run.
• The team traded points the rest of the way which was enough for GCU to tie the match on a Mateo service ace.
Set 3
• For the first time in three sets, the two teams went back-and-forth for a bit. But after the Spartans tied the frame at five, GCU took over and quickly doubled their lead with five straight points.
• The Spartans never recovered and the Lions put the set away on three straight STAC attack errors.
Set 4
• The Lions never trailed in the fourth set, scoring the first four points and never looking back. Giorgia Cappelletti landed two service aces to get the Lions off and running.
• Kills from Chelsea Ross and Cappelletti capped the match in the Lions favor. 
• GCU hit. 300 in the fourth set with 11 kills and just two service aces.

Lion Stat Leaders
• Giorgia Cappelletti led GCU with 14 kills and hit .452 for the match. She completed a double-double with 10 digs as well and three service aces.
• Nylene Mateo was a kill shy of a double-double herself with nine kills and a game-high 14 digs. She scored four of GCU's 10 service aces as well.
• Iciar Zayas and Dayna Diaz each scored double-figure assists. Zayas had a team-best 23 while Diaz chipped in with 13.
• Jessica Sprankle helped the defensive effort with 13 digs.
• Chelsea Ross scored 10.5 points with eight kills and four blocks. 

For the Spartans
• Jaizahir Marrero-George had a match-high 23 kills and hit .273 on 55 attempts. She also added six digs and five blocks.
• Lea Venghaus passed out a game-high 27 assists along with eight digs.
• Aurivette Santos-Bonilla tallied 13 digs with four service aces.
• Lorielys Ruiz added six kills and four blocks.

Game 2 - Georgian Court 3, Bowie State 0 (25-19, 25-8, 25-14)
How it Happened
• Match two of the afternoon was all Georgian Court. There were just five ties and one lead change in the entire match.
• The Lions hit .366 for the match while Bowie State was at .188. GCU averaged 12 kills per set and more than nine digs per set.
• Georgian Court scored in a variety of ways with 36 kills, three blocks and a whopping 18 service aces.
Set 1
• GCU scored the first three points in the opening frame and were quickly off and running jumping out to a 5-1 lead. 
• The Bulldogs got to within two, 10-8, but Georgian Court created some separation with a 10-3 run, getting back on top 20-11. 
• A pair of kills brought GCU to 23-15 and they didn't need to score again. Bowie State committed two service errors to get GCU to 25 and a set one win. 
Set 2
• The Lions were up by one, 4-3, when they went on an 18-2 run and led the Bulldogs 22-5. The teams traded a couple of points the rest of the way but it was all Lions, 25-8.
• GCU put down seven service aces in the set with two apiece from Jessica Sprankle and Nylene Mateo.
• Georgian Court hit .500 landing 10 kills to just one attack error.
• The Bulldogs never scored consecutive points in the set as the Lions sided out at 100%.
Set 3
• For the first time in the match, Bowie State took a lead scoring three of the first four points.
• The lead didn't last long though. They were still up 5-3 when the Lions went on a 5-0 run helped out by three Mateo kills.
• GCU led the rest of the way hitting .375 in the frame with 13 kills.

Lion Stat Leaders
• Mateo led the way with 12 kills and hit .391 on 23 attempts. She also scored six service aces.
• Martina Croce landed 10 kills, hitting .500 with just one attack error. 
• Giorgia Cappelletti chipped in five kills and nine digs.
• Iciar Zayas passed out 28 assists to go along with five digs.
• Carmen Rivera served up four aces.
• Amiyah Woods had five kills on eight attempts with a block.

For the Bulldogs
• Madyson Brinson led the team with eight kills.
• Mekenna Scott picked up nine assists and two digs.
• Ayana Johnson tallied six digs.

News and Notes
• The Lions 18 service aces are their most in a match since they scored 20 against University of the Science 10 years ago, on Oct. 9, 2013.
• Chelsea Ross notched her 250th career kill.
• The match against St. Thomas Aquinas was the first ever meeting of the two clubs as this is the Spartans inaugural season.
• GCU's .366 attack percentage against Bowie State is their highest since Nov. 2, 2019 when they hit .395 against Bloomfield. 

Up Next
• Georgian Court has a match Monday on the road at Kutztown. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m.