LAKEWOOD, NJ (Oct. 5, 2024) - It's becoming a theme for the Lions who never quit. For the third time this season and second in less than a week, Georgian Court Volleyball came back from down 2-0 to take down an opponent. This time it was Dominican who felt the wrath of the Lions resolve. After getting down 19-25 and 24-26, GCU won the final three sets 25-20, 25-22, 15-13. The win keeps the Lions unbeaten in the CACC at 4-0 and they move to 7-5 overall.

How it Happened
• The Lions hit .222 for the match with 60 kills. Dominican hit .172 landing 29 kills but also 29 attack errors.
• Dominican held their own on the service line with 11 aces against just six service errors. GCU was even with nine aces and nine errors.
• Georgian Court put back 13 blocks to Dominican's eight. The defense also scooped up 70 digs to Dominican's 60.
Set 1
• Dominican seemed like the team more prepared for the early 10 am start time, racing out to an 8-3 lead.
• The Chargers pushed the lead all the way to nine, 20-11 and were in cruise control.
• Just like in their reverse sweep Monday though, the Lions chipped away and even though they didn't ultimately come back in set one, they did get closer and force a timeout before ultimately falling 25-19.
Set 2
• The Lions kept the momentum going to start set two scoring the first five points, getting two kills, two blocks and a service ace.
• A kill from Martina Croce put GCU ahead by seven, 10-3 and a Nylene Mateo service aces gave the Lions their largest lead, 14-6.
• This time though it was the Chargers turn to mount a comeback. They used a 12-4 run to even up the set at 18-18.
• The team's traded a lead a couple of times down the stretch and it was GCU at set-point, 24-23.
• Dominican got three straight though to steal the set, 26-24, and get ahead 2-0 in the match.
Set 3
• You could say down 2-0, the Lions had Dominican right where they wanted.
• But you wouldn't know it from how set three started. Dominican opened the frame on an 8-2 run and seemed poised to earn a three-set win.
• After that though the Lions went on a massive run, outscoring the Chargers 14-1 with Martina Croce doing most of the heavy lifting at the service line.
• Georgian Court led the rest of the way and got back into the match with a 25-20 set three win.
Set 4
• The Lions kept rolling into set four scoring seven of the first eight.
• Dominican answered right back and took their first lead, 14-13, on the back of a 13-6 run.
• Tied up at 19, the Lions scored three straight getting two kills from Amiyah Woods and one from Nylene Mateo to take charge.
• Giorgia Cappelletti ended the set with a kill of her own and the match was tied at two.
Set 5
• Heading into the final set it was no surprise that the Lions needed another comeback inside the set to complete the comeback in the match.
• Dominican jumped out to an 8-4 lead at the turn, but GCU squashed that scoring four straight to tie.
• The set was tied at each point from 9-13 and tied at 13, it was Chelsea Ross who who slammed a kill for the lead and Nylene Mateo who ended it with her 19th kill of the morning.

Lion Stat Leaders
• Nylene Mateo led GCU with 19 kills and hit .240 to go along with 13 digs and four service aces and six blocks.
• Martina Croce was in double-figures with 12 kills, three service aces and two blocks.
• Giorgia Cappelletti picked up a 10-kill, 17-dig double-double.
• Chelsea Ross totaled eight kills and six blocks, same for Amiyah Woods.
• Iciar Zayas dished out 37 assists with 14 digs. Dayna Diaz chipped in 15 helpers.
• Carmen Rivera scooped 15 digs. 

For the Chargers
• Kaitlyn Carr led all scorers with 24 kills. She scored three aces and two blocks as well with eight digs.
• Elizabeth Perez hit .317 with 18 kills and just five errors.
• Kaeden passed out 46 assists and was a dig shy of a double-double.
• Linda Armao Peng led the defense with 23 digs.

News and Notes
• Georgian Court is now 18-12 all-time against the Chargers.
• Martina Croce surpassed 400 total points.
• As previously mentioned the last season the Lions earned a reverse sweep win came back in 2021. The last time they did so twice in a season was back in 2013. This is the first time in the NCAA era, dating back to 2002, that Georgian Court has won three reverse sweeps in a single season and they did so in a span of 20 days. 
• Georgian Court sets season-highs in assists, blocks and points in this match.
• The Lions improve to 4-0 in five-set matches this season and 6-0 in matches that go beyond three sets.
• This is the first time GCU has started 4-0 in conference play since 2020. It's the first time they've going 4-0 at the outset in a full season since 2018.

Up Next
• Georgian Court looks to keep rolling next week when they head to Philadelphia to take on Holy Family Tuesday, Oct. 8 at 6 p.m.