LAKEWOOD, NJ (Nov. 9, 2024) - Georgian Court Volleyball was in a familiar position Saturday afternoon, trailing after sets one and three. That's no trouble though for the Lions who have made a living coming back on teams and did so again against the CACC North Division leading, Post. The Lions won the final two sets to steal the 3-2 win (17-25, 25-18, 24-26, 25-23, 15-11) and improve to 15-9 overall and 11-2 in the CACC.

How it Happened
• The teams were fairly matched throughout the five sets. The Lions hit a bit better, .179-.169. Not surprisingly, the team with the higher hitting percentage claimed each set.
• Georgian Court was able to get some points on the service line, not only with one more ace, 9-8, but three fewer errors, 13-10.
• The Lions put down nine blocks to the Eagles five. However, GCU was called for three blocking errors.
• Post entered as one of the nation's leaders in digs, but it was Georgian Court who was the better team with 84 digs to the Eagles 75.
Set 1
• Post jumped ahead early and were the superior team in the opening frame.
• They took a 2-1 lead and never trailed on their way to a 25-17 win.
• The Eagles led by at least five for a majority of the set. They hit .303 with 14 kills.
Set 2
• Tied at two, the momentum of this set changed dramatically when Carmen Rivera's serve seemed to be headed out, but clipped a Post player attempting to get out of the way.
• After that point, the Lions scored seven of the next eight points and took a commanding 9-3 lead.
• Up seven, 15-8, Post made a run scoring five straight to get to within two.
• The Eagles kept chipping away and a Dayna Diaz ball-handling error got Post to within a point, 19-18.
• Georgian Court responded by scoring the final six points, getting four kills and a block for a 25-18 win to even up the match.
Set 3
• Set three looked like Post would cruise to go ahead 2-1, and while they did win the set, Georgian Court made them work for it.
• The Eagles were up 19-12, but the Lions went on a 10-3 run and a kill from Chelsea Ross tied the frame at 22.
• GCU continued to fight back, tying again at 23 and 24, but Post eventually strung two points together to escape with a 26-24 win.
Set 4
• The fourth set was very similar to the third. This time it was the Lions holding on to survive after giving up a large lead.
• Trailing 12-11, Georgian Court used an 8-1 run to get ahead 19-13. They extended that lead to eight, 24-16, but then had to sweat a little.
• Post scored seven straight points down at set point to make it a one-point game, 24-23. 
• Amiyah Woods ended the set though with a block to keep Georgian Court alive with a 25-23 win.
Set 5
• Georgian Court scored the first three points in set five and never trailed. 
• Post did tie at three and the set was tied at each point all the way to seven, but then the Lions took over.
• Tied at seven, GCU scored four straight with two Cappelletti kills along with a block and a service ace for an 11-7 lead.
• Post never recovered and Chelsea Ross put the match away with her 14th kill.

Lion Stat Leaders
• Giorgia Cappelletti finished with 17 kills and 13 digs for a double-double along with two service aces.
• Nylene Mateo also had a double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs.
• Chelsea Ross put down 14 kills and six blocks.
• Gabrielle Belony and Amiyah Woods each scored five kills.
• Carmen Rivera scooped 30 digs and scored a game-high three aces.
• Iciar Zayas passed out 30 assists and was a dig shy of a double-double.
• Dayna Diaz added 18 assists with 15 digs.

For the Eagles
• Kristina Peric finished with a game-high 19 kills while adding eight digs.
• Sara Enright helped out with 15 kills and 11 digs.
• Alyssa Groves grabbed 27 digs.
• Maria Branco dished out 27 assists.

News and Notes
• This is the second straight five-set match won by the home team in this series.
• Georgian Court improves to 18-13 against the Eagles.
• Nylene Mateo moved up to a tie for eighth all-time at GCU in service aces. 
• Giorgia Cappelletti hit her 500th career kill.
• While the Lions had already clinched a spot in the CACC Tournament, and home court advantage throughout, they have now clinched the No. 1 seed in the CACC South Division. Since the CACC has moved to a divisional format in the 2021 season, this is the Lions first South Division title.
• Losing the first set has not been a detriment to GCU this season. They're nearly .500 at 7-8 when losing set one. 
• GCU also remains unbeaten, 5-0 in five-set matches.
• Carmen Rivera's 30 digs are a new career-high.

Up Next
• There's just one week left in the CACC regular season. The Lions start it by hosting Holy Family Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 6 pm.