SPARKILL, NY (Oct. 27, 2025) - Georgian Court Volleyball finished their nonconference slate Monday night at St. Thomas Aquinas. After winning set one, things didn't go as planned and GCU dropped the next three sets as the Spartans finished off a 3-1 match win.

How it Happened
• Georgian Court struggled offensively, hitting just .047. St. Thomas Aquinas hit .208 for the match.
• The Spartans did Georgian Court plenty of favors. While STAC landed 1 service aces, they hit 17 serve errors. The Lions hit their share of serve errors too with nine and just four aces.
• Defensively, GCU pulled up 66 digs and STAC 63. The Spartans finished with one more block, 8-7.
• St. Thomas Aquinas landed 50 kills in four sets while GCU hit just 31.
Set 1
• It didn't start out well for the Lions who spotted the Spartans five points to start the game.
• St. Thomas Aquinas slowly extended their lead to 10-4 and then 17-10.
• That's when things turned around for GCU. It started with STAC hitting three straight attack errors. That was the beginning of a 7-0 Lion run that culminated in them tying the set at 17.
• Even though GCU tied the set a couple of times, they still couldn't take the lead. That changed when at 22-22, Jenna Heiser landed a service ace to give the Lions their first lead, 23-22.
• Georgian Court finished the set on a 5-0 run and an Emma Gildea kill and STAC attack error, their 11th of the set, completed the GCU comeback, 25-22.
• The Lions finished set one on a 15-5 run for the comeback win.
Set 2
• Just like set one, St. Thomas Aquinas got off a 5-0 start.
• This time, they never gave up that lead.
• They quickly pushed their lead to 8-2 and then 17-10, forcing a Lions timeout.
• Trailing again 17-10 just like set one, Georgian Court was unable to mount a comeback. The Spartans evened up the match winning set two, 25-15.
• Georgian Court hit six kills and seven errors in the set for a -.024 attack percentage.
Set 3
• The Spartans didn't slow down between the second and third sets. They took a 5-2 lead and started to run away from the Lions.
• STAC upped the lead to seven, 12-5 before GCU called timeout.
• The Spartans held set point at 14-24. GCU scored three straight but it wasn't enough to rally from down 10 and STAC won 25-17 for a 2-1 lead.
Set 4
• The teams traded points all the way through 4-4 before STAC took the first two-point lead, 6-4.
• St. Thomas Aquinas never trailed again as they continued to build their lead.
• STAC was doubling up the Lions, 20-10, before the teams started going back and forth which ultimately led to a 25-16 Spartan win.
• GCU hit under .100 for the third consecutive set. 

Lion Stat Leaders
• Emily Hauptvogel led GCU with 10 kills and 12 digs. She also had an ace and a block.
• Brooke Bowbliss also had a double-double with 10 assists and 10 digs.
• Genesis Simanca scored five kills with two blocks.
• Carmen Rivera had a team-best 13 digs.

For the Spartans
• Adriana Zarceno gave GCU fits with 19 kills and hit .326. She finished with a double-double picking up 16 digs as well.
• Laura Rojas Gomez and Natassia Romanoff each helped out with nine kills.
• Anna Gazzerro dished out 36 assists with eight digs.
• Boglarka Kiss scored four aces and had a team-best 17 digs. 

News and Notes
• Carmen Rivera moved into the Lions all-time top-five in digs.
• Addison Wellington hit her 100th career kill.
• Ava Churnesky landed her 200th career kill
• Georgian Court finished 3-9 in nonconference games this season.
• GCU falls to 1-4 all-time against STAC, 1-2 in the NCAA-era and 0-4 in Sparkill.
• The Spartans 17 service errors are a season-high for a GCU opponent. The last team to hit that many was Daemen last season in the NCAA Regional Quarterfinal, a 3-2 Lion victory.

Up Next
• Georgian Court returns home for the first of two matches this week. They take on Chestnut Hill Wednesday, Oct. 29 at 6 pm.