LAKEWOOD, NJ (Sept. 17, 2025) - Georgian Court Volleyball began their CACC season Wednesday night. Things didn't go as planned as GCU fell to Wilmington in five sets, 3-2 (25-20, 18-25, 17-25, 25-17, 8-15). The loss puts GCU 0-1 in the league and drops them to 2-5 overall.

How it Happened
• Coming in, Wilmington did two things very well, block and serve, and both of those were on display.
• The Wildcats put back 13 total blocks to the Lions two.
• Wilmington was also a +2 on service, landing 10 aces to the Lions four. They also hit 12 service errors to Georgian Court's eight.
• The Wildcats offensively also had a good game, hitting .231. Georgian Court committed 27 attack errors to 57 kills and hit .184 for the match.
• Georgian Court averaged 15 digs per set and Wilmington was at 13.7.

Set 1
• Wilmington scored the first three points before Georgian Court answered with a 5-1 run.
• The teams then traded the lead back and forth for a bit. The first set saw 10 ties and seven lead changes, more than any other set on the night.
• Tied at 14, Georgian Court scored three straight with kills from Genesis Simanca and Addison Wellington for a 17-14 lead they'd never give up.
• Kills from Ava Churnesky and Kyla Davis pushed the lead to 19-15. Davis then ended the set with her fourth kill, 25-20, in favor of the Lions.
Set 2
• After a bit of a back-and-forth start to the second set, Wilmington took charge thanks to an 8-1 run.
• That stretch broke a 7-7 tie and gave the Wildcats a 15-8 lead.
• Georgian Court cut the lead to as little as five, but Wilmington tied the match with a 25-18 set two win.
Set 3
• Wilmington carried that momentum right into set three. They raced out to leads of 9-2 and 12-3 and had Georgian Court on their heels.
• The Lions didn't go down quietly though. They fought back and got to within three, 15-12, thanks to a 9-3 run of their own.
• The Wildcats though answered scoring five-of-six, and squashed and hopes of a Lions comeback with a 25-17 win to take a 2-1 match lead.
Set 4
• Trailing 5-3, Georgian Court got five straight points and took an 8-5 lead of their own.
• Leading by five, 15-10, the Lions pulled away scoring four straight, getting two kills from Ava Churnesky.
• Wilmington never was able to get close and a service error from the Wildcats meant the Lions had forced a fifth set.
Set 5
• Set five saw a lot of long rallies, and it seemed the ball was bouncing in favor of the Wildcats.
• They scored the first two points and never trailed in the set.
• Leading 4-3, Wilmington used a 6-1 run to take control with a 10-4 lead.
• Georgian Court could never recover and Wilmington was quite happy to trade the final seven points back-and-forth as they won the match with a 15-8 win in set five.

Lion Stat Leaders
• Genesis Simanca hit .271 with 19 kills and 19 digs. 
• Ava Churnesky picked up a double-double as well with 15 kills and 14 digs. 
• Iciar Zayas was the third Lion to record a double-double with 48 assists and 11 digs.
• Carmen Rivera picked up 18 digs.
• Addison Wellington added nine kills and Kyla Davis seven.
• Amber Gallo hit three service aces and scooped 10 digs.

For the Wildcats
• Karla Nunez-Rivera led Wilmington with 18 kills and was a dig-short of a double-double.
• Eliza Schneider hit 15 kills with six blocks.
• Christine Covello had a team-best 23 assists with five digs and three blocks.
• Morgan Daniels grabbed 17 digs. 

News and Notes
• Emma Gildea surpassed 200 career points.
• Amber Gallo's 10 digs and three service aces are both career highs.
• Genesis Simanca's 19 kills and 19 digs are both season-highs. She surpassed 50 digs on the season. 
• Wilmington closes the gap in the all-time series to 25-24 in favor of the Lions.
• This is just the Lions second loss to Wilmington in Lakewood in the last 10 years. 

Up Next
• It's a quick turnaround for Georgian Court before a busy weekend. They play three games at the East Stroudsburg Tournament starting Friday night, Sept. 19 against Queens, who they saw earlier this season. They'll then play Southern New Hampshire and ESU Saturday, Sept. 20.