PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (Sept. 23, 2025) - Georgian Court Volleyball had a scare against Chestnut Hill Tuesday night. They Lions took the first two sets, but couldn't close the door on the Griffins who won sets three and four. GCU regrouped though and survived with a five-set win (25-15, 25-21, 9-25, 18-25, 16-14) for their first CACC win of the season. The Lions improve to 4-7 and are now 1-1 in league play.

How it Happened
• The Chestnut Hill offense outhit the Lions .191-.132. They totaled 69 points and 53 kills while GCU hit 39 kills.
• Georgian Court's defense came up big with nine blocks and 52 digs.
• GCU was able to take advantage of 15 Griffin service errors. CHC also hit 12 aces. The Lions hit nine aces and nine errors.

Set 1
• The opening set was close at the start until GCU pulled away.
• The Lions were up one, 13-12, when they scored eight straight points. Genesis Simanca hit a pair of aces during the run.
• Chestnut Hill never was able to get back into the set and another ace, this time from Iciar Zayas, gave GCU a 1-0 lead.
Set 2
• The Lions made it 2-0 after the second set, helped out by a 4-0 start to the frame.
• GCU was off and running up 8-2 when the Griffins began to come back.
• Four straight points gave CHC their first lead, 15-14.
• Tied at 17, GCU scored five of the next six points to go back up by four, 22-18.
• Addison Wellington and Emma Gildea ended the frame with a block.
Set 3
• Everything that was working in the first two sets, fell apart in set three for Georgian Court.
• Chestnut Hill started set three scoring the first 15 points and 18 of the first 20.
• GCU got some late, but it was a runaway for the Griffins who took set three 25-9.
Set 4
• The Griffins had another big run early in set four.
• With Georgian Court up 4-3, Chestnut Hill then went on a 13-2 run and went up by 10, 16-6.
• Georgian Court fought hard to try to get close. They were able to close the gap to as little as four, but got no closer.
• The Griffins scored four of the final five points and tied the match at two sets each.
Set 5
• GCU took an early lead in the fifth set, helped out by two Griffin service errors and an attack error for a 5-2 lead.
• CHC came back with three straight to tie and the set was subsequently tied at 7-7, 8-8, and 9-9.
• After Emily Hauptvogel tied the set at nine, an Emma Gildea block put GCU ahead.
• Chestnut Hill answered with three straight though and led 13-12.
• The Griffins held match point at 14-13, when GCU scored three straight, tying the game on a Simanca kill before two Griffin attack errors ended the match.

Lion Stat Leaders
• Genesis Simanca had a team-best 15 kills with eight digs.
• Addison Wellington hit .375 with eight kills and two blocks.
• Iciar Zayas led GCU with 19 assists. She had eight digs as well.
• Brooke Bowbliss picked up a double-double with 14 assists and 11 digs. She had a team-best three aces as well.
• Emma Gildea totaled seven blocks, three solo and four assists.

For the Griffins
• Kass Kimmel totaled 18 kills and was a dig short of a double-double.
• Kate Hanley was also in double-figures with 12 kills.
• Sofia Rodriguez passed out 44 assists with a game-high 16 digs.
• Sadie Bayko and Alex Crespin each hit five service aces.

News and Notes
• Georgian Court's nine blocks are a season-high.
• Two matches in and GCU has played two five-set matches in CACC games. They had just four such matches in 2024 in 16 conference games.

Up Next
• Georgian Court stays on the road and is back in the Keystone State this Thursday. It's a nonconference affair with Kutztown starting at 6 pm.