GCU Athletics

LAKEWOOD, NJ (Oct. 21, 2026) - It was a real tale of two matches Wednesday night in Lakewood. Georgian Court was utterly dominated by Jefferson in the first two sets as they fell behind 2-0. The Lions put things together in set three to stay alive and had a late lead in set four, but the Rams ultimately held on and won the match three sets to one.

How it Happened
• The final numbers show Jefferson outhitting the Lions .213 to .146. The Rams though hit .333 in set one while the Lions were below .050 in the first two sets.
• Georgian Court then hit .259 in set three and .289 in set four with 26 total kills to just eight errors.
• Service numbers were also close as Jefferson netted just one point at the line. They hit eight aces but 11 errors to the Lions five aces and nine errors.
• On defense, Jefferson dug out 78 Lion attacks to Georgian Court's 70. GCU put back one more block, 5-4.
Set 1
• The opening set was over in flash once Jefferson broke a 6-6 tie.
• A setter kill started a 7-0 Jefferson rally with four kills, two blocks and an ace.
• Georgian Court never really got out of first gear and the Rams cruised to a 25-13 set one win.
Set 2
• Things marginally improved for the Lions in set two, but not enough to threaten a set win.
• The Lions trailed by just one, 5-4, when Jefferson broke the set open with four straight points.
• Jefferson pushed the lead to as much as six, but Georgian Court hung around a bit longer than set one.
• They cut the lead down to three on a couple of occasions, and as late as 18-15 on a Kyla Davis kills
• A service error gave the ball back to the Rams and that kicked off another 4-0 run. Jefferson finished the set scoring seven of the final nine points and won going away, 25-17 for a 2-0 match lead.
Set 3
• Maybe it was the changing of sides after set two, but the Lions flipped a switch in set three.
• Jefferson hit 17 and 15 kills in the first two sets and GCU limited them to just seven in set three and a .000 hitting percentage.
• It started close with the score tied at points, three, four, five, seven and eight.
• A Jefferson service error tied the set at eight and the Lions never trailed again after that.
• The Lions got the Rams all out of sorts and three straight kills pushed the lead to 11-8.
• Georgian Court scored another five straight to extend the lead to seven, 16-9.
• Jefferson scored a couple of points late, but the Lions put this one away 25-18 to keep the match going.
Set 4
• The fourth set featured 11 ties and seven lead changed. More tie scores than the first three sets combined.
• Three straight points broke a 6-6 tie and put the Rams up 9-6 to force an early Lion timeout.
• The break worked though as GCU responded with four of the next five to tie the set at 10.
• The teams were trading points and the set was still tied at 17 following consecutive Ziahna Frazier kills.
• That was the start of a 5-0 Lion run that saw them take their largest lead, 20-17.
• It looked liked the Lions were poised to tie the match leading 23-20, but Jefferson had other plans following a timeout.
• They came out of the break with a kill and didn't allow another point, scoring the final five, and match-point on a service ace to win 25-23 and the match 3-1. 

Lion Stat Leaders
• Ava Churnesky landed a game-high 14 kills with 14 digs for a double-double.
• Keira Mullen added 11 kills.
• Maggy Hallihan passed out 19 assists and was a dig-short of a double-double.
• Carmen Rivera Colon picked up 18 digs.
• Ana Nikolic grabbed 18 digs as well and hit three kills.

For the Rams
• Alexa Mork finished with a game-high 15 kills and added 13 digs and two blocks.
• Liz Tanis hit .286 with 11 kills and four blocks.
• Lyllah Sapp dished out 46 assists and fell a dig shy of a double-double.
• Kate Hines scooped 27 digs and hit two service aces. 

News and Notes
• Carmen Rivera Colon moves to second all-time in the NCAA-era in career digs.
• Ava Churnesky reached 600 career points.
• Kyla Davis surpassed 300 career points.
• Roshell Chevres Sanchez passed out her 400th assist this season.
• Maggy Hallihan picked up her 200th career dig.
• This is the Lions fourth straight loss to the Rams who have swept GCU each of the last two seasons.

Up Next
• Georgian Court plays the next two on the road starting Saturday, Oct. 24 at Felician. First serve is scheduled for 1 pm.