ROCKVILLE CENTRE, NY (August 28, 2026) - A few points here or there and Georgian Court Volleyball could be looking at a 2-0 start to the season. Unfortunately, those points didn't fall the Lions way and after a long opening day of volleyball, Georgian Court is 0-2 following a five-set and four-set loss to Molloy and Bloomsburg. Both matches could have gone either way with seven of the nine sets decided by four points or fewer and five decided by just two points.
Game 1 - Molloy 3, Georgian Court 2 (21-25, 25-22, 27-29, 25-14, 13-15)
How it Happened
• Georgian Court opened their season with a doozy. A long five-set match that could have gone either way.
• GCU scored more points than Molloy, 77-67, and out hit them .113-.056.
• Where GCU gave up points was on 16 service errors and five block errors.
• Molloy's back-row defense shined with 80 digs while GCU's front-row defense put back 20 blocks.
Set 1
• The teams were going back-and-forth at the start with neither team holding even a two-point lead through the first 15 points scored.
• That changed with a 4-0 Molloy run as they took a 10-7 lead with three straight kills and a service ace.
• Georgian Court quickly answered and tied the set at 10. That was a recurring theme in the set. Molloy created a little separation and Georgian Court rallied, but importantly to tie, and never took the lead back.
• Tied at 17 after an
Ava Churnesky kill, Molloy again scored four straight and led 21-17.
• GCU got back to within two on a couple of occasions, but ran out of time with Molloy finishing the set on a service ace, 25-21.
Set 2
• The beginning played out similar to set one, with neither team taking much of an early lead.
• Tied at eight, Georgian Court scored five straight points and seven of eight, to take a commanding 15-9 lead. Churnesky had three kills and a service ace during the run.
• Although Molloy tried to creep back into the game, Georgian Court never trailed again.
• Twice Molloy got to within two points, 23-21 and 24-22, but
Kyla Davis finished things off with a kill to even the match at one set apiece.
Set 3
• The pivotal third set proved to be just that. Thanks to an early 6-0 run, it looked like Molloy was going to cruise to a 2-1 match lead.
• Georgian Court was down as much as nine, 20-11, when found their footing.
• First it was a 4-0 run with three kills and a block to cut the lead to 20-15.
• Another 4-0 run, with three blocks, brought the lead down to just two, 21-19.
• Down three, 23-20, GCU was helped out by a pair of Molloy attack errors and
Ziahna Frazier tied the set with a kill.
• Georgian Court sent the set into extra points and took their very first lead of the set, 26-25.
• One point away from stealing a third-set win, a crucial service error tied the set back up at 26.
• Still tied at 27, Molloy hit back-to-back kills and held on, 29-27.
Set 4
• It would have been easy for GCU to feel deflated after their comeback bid fell just short, but that wasn't the case in set four.
• In fact, it was the most lopsided set in the match. After tying the set a four with a Frazier solo block, GCU rattled off another four straight points for an early 8-4 lead.
• Molloy never threatened to make a game of it and Georgian Court put the hammer down at the end, finishing the set off by scoring the final five points, three of those coming from Molloy errors, and the set was tied at two.
Set 5
• Tied at three in the fifth set, Molloy took control with a 4-1 run to jump ahead 7-4.
• Georgian Court hung close and after trailing 9-7, scoring three straight to claim a 10-9 edge.
• GCU pushed that lead to two, 13-11, which forced a Molloy timeout.
• After the break, Molloy took control with a kill and GCU never held serve again.
• Molloy scored the final four points in the game, taking the win with a 15-13 score in set five.
Georgian Court Stat Leaders
• GCU ran their offense through
Ava Churnesky who finished with 17 kills on 52 attempts. She completed a double-double with 11 digs and added eight blocks.
• Newcomers
Ana Nikolic and
Flavia Pecora each scored 11 points. Nikolic landed eight kills with nine digs and four blocks. Pecora finished with a game-high 11 blocks and five kills.
•
Maggy Hallihan picked up a double-double with a team-best 20 assists to go along with 10 digs and two service aces.
•
Carmen Rivera Colon scooped 24 digs and was 41-42 on serve reception.
•
Madison Wilbert chipped in with seven kills in her first career game.
For Molloy
• Molloy had three in double-figure kills led by Erin Stanley's 16.
• Franki Kelleher and Kailie Girard each added 12.
• Hayden Riddle and Olivia Smith each passed out 24 assists. Riddle also added four service aces and nine digs.
• Isabella Smith picked up 24 digs.
Game 2 - Bloomsburg 3, Georgian Court 1 (25-23, 24-26, 17-25, 23-25)
How it Happened
• Bloomsburg hit .175 for the match with 53 total kills. The Lions scored 42 kills, hitting .137.
• After registering 20 blocks in the first game, the Lions put back just four against the Huskies.
• Both teams gave away points on the serve with GCU hitting 13 service errors and the Huskies 12.
• Dig numbers were very even. The Lions totaled 78 and Bloomsburg 77.
Set 1
• Similar to game number one, game two got off to a back-and-forth beginning.
• Tied at seven, Georgian Court took control thanks to a 6-0 run, getting four kills and service ace for a 12-7 lead.
• The lead hovered around five most of the rest of the set, getting to as large as six at 23-17.
• While the Lions eventually held on, they had trouble putting Bloomsburg away, which also reared it's head in set two.
• The Huskies used a 6-1 run and cut the GCU lead down to a single point, 24-23.
• At set-point,
Flavia Pecora put a stop to the Bloomsburg rally with a kill and put the Lions ahead, 1-0.
Set 2
• Neither team took control early as the teams traded points at the outset.
• Tied at 11 is when GCU went on a run. They used an 8-3 spurt to take their largest lead, 19-14.
• Just like set one though, Bloomsburg didn't quit. They went on a 6-1 run of their own, tying the set up at 20.
• Down to set point, 24-22, the Lions scored two straight to tie with a Pecora kill and a
Mya Johnson service ace.
• This time though, the Huskies completed the comeback with a kill and a Lion attack error to tie the match at one.
Set 3
• In another pivotal set three, Bloomsburg raced out to a commanding lead early and never looked back.
• The Huskies quickly went up 10-2 and were content to trade points from there.
• Georgian Court got back to within as close as five, but Bloomsburg put GCU away 25-17 to win their second straight set.
• Bloomsburg took advantage of a Lion team that hit -.065 in the frame with five kills and seven errors on 31 attempts.
Set 4
• Georgian Court scored the first three points in the fourth set as they looked to force their second fifth-set match of the day.
• They extended that lead to 5-1 and still held a four-point lead at 9-5.
• Bloomsburg rallied back though and a 5-1 run tied the set at 10.
• A GCU attack error gave the Huskies their first lead of the set, 12-11.
• Bloomsburg continued to play well, taking a four-point lead of their own, 18-14.
• Three straight kills, two from
Madison Wilbert and one from
Ana Nikolic brought GCU right back to within one, 18-17.
• That started an 8-3 Lions rally that saw them take the lead back, 22-21.
• Towards the end of set four, Georgian Court had played five straight hours of volleyball and couldn't finish off the Huskies.
• Bloomsburg scored four of the final five points and won in four sets, 25-23.
• Georgian Court hit .244 in the fourth set, their highest in any set throughout the match.
Lion Stat Leaders
•
Ava Churnesky had another double-digit kill game finishing with 13 and 17 digs.
•
Flavia Pecora hit .450 with 10 kills, one error on 20 attempts.
•
Ana Nikolic landed seven hills and finished with 14 digs and three service aces.
•
Roshell Chevres Sanchez centered the offense with 22 assists while
Maggy Hallihan finished with 15 and 11 digs.
•
Carmen Rivera Colon grabbed a game-high 22 digs.
For the Huskies
• Abigail Eagler and Katie Kuehl each scored 13 kills. Eagler had a double-double with 10 digs.
• Sara Kokolus passed out a game-best 28 assists to go along with 12 digs.
• Hannah Au led the defense with 21 digs.
• Lena Jones and Clare McKenzie each scored four blocks and seven kills.
News and Notes
• The last time Georgian Court went to five sets in their opening game was back in 2018, a win over Bentley.
• Georgian Court had been swept in straight sets in each of the last four opening matches prior to today.
•
Ava Churnesky surpassed 250 career kills.
•
Carmen Rivera Colon passed out her 200th career assist.
• For a moment, it looked like Georgian Court was looking at playing two five-set matches on the same day. That's only happened twice since 2002, in 2011 and most recently, in 2018.
• It was a good day for transfer student-athletes
Ana Nikolic and
Flavia Pecora. The two combined for 30 kills against just seven errors.
• Four different Lions, Churnesky, Colon, Nikolic and
Maggy Hallihan all had at least three service aces.
Up Next
• Georgian Court's opening weekend on Long Island continues tomorrow morning. They'll play at Adelphi beginning at 10 am and follow that up with a game against American International.
