GCU Athletics

GARDEN CITY, NY (August 29, 2026) - Georgian Court Volleyball finished opening weekend with a tall task ahead of them, playing two more consecutive games after doing the same yesterday. The Lions couldn't overcome two of the top-three teams in the Northeast-10 conference, falling to Adelphi and American International to wrap up their trip.

Game 1 - Adelphi 3, Georgian Court 1 (20-25, 17-25, 25-18, 15-25)
How it Happened
• In all three sets Adelphi won, they hit better than .200, finishing at .186 for the match. The Lions as a team hit .108 with 36 kills to the Panthers' 47.
• Adelphi was a +2 on the serve. Each team hit 11 service aces. The Panthers landed eight aces and GCU six.
• Defensively, both teams put back six blocks. Adelphi picked up 58 digs and the Lions 53.
Set 1
• After a brief back-and-forth, Adelphi made an early run to establish a quick lead. Tied at four, the Panthers went on a 10-2 run to jump ahead, 14-6.
• The Panthers pushed the lead all the way to 10, 23-13, but had a bit of trouble putting the Lions away. 
• A service error gave the Lions the serve back and they rattled off seven of the next eight points. Maggy Hallihan's service ace the last to get to within four, 24-20.
• GCU held off set point for four points, but a service error ended the rally and the Panthers held on, 25-20.
Set 2
• Set two followed a similar script to set one. Tied at five, Adelphi took over. A 9-4 run put the Panthers up five, 14-9.
• Trailing by seven, 18-11, Georgian Court scored four straight with kills from Flavia Pecora and Ava Churnesky and two Panther attack errors to make it a three-point game, 18-15, and force a timeout.
• Adelphi quickly responded though and didn't let the Lions hang out as long as they did in set one.
• They finished the frame scoring the final four points with a service ace giving AU a 2-0 match lead.
Set 3
• Needing a win to stay alive, the Lions came out strong in the third set.
• They scored the first three points and a block from Kathymar Laboy Negron gave them an early 9-3 lead.
• The lead hovered around five points for most of the middle of the set, until another big Lions run.
• GCU scored five straight, helped out by three AU attack errors and were doubling up the Panthers, 20-10.
• The Lions lived to see another set as Kyla Davis finished off the Panthers with a kill and a 25-18 win.
Set 4
• Adelphi answered in the fourth set, racing out to leads of 5-1 and 10-2.
• Georgian Court made it a five-point game on a couple of occasions, but that was as close as they came.
• The Panthers cruised the rest of the way to a 25-15 set four win to claim the match.

Lion Stat Leaders
• Ava Churnesky hit .217 with 15 kills and added eight digs.
• Flavia Pecora was a kill short of double-figures and hit .471 for the match.
• Maggy Hallihan passed out 17 assists to go along with eight digs.
• Roshell Chevres Sanchez added 10 assists and four digs.
• Ana Nikolic led GCU with 13 digs while Carmen Rivera Colon added 12. 
• Kathymar Leboy Negron put back four blocks, three of the solo variety.

For the Panthers
• It was a team offensive effort. Mackenzie Casey led AU with just seven kills.
• AU spread the ball around with six Panthers scoring at least five kills.
• Isabella Assaley did most of that passing out 20 assists while Lola Clayton added 11.
• Ada Isik finished with a game-best 22 digs. 

Game 2 - American International 3, Georgian Court 0 (21-25, 11-25, 7-25)
How it Happened
• American International's offense was in full force. They averaged nearly 15 kills per set, totaling 42 to Georgian Court's 15.
• AIC hit .346 for the match while the Lions were in the negative at -.051.
• The Yellow Jackets scored in a variety of ways, also landing 10 aces and eight blocks.
• They nearly doubled up GCU in digs as well, 40-22. 
Set 1
• Georgian Court started off game two of the day with a bang, scoring seven of the first nine points for an early 7-2 lead.
• An Ava Churnesky service ace pushed that lead to nine, 17-8.
• American International found their footing after that though. They scored 13 straight points and turned a nine-point deficit, into a four-point lead, 21-17. That run came with six kills and three service aces.
• Georgian Court answered with a mini-run of their own, scoring three straight to get back to within one, 21-20.
• The Yellow Jackets though finished off the set scoring four of the final five points with three more kills and another ace to steal the set, 25-21.
• AIC closed set one on a 17-4 run. 
Set 2
• AIC picked up right where they left off in set one. They jumped out to a commanding 10-3 lead early on.
• The teams traded points for a little bit, with the Lions unable to make up any ground.
• A little 3-0 spurt gave the Yellow Jackets their largest lead of the set, 18-8.
• The Yellow Jackets were swarming and never gave the Lions a chance to get back into the set. They finished with a service ace and took a 2-0 lead, 25-11. 
Set 3
• Once again, Georgian Court was unable to get out of the blocks in set three. 
• AIC raced out to a 10-2 lead, getting five kills and three Lion attack errors as GCU attempted to regroup with a timeout.
• Georgian Court couldn't get much going offensively, and AIC finished the match scoring the final nine points in a 25-7 set three win for the sweep.

Lion Stat Leaders
• Ava Churnesky led GCU with seven kills and nine points.
• Maggy Hallihan passed out nine assists with seven digs, both team-highs.
• Flavia Pecora put back three blocks.

For the Yellow Jackets
• Carissa Michel totaled 13 kills with four digs.
• Selen Ozgur finished with 26 assists. 
• Mia Berdecia led the defense with 11 digs. 

News and Notes
• Georgian Court falls to just 3-12 all-time against Adelphi.
• Both teams the Lions played made the NCAA Tournament a year ago, as did Molloy who GCU opened the season with.
• After getting ahead 17-8 in the first set against AIC, the Yellow Jackets outscored the Lions 67-22.
• One silver lining from the AIC match - GCU cut down on the service errors, committing just three.

Up Next
• Georgian Court plays their home opener Tuesday, Sept. 1. They welcome St. Thomas Aquinas to the Wellness Center for a 12 pm first serve.