WILMINGTON, Del. (Sept. 29, 2026) - For years, Georgian Court has proven to be incredibly difficult to put away. They've made an art of reverse sweeps and in-set comebacks, but Tuesday night the shoe was on the other foot. The Lions had late leads in three of the four sets against Goldey-Beacom, but could only hold on in one as the Lightning came away with a 3-1 win. All four sets were decided by six points or less and three of the four were decided by four or less.
How it Happened
• Georgian Court's offense played well hitting .174 with 45 kills and just 19 attack errors. The Lightning were just a bit better, hitting .238 with 53 kills and 18 errors.
• The Lions had a great game at the service line with 14 aces and eight errors. GBC had 10 aces and eight errors. Five of those 10 GBC aces came in set five.
• Each team put back four blocks and the Lightning led 74-71 in digs.
Set 1
• Goldey-Beacom scored the first three points of the game and never trailed in a 25-19 set one win.
• Georgian Court tied things early at four, but the Lightning went on a 4-1 run to reclaim a three-point lead and never looked back.
• The Lightning hit .406 for the set with 14 kills and just one error.
• Georgian Court didn't play poorly. They hit .270 with 12 kills against just two attack errors, but it wasn't enough.
Set 2
• Georgian Court used a big run in the middle of set two to pull ahead.
• Trailing 9-8, the Lions scored six straight points, including back-to-back aces from
Flavia Pecora.
• GCU extended their lead to as much as eight and Goldey brought it back down to as little as four, 23-19, but a GBC service error ended the set and tied the match at 1-1.
• Georgian Court hit five aces in the frame.
Set 3
• Three points was the largest lead either team took in set three. Both times it was Georgian Court who went up three until the final point in the frame.
• The set was close throughout with the two teams volleying the lead back and forth.
• The score was tied at every point from 10-15.
• Tied again at 18, Georgian Court went on a 4-1 run to reclaim a three-point lead, 22-19 and force a Goldey-Beacom timeout.
• It was a worthwhile timeout for the Lightning as they scored four straight kills out of the break to take the lead back, 23-22, and it was GCU's turn to take a break.
• Goldey-Beacom continued on their rally and scored the next two out of the timeout to win set three, 25-22.
• The Lightning scored the final six points in the set after getting down 22-19.
Set 4
• After Georgian Court started the set with a kill, Goldey-Beacom scored five straight and the Lions called a quick timeout to regroup.
• And regroup they did, Georgian Court used a 6-2 run and came all the way back to tie the set at seven.
• After tying the set on multiple occasions, Georgian Court finally took their first lead since 1-0 following three straight kills at 16-15.
• Back-to-back
Kyla Davis kills gave Georgian Court their largest lead, 20-17.
• GCU had trouble putting away the Lightning in set three and it was showing up again in set four. After getting down three, the Lightning scored five straight, with three service aces, and now led 22-20 as the Lions called timeout.
• Things didn't turn around for GCU after the break as the Lightning scored three of the final four points getting a kill to end the match 3-1 and 25-22.
Lion Stat Leaders
•
Keira Mullen led the Lions with 14 kills and picked up her second straight double-double with 10 digs.
•
Ava Churnesky added 11 kills and nine digs.
•
Roshell Chevres Sanchez handed out 40 assists with nine digs.
• Carmen Rivera averaged six digs per set picked up 24.
•
Flavia Pecora scored 15.6 points with seven kills, four blocks and eight service aces.
For the Lightning
• Kelci Gingras had a 12-kill, 16-dig double-double.
• Gabi Fullwood also landed 12 kills while hitting .435.
• Alana Scott chipped in nine kills and five digs.
• Ashley Fru passed out 22 assists with seen digs and four aces.
• Brianna Anderson had a game-high 25 digs.
News and Notes
•
Flavia Pecora recorded her 100th career kill.
• Pecora also landed eight service aces. Since 2017, Pecora is the seventh Lion to score at least seven aces in a match. Before her, only one, Jessica Sprankle, scored eight, doing so Sept. 3, 2022 vs. Queens.
• The eight aces by Pecora and Sprankle are the most by a Lion since Jaslene Lopez hit 11 in a five-set match vs. University of the Sciences October 9, 2013.
•
Ava Churnesky surpassed 400 career kills.
•
Roshell Chevres Sanchez has averaged exactly 10 assists in each of the last two matches.
• This is the Lions third straight loss to the Lightning. It's their longest losing streak since dropping the first eight matches from 2002-05.
Up Next
• Georgian Court finishes up their three-game road trip at Wilmington this Thursday, Oct. 1. First serve is set for 7 pm.
