GCU Athletics

ROCHESTER, NY (Sept. 4, 2026) - It was quite the day for Georgian Court Volleyball. Earlier in the day, the Lions took a visit to Niagara Falls. They came back to Rochester for a first-ever match with the Redeemer Royals, out of Canada. Perhaps inspired by the power of the Falls, the Lions displayed their own power on the court, landing a flurry of kills and aces in a 3-1 win over the Royals. It's the Lions second consecutive win as they improve to 2-4.

How it Happened
• After a bit of a slow start, the Lions rallied to hit .242 for the match. In each of the last three sets, the Lions hit .250 or better and were at .333 for the fourth. Redeemer hit .144, committing 23 attack errors.
• The Lions averaged more than three aces per set, landing 13 for the match while Redeemer hit 13 service errors.
• The Royals secured points on the block with seven to the Lions four.
Set 1
• The lead changed hands a few times early on. The Lions led 8-7 early on before the Royals made a run for the lead.
• Redeemer scored 10 of the next 13 points and took their largest lead, 17-11.
• Georgian Court slowly chipped away though, cutting the lead down to three, 22-19.
• Trailing again by four, 23-19, GCU scored four straight to tie the set at 23. Keira Mullen landed two kills and Ava Churnesky tied things with a service ace.
• Redeemer was able to sideout to get to set point, and ended things with a kill to take a 1-0 lead with a 25-23 set one win.
Set 2
• The Royals looked poised to go up 2-0, carrying that set one momentum into the second.
• They jumped out to a seven-point lead, 12-5. They landed seven kills and three aces to start the set.
• Once again, GCU was forced to play from behind. They steadily trimmed the lead and found themselves down just two, 21-19.
• That's when the Lions took over. GCU finished the set scoring six of the final seven points and completed the comeback for a 25-22 win.
• Churnesky had a kill and a service ace to tie the set. Kathymar Laboy Negron gave the Lions the lead for good with kill and Flavia Pecora's kill ended the frame.
Set 3
• The script flipped in set three with the Lions taking a commanding lead.
• Georgian Court found themselves ahead 11-2 early thanks to eight different Redeemer errors.
• The Royals righted themselves and found themselves on the comeback trail.
• A kill brought them all the way to tie the set at 17.
• Redeemer never was able to grab the lead though. The Lions responded scoring four straight, three kills and a service ace.
• GCU scored eight of the final nine points and went ahead 2-1 after a 25-18 win.
Set 4
• Once again the Lions raced out to a large lead, this time doing the scoring themselves. 
• The first seven points saw the Lions score five kills and two service aces as the Lions jumped in front 7-0.
• At 15-4, Georgian Court was cruising and this time, didn't allow Redeemer to even sniff a comeback.
• The set ended the same way it started with an Ava Churnesky kill and the Lions had a 3-1 win.

Lion Stat Leaders
• Keira Mullen scored a game-high 17.5 points with 14 kills and 10 digs.
• Ava Churnesky had a double-double of her own with 10 kills and 13 digs. She also added five aces.
• Kyla Davis hit .563 with 10 kills on 16 swings.
• Maggy Hallihan passed out 25 assists with six digs.
• Carmen Rivera Colon picked up a game-high 20 digs. 

For the Royals
• Scarlett Surette led the team with eight kills and eight digs, hitting .304.
• Aurora Brydson, Avry Sabo and Leah Lammers all landed six kills. Lammers added eight digs.
• Alana DeJohn finished with a team-best 18 assists and six digs.

News and Notes
• Redeemer hails from our friends up North in Canada. It's the first time in the NCAA-era GCU has faced a team from Canada.
• Kyla Davis scored her 200th career point and her 150th career kill.
• Maggy Hallihan surpassed 200 career assists.
• Ava Churnesky's five aces are a new single-game high and the most by a Lion this season.
• The Lions .242 attack percentage is a new season-high and their first time hitting better than .200 this year. 

Up Next
• Georgian Court has two more matches this weekend. They play the host Roberts Wesleyan tomorrow morning at 10 am and finish up against Lock Haven at 2:30 pm.