Courtesy of Georgian Court University Athletics

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (December 5, 2019) -- Six years to the very day of its last NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championship Tournament appearance, Georgian Court University took to the floor Thursday in the first round of the 2019 event as the #6 Lions suffered a 3-1 season-ending setback to #3 University of Bridgeport.

Hosted by Molloy College, GCU and the Purple Knights renewed its rivalry as the two squads faced off for the first time since the 2017 regular season, while also having gone head-to-head in the aforementioned 2013 NCAA Division II tournament (Dec. 5, 2013), which was hosted by Bridgeport.

After Bridgeport (25-18) and the Lions (25-22) split the first two sets, the Purple Knights (25-7) proceeded to hold GCU at bay the rest of the way, taking sets three and four by respective scores of 25-12 and 25-17 to earn a second-round berth Friday.

The highly-entertaining match saw 305 combined attack attempts, resulting in 94 total kills and 142 digs in a contest loaded with extended rallies. Three student-athletes earned double-doubles for Bridgeport, while four members of the victorious Purple Knights floored double-digit kill efforts.

Shana Rayside made her final collegiate match count as the Georgian Court senior dropped a team-high 11 kills (2 E, 25 TA) for a lofty hitting percentage of .360. Jaime Sweeney and Ashley Pierson, splitting the setting, dished 18 and 12 assists, respectively.

Emily McCurley closed out her career as a member of the royal and gold with 27 digs, the senior's ninth match of the season with 20 or more. Aubrey Binkley ended the campaign with 19 digs and seven kills.

The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference champions finish 2019 with an astounding record of 31-6.

ABOUT THE CACC
The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference composed of 14 institutions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The member institutions are Bloomfield College, Caldwell University, Chestnut Hill College, Concordia (N.Y.) College, Dominican (N.Y.) College, Felician University, Georgian Court University, Goldey-Beacom College, Holy Family University, Jefferson (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University), Nyack College, Post University of Waterbury, University of the Sciences, and Wilmington University.