A comeback rally by the Chestnut Hill College Women's Volleyball team fell just short as Georgian Court University hung on to defeat the Griffins 3-2 in a thrilling home opening match at Sorgenti Arena.

The Griffins drop to 2-7 overall and 0-2 in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference games.  The Lions improve to 3-7 overall

Chestnut Hill lost the first two sets 25-15 and 25-21 before rallying to take the third set 25-9 and capture the fourth set 25-18 to force a fifth and deciding  set.  In that fifth set, the Lions pulled out a 16-14 win to capture the match.

Kass Kimmel led the Griffins with a game-high 128 kills  (18-6-43, .279).  Kate Hanley produced an even dozen in the kills department and hit a solid .304 (12-5-23).  Micah MeKenzie and Maya Hopson had nine and eight kills respectively. 

Sofia Rodriguez led all players with 44 assists.  Sadie Bayko and Alex Crespin had four service aces apiece.

On the defensive side, Rodriguez led all players with 16 digs while Crespin added 15  and Kimmel nine.  Nicole Dimiris, Hanley , Hopson and McKenzie  produced two blocks apiece.

Trailing two sets to none, Griffin head coach Brandon Johnson slightly shuffled his lineup for the third set, and it paid off.  Bayko served 15 straight points to open the set, giving the Griffins a commanding lead.  The junior hitter recorded all four of her aces in the sequence.  McKenzie followed with two aces and Hanley added one later in the set as the Griffins went on to win the set 25-9, recording nine kills (all without an error) to go along with the seven aces and nine total errors by the Lions (six attack, three setting).

Kills from Hanley and Kimmel  broke an early deadlock in the fourth set and Crespin followed with three aces  to push the Griffins lead to 12-5.  Another small run by the Griffins pushed the lead to 16-6 before a 9-1 upswing from the Lions closed the gap to 17-15. Chestnut Hill finished on an 8-3 run with Kimmel getting the final kill to force the fifth and deciding set.

Georgian Court went up by three early in the set before the Griffins rallied to tie at 5-5 with Sarah Allen serving.  A 4-1 run later gave the Griffins their first lead at 9-8 before the Lions countered with a 4-1 run to retake the lead 12-10.  Hopson's kill tied the set score at 12-12 and a kill from Kimmel had the Griffins' serving for the match at 14-13.  GCU followed with a kill and the Griffins recorded back-to-back attack errors to give the Lions the match with a 16-14 win in the set.

The Women's Volleyball team returns to action on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, when they host Wilmington University at Sorgenti Arena.  Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.