Lakewood, N.J. – For the second time in three seasons the Holy Family University women's volleyball team will be bringing back a championship banner to hang in the Campus Center Gymnasium after defeating top-seeded Georgian Court University, 3-1, in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Championship match on Saturday afternoon at the GCU Wellness Center.
Senior Carly Covington (Delmar, Md./Delmar) was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player as she totaled 18 kills and 19 digs while hitting at a .341 clip. She was joined on the All-Tournament team with senior Camille Johnson (Columbia, Md./Wilde Lake), juniors Tayana Bennett (Philadelphia, Pa./Hill-Freedom World Academy) and Morgan Silks (Norristown, Pa./Archbishop John Carroll) and sophomore Allyssa Hartney (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley).
How It Happened
* The first set was a back-and-forth thriller with Georgian Court holding a 20-16 lead late. A 6-1 run by the Tigers would give them a 22-21 lead. After a point by the Lions to tie the set, the Tigers capitalized off two straight errors by GCU to lead 24-22. The Lions followed with a point to come within one point of the lead but Covington closed out the set with a kill as the Tigers scored nine of the final 12 points of the set.
* In the second set a run midway through turned out to be the difference. Leading 11-9, Holy Family scored seven of the next eight points, including six in a row at one point to grab an 18-10 advantage. Despite a 7-1 run by the Lions to cut the lead down to 19-17, the Tigers were able to prevail to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Holy Family scored six of the final seven points in the set.
* Georgian Court extended the match with a 25-22 victory in set number three to set up a fourth set. It was another back-and-forth set similar to the opener where neither team really established a lead. Both teams held leads of three points with the Lions leading 16-13 and the Tigers grabbing a 21-18 advantage late. The late three-point lead was exactly what the Tigers needed as both teams exchanged points that eventually made the score 23-21. Outside a Holy Family timeout, the Tigers' offense clinched the match with back-to-back kills by Covington.
News and Notes
* Covington finished the match with a season-high 18 kills to go along with 19 digs. She was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament after averaging 4.5 kills and 4.2 digs per set in the postseason. Covington moved into fifth place all-time with 1,173 kills and slid into eighth place in digs with 1,186.
* Hartney was just as impressive offensively as she totaled 15 kills in the championship win while averaging 4.2 kills per set in the tournament.
* Silks finished the match with a season-high 48 assists to go along with seven digs. She finished the season averaging 11.24 assists per set; just shy of her career-high of 11.60 set her freshman season. Silks concludes the year with 3,225 assists and sits in second place all-time in program history.
* Johnson added nine kills in the win to go along with four total blocks (2BS/2BA). Bennett contributed six kills, while totaling two blocks (BS/BA).
* Defensively, junior Stephanie Woolston (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent) totaled nine digs, while sophomore Maeve Boylan (Ridley Township, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) came away with eight.
* Georgian Court's Grace Fenn led the team with 11 kills, while Kinsy Haschke added 10 kills and 11 digs. Both were named to the All-Tournament team along with Nahomie Alejandro Negron.
All-Time Series
Today marked the 40th meeting between Holy Family and Georgian Court since the start of the 2003 season. The Tigers are now 19-21 versus the Lions in the all-time series. Both teams are 2-2 versus one another in the CACC Tournament.
Holy Family in the CACC Tournament
Today's victory improves Holy Family's record in the CACC Tournament to 15-11 as the Tigers now own two championship banners (2020-21 and 2018). Holy Family has been in the CACC Tournament final six times in the program's 18 years of existence.
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