Gaston College beach volleyball knocks off Region 10 rival

A week of lineup changes paid big dividends for Gaston College's beach volleyball team on Friday in a 4-1 victory over host Sandhills Community College in the Flyers Invitational.

The Rhinos improved to 2-9 on the season as the pairs of No. 1 Cristina Rotola/Naomi Hilliard (21-4, 21-9), No. 2 Emma Downey/Liz Jones (21-9, 21-11), No. 4 Bianca Bowland/Carli Phillips (21-5, 21-12) and No. 5 Leilani Nolasco/Kristy Seifert (21-11, 21-14) took 2-0 sweep victories and the Millea Styles/Cameryn Reavis No. 3 pairing lost a hard-fought 2-1 match (21-16, 21-23, 10-15).

"The 2s and 4s started the first wave of todays dual and they both came out on top and stayed on top to clinch their matches in two straight sets." Gaston College coach Rachel Noreika said. "The 1s, 3s and 5s ran the second wave and all three had a strong start. Millea and Cameryn eventually lost their match in three close sets, but both the 1s and 5s and won in two straight sets.
"I feel really good about the new pairings we are playing with this week and look forward to giving SMC and Bryant & Stratton a new look."

Noreika switched the pairings before a 4-1 loss to Bob Jones University on a chilly, breezy Tuesday afternoon at Upward Star Center in Spartanburg, S.C.

On Saturday, the Rhinos remain at Sandhills for the completion of the two-day Flyers Invitational and face Region 10 rivals Spartanburg Methodist and Bryant & Stratton at 10 a.m. and noon, respectively.