Reviewing the 2022-23 beach volleyball season
When Gaston College beach volleyball coach Rachel Noreika uses adjectives such as "awesome," "crazy," and "memorable" to describe her team's 2023 season, she is hardly overstating the amazing journey the Rhinos went on.
In a span of three months, Gaston College set milestones right and left in a trendsetting run that established a high bar for the other spring sports to emulate.
For starters, the Rhinos won their first match in history after being ineligible in the startup season of 2022.
In addition, the Rhinos became the first team in school history to qualify for a National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) national tournament, clinching the berth with a third-place finish in the Region 10 championships.
At the national tournament in Florida, Noreika's squad won the first postseason match in school history and recorded a 10th place finish in the event.
Not only that, the Rhinos unveiled their new on-campus volleyball facility by hosting the inaugural Rhinos Invitational.
"I could not have asked for a better group of athletes, and to unveil our facility with this group was special," Noreika said. "They set the tone for this program moving forward, and I am honored to have led them through this season."
Here is a chronological summary of the highlights:
Feb. 24: The program made history in a four-team tournament at Bryant & Stratton College in Virginia Beach, Va., claiming their first dual match victory with a 4-1 verdict over Wake Tech. The teams of Emma Downey and Christina Rotola, Naomi Hilliard and Elizabeth Jones and Carli Phillips and Biance Bowland won in two sets, the team of Millea Styles and Kristy Seifert won in three sets, and the team of Leilani Nolasco and Cameryn Reavis lost in two sets.
March 17: Gaston College knocked off a Region 10 rival with 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).
March 25: After four straight weeks on the road, a string of 13 matches that started with a Feb. 21 season opener at St. Andrews, the Rhinos opened their new on-campus volleyball facility in the inaugural Rhinos Invitational. Matches involving Gaston College, Sandhills Community College, Richard Bland and Catawba College were played on Friday and Saturday. The event drew fans, college officials, students and parents to the official unveiling of the five-court layout on the Dallas campus. It was the first on-campus athletic event at Gaston College since it restarted athletics in the 2021-22 school year. On Friday, Gaston College recorded the school's first-ever 5-0 sweep in a victory over Sandhills Community College before dropping a 3-2 heartbreaker to Catawba College. On Saturday, Richard Bland knocked off the Rhinos 5-0.
April 5: Gaston College celebrated "Sophomore Day" on its on-campus homecourt and had its final tune-ups before the Region 10 championships. The Rhinos honored sophomores Junette Pierre, Leilani Nolasco, Carli Phillips, Elizabeth Jones, Kristy Seifert, Kristina Ahmed and Dallesca Urbina in between losses of 5-0 and 4-1 to four-year St. Andrews University.
April 8: In the Region 10 tournament, Gaston College accomplished a first in school history by qualifying for the 2023 NJCAA national championships. To make their historic appearance, Noreika's team won a pair of nail-biting matches at Sandhills Community College in Southern Pines. The Rhinos defeated Wake Tech 3-2, lost to eventual Region 10 champion Richard Bland 5-0 before edging Bryant & Stratton, Va., 3-2 in the 3rd place match. In the opening match, the teams of Naomi Hilliard-Cristina Rotola (24-26, 21-14, 15-12), Emma Downey-Kristy Seifert (21-19, 21-15) and Carli Phillips-Bianca Bowland (21-11, 14-21, 15-5) took victories. In the 3rd place match, the teams Hilliard-Rotola (21-11, 21-12), Phillips-Bowland (21-13, 21-14) and Leilani Nolasco-Cameryn Reavis (forfeit) took victories.
"Our Region 10 championship was a crazy, unforgettable day, and the fashion in which we clinched the third-place bid was absolutely awesome" Noreika said.
April 20: Gaston College's first-ever appearance in a national tournament opened with a 3-1 setback to Region 10 rival Bryant & Stratton, and followed with a 3-0 loss to No. 1-seeded Palm Beach State, Fla. In matches held over that weekend at Hickory Point Beach at Tavares, Fla., the team of Cameryn Reavis and Millea Styles won 21-19, 23-21 in their match against Bryant & Stratton.
Also, the team of Carli Phillips and Bianca Bowland suffered a heartbreaking 22-20, 16-21, 8-15 loss and the team of Naomi Hilliard and Cristina Rotola were leading in the third set when the match was clinched for Bryant & Stratton.
April 21-22: The Rhinos split two challenges on Friday, April 21 -- beating Trinidad State of Colorado 3-1 before losing 3-0 to Mesa, Ariz. Community College -- then knocked off Bryant & Stratton of Wisconsin 3-0 in a Saturday, April 22 consolation final before losing to Region 10 rival Spartanburg Methodist 3-0 in the 9th place match. In Friday's historic Rhinos' victory at Hickory Point Beach, the pairs of Elizabeth Jones and Emma Downey (21-19, 15-12, 15-10), Cristina Rotola and Naomi Hilliard (21-20, 21-12) and Carli Phillips and Bianca Bowland (21-15, 21-17) posted victories, and the team of Leilani Nolasco and Kristy Seifert was in their third set when the match victory was determined. In Saturday's consolation semifinal win, the pairs of Rotola and Hilliard (21-6, 21-15), Phillips and Bowland (21-8, 21-10) and Nolasco and Seifert (21-9, 21-17) won their matches to advance to the Consolation Bracket 2 championship match.
Gaston College was one of four Region 10 teams that qualified for the inaugural NJCAA beach volleyball championships. Region champion Richard Bland went 4-2 and finished 5th, region runner-up Spartanburg Methodist went 3-3 and finished 9th, 3rd place Gaston College went 2-4 and finished 10th, and 4th place Bryant & Stratton of Virginia went 2-4 and finished 8th. When Gaston College had athletics from 1964 to 1972 before suspending the program, no team had ever advanced to a NJCAA national tournament event.
"To have capped our inaugural season with a national championship tournament bid and a trip to Florida to play the best NJCAA teams in the country was the perfect ending for our sophomore athletes and perfect motivation for the returning athletes," Noreika said.