Gaston College beach volleyball visits 4-year school

Facing a two-time conference champion four-year school was a tall task for the Gaston College beach volleyball team.

The Rhinos battled hard but dropped a pair of matches at Tusculum on Tuesday by 5-0 and 4-1 scores.

Gaston College, which completed its Region 10 slate with a 5-3 record last weekend, fell to 7-17 overall.

"It was another frigid, windy and rainy day," Rhinos coach Rachel Noreika said. "We had moments where each pair looked good and competitive, but we just weren't able to hang with them down the stretch.
"The twos were the exception. Cristina (Rotola) and Val (Rodriguez) lost in three in the first wave and won in a close third set the second wave. Both Cristina and Val played really well, but I think it was a breakthrough day for Valentina specifically and I loved watching them compete today.
"Tusculum is a very good NCAA Division II team. They've won the South Atlantic Conference the last two years so getting to compete against a team like that is always fun."

The Rotola-Rodriguez pairing lost 9-21, 21-16, 10-15 in the opener before winning 21-18, 16-21, 15-10 in the nightcap.

Gaston College continues its regular-season stretch of five straight matches against four-year schools at Catawba on April 5.