Gaston College beach volleyball team celebrates "Sophomore Day" on Wednesday

On a day that started with Gaston College honoring seven sophomores for their contributions to the program, the Rhinos got in their final tuneup before this weekend's Region 10 championship they will host at their on-campus facility.

Gaston College lost 4-1 to four-year St. Andrews University after honoring sophomores Bianca Bowland, Naomi Hilliard, Ayden Main, Leilani Nolasco, Carli Phillips, Cristina Rotola and Millea Styles.

"It was a bonus to get a final tuneup since we've got a couple of new pairs and a couple of people working through injuries," said Gaston College coach Rachel Noreika, whose team's 7-19 overall record includes 16 losses to four-year schools. "Having today was great preparation for Saturday."

Rhinos No. 2 pairing of Rotola and Valentina Rodriguez took their 10th victory of season with a 21-11, 21-14 victory.

The No. 1 pairing (Hilliard and Maddie Dearing) and No. 3 pairing (Bowland and Milica Gavric) suffered disappointing three-set defeats with each taking the first set before losing two straight.

"The record this season doesn't necessarily tell the whole story," Noreika said. "We are in every match and unless you're actually checking the scoresheets and seeing how many times we're losing in three sets or by three or four points, you don't realize how well we're doing as a second-year program.
"We've gone from not being competitive in a lot of matches last year to being competitive in almost all of our matches this year. We're just learning how in those competitive situations how to pull out a victory."

Gaston College hosts the five-team Region 10 championships on Saturday starting at 9 a.m. The Rhinos, who went 5-3 in Region 10 play to take the No. 2 seeding, play Sandhills Community College at approximately 1 p.m. on Saturday. The top three teams in the five-team event will qualify for the National Juinor College Athletic Association championships May 2 through 4 at Huntsville, Ala.