Gaston College honors 7 on "Sophomore Day" in final tuneup before Region 10 championships

Gaston College celebrated "Sophomore Day" on its on-campus homecourt and had its final tuneups before Friday's Region 10 championships on Wednesday afternoon.

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.

"It was great to honor those seven for helping build up our program," Gaston College coach Rachel Noreika said. "As for today, we had a last-minute roster change. Cristina Rotola didn't play today so we had a couple of pairs today that were new and I thought they did a good job."

Jones and Emma Downey played at No. 1, Seifert and Naomi Hillard at No. 2, Millea Styles and Cameryn Reavis at No. 3, Phillips and Bianca Bowland at No. 4 and Pierre and Nolasco at No. 5.

"Kristy Seifert played with the 2s for the first time. And the No. 1s and No. 2s were really competitive in both duals. We're just still trying to figure out how to play aggressively while minimizing unforced errors."

Jones/Downey suffered a split set defeat in the opener and Hilliard/Seifert suffered a split set defeat in the second dual. The team of Bowland/Phillips record their team-best ninth victory on the season with a split set victory in the second dual.

The Rhinos next compete on Friday in the Region 10 championships at Sandhills Community College in Southern Pines. Gaston College meets Wake Tech at 8 a.m. and three of the six region teams will advance to the National Junior College Athletic Association championship tournament later this month.