George Washington University

Sept. 26, 2009

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA, PA -- GW errors at critical points late in each set cost the Colonials a chance at their fifth straight win as Temple hung on to edge the Colonials in a close match Saturday at McGonigle Hall. Each of the sets were separated by just two points as the Owls prevailed, 25-23, 26-24, 25-23 in a one-hour, 25-minute A-10 battle. The loss snapped a four-match winning streak for the Colonials and evened their A-10 record at 1-1.

GW was led by senior Katie Butz's 14.5 points on a team-high 14 kills while teammate Leah Hill recorded 12 points and 11 digs for her seventh double-double in 14 matches. Hill, wearing a No. 18 jersey instead of her customary No. 4, hit her season-high .455 committing just two errors in 22 swings. Both Hill and Candace Silva-Martin registered a team-best 11 digs.

Temple (6-5, 2-0 A-10) was led by Yi Yung Zhang's match-high 20 kills for 21.5 points while Chelsea Tupuola led all players with 12 digs.

In a back-and-forth match that featured 15 lead changes and an incredible 31 ties, set one set the tone as neither team trailed by more than three points the entire way. With Temple leading 24-22 for set point, GW senior Abby Syverson brought GW to within 24-23 on a kill forcing Temple to use a timeout. The Owls came out of the timeout and set Zhang for a kill to end the set, 25-23.

Set two was more of the same although Temple was able to open a pair of four-point leads, the last coming at 21-17 before the Colonials rallied to tie the set at 22-22 on an ace by Hannah Stuart. A kill from Butz gave GW the 23-22 lead only to see Temple tie it on another kill by Zhang. A kill by Hill again gave GW the 24-23 advantage but Zhang again answered with a kill for the 24-24 tie. The Colonials then committed a critical ball-handling error and the set ended on an ace by Temple's Chelsea Tupuola.

The third set was played almost identically sa the first two with neither team pulling ahead by more than four points. After a Zhang kill knotted the set at 20-20, the Colonials gave away three points on attack errors and had another attack blocked yet still trailed by one at 24-23 before a Colonial service error ended the match.

As a team, the Colonials' offense combined to hit .209, 175 points lower than Friday's win over La Salle when GW hit a season-high .384, while the Owls combined to hit .252. It marked only the fifth time in 14 matches this season that GW had fewer blocks than its opponent.

GW (9-5, 1-1 A-10) concludes its season-opening month-long road trip Wednesday with a stop in Baltimore to face Loyola (MD) in a 7 p.m. non-conference match.

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