George Washington University

Oct. 9, 2011

Box Score

WASHINGTON - Lauren Whyte posted a double-double with 22 kills and 13 digs to lead the George Washington volleyball team to a thrilling come-from-behind victory over Xavier Sunday afternoon at Charles E. Smith Center. Set scores were 28-30, 20-25, 25-21, 25-18, 15-8.

GW (13-6, 2-3 A-10) combined to hit .215 for the match to halt Xavier's (13-6, 5-1 A-10) six-match win streak to deal the Musketeers their first conference loss of the season.

Whyte paced the Colonials' attack, swinging .226 with 22 kills against 10 errors in 53 attempts for 23.5 points. She added 13 digs for her fifth double-double of the season.

The two teams kept it close in the first set as they battled through five lead changes and eight ties. The Colonials served for the set at 24-23 but Xavier was able tie the score by forcing an attack error. The teams exchanged the lead twice before the Musketeers forced consecutive attack errors to take a 1-0 lead.

After dropping the second set the Colonials began their comeback with a 25-21 victory in the third. Whyte led the way as she recorded six of her match-high 22 kills and the Colonials hit .349 as a team to cut the deficit to 2-1.

The Colonials used a staunch defensive front, recording four team blocks and holding Xavier to a .075 attack percentage, to win the fourth set and force a decisive fifth frame.

The defensive pressure carried over as the Colonials forced eight Xavier errors while adding five additional blocks in the deciding set to stun the Musketeers.

After committing 16 combined attack errors in the first two sets the Colonials settled down and registered just 14 over the final three frames. Additionally, after hitting .152 in the first two sets the Colonials were able to make offensive adjustments that resulted in a .243 attack percentage over the final three sets.

Freshman Kelsey Newman contributed 14 kills, four block assists, three digs and two service aces. Sophomore Jamie Armstrong added nine kills against just one error with two digs and eight blocks (one solo, seven assists). Senior MacKenzie Knox and sophomore Taylor Knox each added seven kills.

The Colonials return to action Friday night against Fordham at Smith Center at 6 p.m. Fans who attend the match are encouraged to stay for Colonials Invasion, which starts immediately following the match and highlights GW's men's and women's basketball teams.