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 GW snapped a six-year, seven-match losing streak to Xavier with a 3-2 victory Friday night. |
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Instant Classic--Volleyball Outlasts Xavier, 3-2, in a Barn-Burner
Oct. 23, 2009
WASHINGTON, DC -- In one of the most intense and dramatic matches of the season, the GW Volleyball team came from behind in the fifth set to defeat Xavier, 3-2, in a classic A-10 battle Friday night at GW's Charles E. Smith Center. The Colonials prevailed by the scores, 28-26, 23-25, 25-22, 11-25, 18-16 in a 2-hour, 15-minute marathon on Parents Weekend. The victory snapped a seven-match losing skid to Xavier spanning the last six years. The Colonials' most recent triumph over the Musketeers came during the 2003 season, also at Smith Center.
GW was led by senior Katie Butz' career-high 23.5 points on 22 kills while hitting .373 with 12 digs. Freshman Lauren Whyte added 18.5 points on 18 kills with 15 digs. Freshman Candace Silva-Martin recorded a team-high 30 digs and Alex Coward served three aces.
Xavier (13-10, 5-3 A-10) was led by Lauren Kaminsky's 24.5 points on 23 kills while hitting .383 with three blocks. Hillary Otte and Kelly Ruth each added 15 kills while Stephanie Vorherr had a team-high 30 digs.
With the exception of the fourth set, each set was an intense battle between two evenly-matched teams. The Colonials captured the first set but only after breaking a 26-26 tie on a kill by Leah Hill followed by a Musketeer attack error. Xavier took charge early in the second set with an 8-4 lead before GW rallied to tie it at 14-14 and again at 15-15. Xavier responded with 5-1 run aided by threeGW attack errors and an ace by XU's Kaleigh Rougraff for a 20-16 lead. GW again battled back to within one at 24-23 on the second straight ace by Coward before a Kaminsky kill ended the set at 25-23 in favor of Xavier.
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Following the 10-minute intermission, the third set proved to be the closest of the evening with four lead changes and 14 ties, the last coming at 21-21 before a Xavier attack error and a pair of kills from GW's Butz and one from Hill gave GW a 2-1 lead in sets. The fourth set was controlled by Xavier throughout as the Musketeers' lead ballooned to 16-2 and they were able to coast to the 25-11 romp setting the stage for the dramatic fifth set.
Xavier grabbed the early edge going up 5-2 after a GW attack error forcing the Colonials to burn a timeout. The teams traded points until successive kills from Butz and Hill got GW within one and forced Xavier to call a timeout. GW rallied to tie the set at 9-9 and again at 10-10 but the Musketeers responded each time with a kill to inch ahead and reached match point clinging to a 14-12 lead. GW's Hill came through with a pair of kills to end two lengthy rallies and knot the set at 14-14. A Kaminsky kill gave XU a 15-14 before a Musketeer attack error tied the set again at 15-15.
GW took it's first lead of the set at 16-15 on a kill from Butz before Ruth tied it again on a kill. Butz took another set from Alyssa Valentine and slammed her 22nd kill of the night bringing the boisterous home crowd to its feet. After taking the set from Claire Paszkiewicz, Xavier's Ruth rose up on the left side and slammed the ball into a solid double block by GW's Butz and Abby Syverson that ricocheted straight back at Ruth and fell to the floor to end the match.
Xavier combined to hit an impressive .252 (72-21-202) for the match while the Colonials hit .219 (68-26-192). Xavier also blocked a total of 10 GW attacks led by six block assists by Otte.
GW (18-7, 5-3 A-10) next hosts first-place Dayton (19-2, 8-0 A-10) Sunday afternoon in a 1 p.m. match at Smith Center. The GW-Dayton match will be available on www.GWsports.com GameTracker and live video webstreaming.
