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 Katie Butz had perhaps her best match as a Colonial on Sunday afternoon at Smith Center. |
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Volleyball Upended by Fordham, 3-2
Nov. 4, 2007
WASHINGTON, DC -- The GW volleyball team lost a heartbreaker to Fordham, 3-2, in a key A-10 Conference match Sunday afternoon at Charles E. Smith Athletic Center. The visiting Rams escaped with a 30-27, 19-30, 30-32, 30-22, 19-17 victory in a two-hour, 23-minute battle. The setback dropped the Colonials to 12-16 overall, 4-8 A-10 and dealt a severe blow to GW's chances to qualify for the six-team Atlantic 10 Championship Tournament.
GW led 14-11 in game five only to squander five separate opportunities to win the match.
GW senior Janine Brown led four Colonials in double-figure kills with a match-high 22 to go with 10 digs for 22.5 points. Sophomore Katie Butz had an outstanding performance by scoring her career-high 20.5 points while hitting .517 on 17 kills in 29 attempts with six blocks. Junior Liz Moult scored 16 points on 15 kills and a solo block. Sophomore Abby Syverson contributed 16 points on 13 kills while hitting .375 with five blocks.
After the teams split the first two games, game three was a wild affair featuring four lead changes and no fewer than 15 ties, the last coming at 30-30 on a kill by Fordham's Katie Wells. Brown followed with a kill of her own and GW libero Maggie Wright served an ace to win the game and take a 2-1 lead in games. Fordham had game point at 29-26 after a kill by Jolanda Gunning-Snowden but virtually gave the game away on a service error and three straight attack errors to give GW the 30-29 advantage. A kill by Katie Wells knotted the game at 30-30 before Brown's and Wright's heroics.
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Game four was tight through the first 10 points before the Rams asserted themselves and pulled away for the easy 30-22 victory to force the decisive game.
The fifth game could not have been any closer with six lead changes and 13 ties, the last coming at 17-17. It looked as though GW would win the match when it reached game point on a Fordham ball-handling error for a 14-11 lead. The Colonials, however, hit into a solo block by Christi Griffiths followed by successive kills from Jenna Hart and Gunning-Snowden to tie the game at 14-14. A kill by GW's Brown gave the Colonials a second match-point opportunity only to waste it with an attack error for the 15-15 tie. Again GW got to match point on a kill by Syverson before a Gunning-Snowden kill tied the game at 16-16. A Fordham attack error gave GW it's fifth match-point opportunity at 17-16. Back-to-back Fordham blocks gave the Rams match point at 18-17 and the visitors put the match away on a kill by Kailee May to end the furious comeback.
Fordham (13-18, 4-7 A-10) was led by Wells' 23 points on 22 kills and a pair of block assists while May added 18 kills and a match-high 26 digs. It marked GW's second loss to Fordham this season after falling to the Rams, 3-1, back on Sept. 21 in the Bronx.
GW (12-16, 4-8 A-10) hosts Charlotte this Friday in the regular-season finale at 7:00 p.m. GW's three seniors, Brown, Jess Buche and Erica Williams will be honored in a prematch "Senior Night" ceremony.
