George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
Charlotte
Volleyball Edged by Charlotte, 3-2
10/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 23, 2005
WASHINGTON, DC -- In the first-ever meeting between GW and Charlotte on the volleyball court, it was the 49ers who came out on top, 3-2 over the Colonials in an Atlantic 10 Conference match Sunday afternoon at Charles E. Smith Athletic Center. Charlotte won by the scores 30-23, 21-30, 25-30, 30-24, 15-10, in a two-hour, 10-minute battle. The two teams will face each other again in 11 days in North Carolina.
The loss dropped the Colonials' record to 10-13, 3-6 in the A-10 while Charlotte improved to 14-12, 6-3 A-10.
Five different Colonials had double-figure kills led by a trio with 13 each. GW seniors Lindsay Vernand (Huntington Beach, CA/Huntington Beach) and Shannon Parks (Marietta, GA/Walton), as well as junior Juliene McLaughlin (Lindsay, ONT/Lindsay Collegiate) led the Colonials with 13 kills while senior Abigail Hatter (Manassas, VA/Forest Park) and junior Kelly Kabbes (Cary, NC/Cardinal Gibbons) added 12 kills each. Both McLaughlin and junior setter Kaimana Lee (Wailuku, HI/Seabury Hall) registered double-doubles in the match. McLaughlin added 13 digs while Lee had 11 digs to go with her 60 assists on GW's 65 kills.
Charlotte's Lisa Newell paced the 49ers with a match-high 24 kills while teammates Alma Arroyo and Jessica Oldenburg each contributed 19 kills. Libero Carly Romberg led all players with 20 digs.
After the 49ers took control in game one, GW came out strong in game two and hit .270. The Colonials hung on to win game three setting the stage for a highly-competitive game four. The Colonials began game four with three straight attack errors but stayed close and battled back to tie the game at 17-17. The 49ers slowly pulled away and eventually won the game on a pair of kills by Jessica Oldenburg.
Game five was less suspenseful as Charlotte raced out to a 5-1 lead helped by a pair of GW errors and a kill by UNCC's Abbey Szlanfucht. GW closed to within 4-6 and 5-7 before more GW errors and another kill by Oldenburg pushed Charlotte's lead to 11-5. Kills by Vernand, Kabbes and Brown got GW to within 9-14 before UNCC's Newell pounded the match-winner.
For the match, UNCC out-hit GW .268 (74-29-168) to .232 (71-30-177) but it was Charlotte's defense that kept the 49ers in control. UNCC recorded 66 digs compared to 53 digs for the Colonials.
GW (10-13, 3-6 A-10) next travels to Philadelphia this Friday for a 7:00 p.m. match at Temple followed by a match at La Salle on Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m.
