George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
Temple
Volleyball's Season Ends in 3-0 Loss to Temple
11/11/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 11, 2006
WASHINGTON, DC -- The GW volleyball team fell to Temple, 3-0, on Senior Night at Charles E. Smith Athletic Center Saturday. Facing a do-or-die match with a berth in the A-10 Championship Tournament on the line against a team it hadn't beaten since 1998, the Colonials fell to the visiting Owls by the scores: 30-25, 30-22, 30-21, in a match that featured 14 ties and eight lead changes.
Middle hitter Kelly Kabbes, one of four GW seniors making their final appearance at Smith Center, paced the Colonials with 11 points on nine kills in 17 swings for a robust .412 hitting percentage. Fellow senior Abba Greenleaf also pounded nine kills but committed nine attack errors as well. Greenleaf ended with 10.5 points. Juliene McLaughlin ended her GW career with seven kills and 11 digs for 8.5 points and Kaimana Lee recorded 31 assists with eight digs. The four seniors were honored in a pregame ceremony prior to their final home match.
The loss ended the Colonial's chance at a berth in the six-team A-10 championship tournament next weekend at Dayton while Temple played their way to a first-round bye as one of the top seeds. It marked GW's 18th straight loss to the Owls dating back to the 1998 season.
Following the pregame senior ceremony, Temple took charge of game one and built an 11-3 lead after a GW attack error. The Colonials battled back to get within one at 22-21 on a Kabbes kill and an Owl attack error before Temple closed out the game with an 8-4 run.
Game two began in similar fashion with Temple taking a 10-3 advantage before GW steadily chipped away at the lead and tied the game at 13-13. The Owls' Jessica Waybrant slammed a kill to give Temple the lead that it never relinquished en route to the 30-22 triumph.
After the 10-minute intermission, game three was very tight with neither team taking more than a three-point lead until the Owls went up, 16-13 on a kill by Christina DeMarco. From there Temple kept GW at arm's length the remainder of the game and ended GW's season on a Waybrant kill.
For the match, Temple out-hit GW, .274 (51-14-135) to .111 (40-24-144) as the Colonials had trouble finding their rhythm on offense all night.
GW concludes the 2006 season with a final overall record of 14-12, 6-7 in the A-10. The 6-7 mark just missed earning the sixth seed in the six-team A-10 Championship Tournament. GW's last appearance in the A-10 Tournament was in 2003.
