George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
Rhode Island
Volleyball Stuns Rhode Island, 3-0
9/23/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 23, 2007
KINGSTON, RI -- The George Washington volleyball team evened its Atlantic 10 Conference record at 1-1 with a stunning 3-0 victory over self-destructing Rhode Island Sunday URI's Keaney Gym. Facing do-or-die deficits of 29-26 in game one and 29-27 in game two, the Colonials pulled out miraculous come-backs to win the match by the scores: 33-31, 32-30, 30-16 in one hour, 37 minutes. It marked the only regular-season meeting between the Colonials and Rams this season.
Game one featured no fewer than 20 ties and seven lead changes as the Rams got to match point on a kill by Kayla Newberg for the 29-26 advantage. Newberg then committed an attack error and GW sophomore Abby Syverson slammed a kill to get the Colonials within 29-28 and forced URI to call a timeout. After the break, URI commmitted a ball-handling error to knot the game at 29-29. GW freshman Leah Hill served an ace to put GW ahead 30-29 before a kill by the Rams' Caitlyn Welsh tied the game at 30-30. GW senior Janine Brown then smashed a set from Jess Buche to put the Colonials up 31-30 before another kill by Welsh tied the game again. Welsh then committed a service error and Newberg followed with an attack error to hand GW the 33-31 victory.
Game two wasn't nearly as close but did feature six ties and three lead changes. Again Rhode Island had match point at 29-27 on three straight Ram kills before Kaylen Klaess stopped the momentum with a service error. GW junior Liz Moult pounded a kill to tie the game at 29-29 but Welsh spiked another kill for the 30-29 Ram lead. Welsh immediately committed two more attack errors to give GW the 31-30 advantage. Newberg then committed an attack error to hand the Colonials a 32-30 win.
Game three was all GW as the Colonials raced out to a 13-2 lead and was never threatened en route to the easy 30-16 win.
Rhode Island (8-7, 1-1 A-10) entered Sunday's match coming off a 3-0 sweep over Charlotte on Friday but hit just .149 (46-26-134) Sunday. GW combined to hit .221 on 49 kills, 22 errors in 122 attempts. GW's blocking was a key factor with eight total blocks to just three for URI.
GW's Moult led GW with 16.5 points on 15 kills and three block assists while hitting .429. Brown added 14 points on 13 kills and 11 digs for her 13th double-double in 14 matches this season.
Both teams struggled from the service line with GW serving five errors to cancel out its five aces while the Rams gave away six points with eight service errors while recording just two aces.
URI was led by Welsh's 17 points on 16 kills and .270 hitting percentage. Welsh also had 11 digs. Amy Mellard contributed 10 points on 10 kills.
GW (8-8, 1-1 A-10) returns to Smith Center for a two-match A-10 homestand beginning Friday, Sept. 28 against arch-nemesis Temple at 7 p.m.
