George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
Morgan State
Volleyball Rolls Morgan State, 3-0
10/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 14, 2009
WASHINGTON, DC -- The GW volleyball team had little trouble in defeating Morgan State, 3-0, Wednesday at Charles E. Smith Center. The Colonials needed just 64 minutes to dispatch the Lady Bears by the scores 25-12, 25-9, 25-17 in a non-conference match. It marked the Colonials' eighth three-set sweep of an opponent this season and the shortest match of the season.
Senior Katie Butz led the Colonials with 12 points on a match-high 11 kills in 20 attempts to hit .400. Sophomore setter Alyssa Valentine assisted on 33 of GW's 40 kills and added an ace.
GW coach Jojit Coronel reached deep into his bench Wednesday allowing junior OH Leah Hill to appear in just one set and giving senior Abby Syverson the night off. Sophomore Alex Coward saw more playing time and took advantage with three kills and three aces. Sophomore MacKenzie Knox also had an efficient hitting night with eight kills for a .333 percentage and appears to be regaining the form she displayed early in her freshman year before her season was cut short by a stress fracture. Libero Candace Silva-Martin led all players with 15 digs.
Morgan State (5-17) was led by Erin Cox's 6.5 points on six kills and Rhyan Shy's nine digs. Dominique Bozier and Macie Wyly each added four kills but the Lady Bears were plagued by attack and service errors thoughout the match. MSU served a pair of aces but also had eight service miscues.
GW combined to hit .333 on 40 kills in 84 swings with just 12 errors while holding the Lady Bears to just .011 (20-19-91). The Rams combined to hit just .124 on 29 kills in 97 attacks while committing 17 errors.
GW set the tone in the first set by taking a 10-2 lead and was never threatened en route to the easy 25-12 victory. The second set was more of the same as GW never trailed in the 25-9 victory. It marked the Colonials' largest margin of victory in a set since blitzing Fordham 25-7 in the first round of the 2008 A-10 Tournament last November.
The third set was the closest of the match with a pair of lead changes and seven ties, the last coming at 7-7. A Morgan State attack error followed by a kill from Lauren Whyte that started the Colonials on a 10-3 run. The Lady Bears never recovered and fell, 25-17, on Knox's eighth kill of the night.
GW (15-6, 4-2 A-10) next plays Friday at 7:00 p.m. in a non-conference match against North Carolina Central at Durham, NC, before taking on Charlotte (13-8, 4-2 A-10) Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.
