George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
UMBC
Volleyball Comes Back to Down UMBC, 3-1
9/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 12, 2009
VILLANOVA, PA -- For the second straight match, the GW Volleyball team fell behind early before rallying to defeat its opponent. Saturday, the Colonials defeated UMBC, 17-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-17, in the Villanova Classic at Villanova, PA. Less than 24 hours earlier, GW came from a 2-0 sets deficit to defeat Princeton.
GW senior Katie Butz again led the GW offense with her 19 kills in 40 attempts for a .300 hitting percentage and a team-high 20.5 points. Junior Katie Zulandt was strong at the net assisting on six blocks to go with her four kills. Leah Hill contributed 10 kills and 14 digs for 12.5 points. Alyssa Valentine assisted on 40 of GW's 50 kills (80 percent) and had nine digs. As a team, the Colonials hit .199 with 10 total blocks.
UMBC (2-6) hit .208 for the match but was plagued by poor serving. The Retrievers committed 13 service errors to more than quadruple their three service aces. UMBC's Iman Kennedy and Ali Loynachan each had a team-high 13 kills while teammate Pam Jarrett added a match-high 23 digs.
In the first set, both teams stayed close though a 9-8 UMBC advantage before the Retrievers found their rhythm and outscored GW, 12-5, for a 21-13 lead, four of those points coming on GW attack errors. UMBC then got a pair of kills from Sarah Joy, including the set-winner, for the 25-17 triumph. The second set was the most competitive of the match as the teams played through eight ties, the last coming at 18-18 before consecutive kills by Butz and freshman Lauren Whyte gave the Colonials a slim two-point lead. GW kept the heat on getting a pair of kills from Hill and Butz as well as a double block by Whyte and Abby Syverson to edge the Retrievers, 25-23 and even the match at 1-1.
The Colonials took command of set three from the outset and raced out to a 5-0 lead helped by three Retriever attack errors, a Butz kill and ace from Syverson. UMBC never got closer than three down as GW coasted to the 25-18 win. The fourth set was never in doubt as GW pulled away from a 5-5 tie to outscore UMBC, 7-1, and roll to the 25-17 victory. The match ended when Zulandt and Valentine blocked an attack by UMBC's Kennedy.
The Colonials improved to 17-1 in the all-time series with UMBC dating back to the 1977 season.
GW (5-3) will try to win its second tournament of the season Saturday night when it faces Villanova (6-2) Saturday at 7 p.m. in the final match of the Villanova Classic. The Wildcats swept UMBC Friday night.
