George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
#17 DAYTON
Volleyball Puts a Scare into No. 17 Dayton
10/31/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 31, 2010
WASHINGTON, DC -- In the rematch between GW and 17th-ranked Dayton, the Colonials were far more competitive and were able to extend the Flyers to four sets before bowing, 3-1, Sunday at Charles E. Smith Center. Dayton won by the scores, 25-23, 25-19, 20-25, 25-12, in a one-hour, 45-minute tussle. The loss was the Colonials' fourth straight and marked the Flyers' 14th straight victory. It was a marked contrast to the Sept. 22 meeting at Dayton where the Flyers breezed in three sets and kept GW from scoring more than 16 points in any single frame.
Sunday, however, the Colonials only narrowly lost the first set after closing to 24-23. The opening set featured three lead changes and nine ties, the last coming at 16-16 before the Flyers gained a working margin by going to senior Lindsay Fletemier for key points. Fletemier slammed the set-winning kill to give UD the 25-23 triumph.
Wearing their pink jerseys for breast cancer awareness day, the Colonials raced out to a 5-1 lead to begin the second set before the Flyers rallied to tie the score at 8-8 on a kill from Amanda Cowdrey. UD opened a four-point margin following a GW attack error and kept the Colonials at arm's length en route to the 25-19 victory.
The third set turned spooky for UD as the Colonials pulled away from a 4-4 tie and looked more like the ranked team by taking control of the game with a 3-0 burst behind a pair of service aces from freshman Taylor Knox. It was the first of two aces for the younger Knox, who traded jersey numerals with her older sister, MacKenzie, for the pink match. MacKenzie finished with 10 kills and three block assists for 11.5 points on the afternoon. The Colonials, taking advantage of several timely kills from MacKenzie Knox, as well as some Dayton errors, cruised to the 25-20 victory. It snapped a 12-set losing skid against Dayton dating back to Oct. 3, 2008, when the Flyers also prevailed, 3-1.
The momentum shifted quickly back to Dayton for the fourth set as the Flyers opened a 7-3 lead and never looked back en route to the 25-12 romp.
GW's Katie Zulandt was the star of the match for the Colonials hitting .423 with a team-high 13 kills in 26 attempts to go with three blocks, including a solo block, for 15 points. Lauren Whyte added 12 kills and seven digs while three Colonials recorded double-figure digs led by 12 each from Leah Hill and Rachael Goss and 11 from Candace Silva-Martin. Setter Katie Crosby assisted on 39 of the Colonials' 45 kills (87%) and assisted on three blocks.
Dayton (20-3, 11-0) was led by a pair of players with 12 kills each, Fletemeir and Becky Novacek, while Amanda Cowdrey added 11 kills, three aces and 16 digs for 14 points. Fletemier hit .435 with four block assists as the Flyers combined to hit .273 and block eight GW attacks. UD's Paige Vargas led all players with 19 digs.
Despite the loss, GW (17-11, 6-5 A-10) remains in fifth place in the A-10 standings, a couple of games ahead of Charlotte and Fordham, the Colonials' next opponent. The top six teams qualify for the conference championship tournament, Nov. 19-21, at Xavier's Cintas Center.
GW next hosts Fordham (14-15, 4-6 A-10) this Friday night in a 7 p.m. match at Smith Center.
Live video streaming and free live statistical updates of Friday's GW-Fordham match are available by going to www.GWsports.com and clicking on the Audio • Video link and the Gametracker link on the volleyball schedule.
