George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
Rhode Island
Volleyball Wins on the Rhode, 3-2
10/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 8, 2010
KINGSTON, RI -- The GW Volleyball team outlasted Rhode Island in a five-set thriller Friday night at URI's Keaney Gym. The Colonials won by the scores, 19-25, 25-19, 25-14, 19-25, 15-11 in a two-hour battle. GW improves to 14-7 overall, 3-1 in the A-10 and 3-3 in five-set matches.
The Colonials held URI to a team attack percentage of .199 (52k-20e-161att) while GW combined to hit .215 (60-23-172) for the match. GW scored 10 points on service aces but gave away nine more of service errors while URI committed nine miscues from the serving line, to cancel out its eight aces.
Senior Katie Zulandt, the A-10's Defensive Player of the Week, blocked four Ram attacks and hit .364 with 10 kills in 22 swings. Sophomore Lauren Whyte led all players with 21 kills and added 14 digs for 22.5 points. Freshman Rachael Goss contributed 11 kills and a pair of service aces for 13 points. Setter Katie Crosby assisted on 42 of GW's 60 kills and sophomore libero Candace Silva-Martin led the Colonials with 20 digs. It also marked the return of senior co-captain Leah Hill who had been sidelined for the past four matches with a shoulder injury.
Rhode Island (11-7, 2-3) was led by Britta Baarstad's 14 kills and .323 hitting percentage. Three Rams tallied 19 digs including Kayla Wilson who added 13 kills and a block for 13.5 points.
After the teams traded 25-19 victories in the first two sets, GW turned up the offense in set three with a .333 team attack percentage while holding the Rams to just .091 in the third set. URI responded with a 25-19 triumph in the fourth set to force the decisive fifth frame.
The fifth set started out well for URI which took a quick 6-4 lead on a GW service error. The Colonials then rallied to grab a 8-6 lead on kills by Taylor Knox and Katie Crosby, along with a pair of Ram attack errors. After the teams traded attacking errors, Whyte slammed a kill and a service ace to give GW match point at 14-10. A kill from URI's Lauren McIntosh preceded Zulandt's set-winner and the Colonials escaped with the victory.
GW (14-7, 3-1 A-10) next travels to the Bronx to face Fordham (12-10, 3-2 A-10) in an A-10 tilt Saturday at 7 p.m. at Rose Hill Gym. Fordham swept Charlotte Friday night at home.
