George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
Fordham
Volleyball Goes the Distance, Defeats Fordham, 3-2
10/9/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 9, 2010
BRONX, NY -- In its closest match of the season, the GW Volleyball team won its second straight five-set match when they outlasted Fordham, 3-2, Saturday night at venerable Rose Hill Gym. Three of the five sets were decided with extra points as the Colonials prevailed by the scores, 24-26, 25-18, 22-25, 29-27, 17-15 in a two-hour, 9-minute marathon.
Just 24 hours earlier, the Colonials defeated the Rhode Island Rams in five sets at Kingston, RI. GW improves to 15-7 overall, 4-1 in the A-10 and 4-3 in five-set matches. The victory puts the Colonials firmly in third place in the Atlantic 10 standings behind only Xavier and No. 19 Dayton.
In all, the match featured 16 lead changes and 36 ties with the Rams gaining the edge in almost every statistical category. The Colonials did manage one more service ace than Fordham (9-8) and kept its serving miscues to just four while the Rams misfired on 15 serves on the evening. Fordham had a team attack percentage of .219 (73k-29e-201att) while GW combined to hit just .182 (60-26-187) for the match.
Sophomore Lauren Whyte led the Colonials 20 kills and added 14 digs for 21.5 points. Senior Katie Zulandt, the A-10's Defensive Player of the Week, added 15 kills and blocked four Ram attacks for 17 points. Freshman Rachael Goss contributed 12 kills and while hitting .235 for 12.5 points. Setter Katie Crosby assisted on 48 of GW's 60 kills and added five block assists. Sophomore libero Candace Silva-Martin led all players with 28 digs and now stands just six digs shy of her 1,000th career dig.
Fordham (12-11, 3-3) was led by Kailee May's 22 kills while hitting .308. Brittany Daulton added 18 kills and 12 digs while Katie Wells hit .355 on 13 kills in 31 attempts. Maria Rodenberg led the Rams with 25 digs.
After Fordham took two of the first three sets, the Colonials' back was against the wall in the fourth set. Both teams played the fourth set as though the season depended on the outcome as they battled through nine lead changes and 17 ties, the last coming at 27-27 on a kill by Whyte. Zulandt crushed a kill on the next possession to give GW set point at 28-27 and the Colonials won the set on a combined block by Crosby and Alex Coward of an attack by May.
GW took control early in the fifth set with a quick 5-1 lead on a pair of MacKenzie Knox kills and a block by Zulandt and Crosby. The Colonials appeared to have the set in hand after building a 12-6 lead but the Rams would not go away. Fordham scored the next six unanswered points to tie the set at 12-12 before another kill by Knox put GW up by one, 13-12. Fordham tied the set on a kill and took a 14-13 lead on a GW attack error. A Fordham error followed to knot the set at 14-14 and turn up the pressure. Fordham's Jenna Hart smashed a kill to give the Rams match point at 15-14 before a Fordham service error evened the score at 15-all. Zulandt crushed a kill and then went up with Whyte to block a Ram attack and end the match with a 17-15 triumph.
GW (15-7, 4-1 A-10) returns to Smith Center to host La Salle (4-17, 0-5 A-10) in a rare Thursday night match at 7 p.m.
