George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
Saint Louis
Volleyball Falls in Five Sets at Saint Louis, 3-2
11/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 12, 2010
ST. LOUIS, MO -- The George Washington volleyball team played valiantly without injured starter Katie Zulandt but came up just short in a 3-2 loss to Saint Louis Friday afternoon in Missouri. SLU won by the scores, 23-25, 25-13, 15-25, 25-14, 15-13 in a battle that lasted just over two hours.
It marked the seventh straight setback for the Colonials who need to defeat Xavier Sunday in the final match of the regular season to earn a berth in the A-10 Tournament. Only the top six teams qualify for the conference championship tournament, Nov. 19-21, at Xavier's Cintas Center. SLU's victory split the season series with GW after the Colonials downed the Billikens, 3-1, on Oct. 3 at the Smith Center.
GW combined to hit .213 on 60 kills in 169 attempts with 24 errors while SLU hit .263 (63k-18e-171att).
GW sophomore Lauren Whyte led the Colonials offense with a match-high 23 kills, 18 digs and a block for 24.5 points. Junior Alex Coward hit a team-high .344 on 16 kills in 32 attempts with just five miscues. Libero Candace Silva-Martin led the team with 19 digs and served a pair of aces on the afternoon. Sophomore setter Katie Crosby assisted on 49 of GW's 60 kills (82%) and added 11 digs. The Colonials were without Zulandt after the starting senior co-captain suffered a knee injury during GW's last outing Nov. 7 at Duquesne.
Saint Louis (18-10, 11-3) was led by Alyssa Deno's 21 kills for 22 points. Carly Marcum added 15 points on 13 kills and three blocks. Andrea Beaty slammed 12 kills with six blocks while Ashley Gaillot led all players with 25 digs.
The first set featured two lead changes and five ties, the last coming at 23-23 on a kill by Deno. Coward asnwered with a kill followed by a kill from Rachael Goss to win the opening set, 25-23. SLU roared back to pull away from a 9-9 tie in the second set with a 7-0 burst en route to the 25-13 romp. GW turned the tables in set three by opening with a 5-1 lead and were never threatened as the Colonials coasted to the 25-15 triumph.
The fourth set was tied at 8-8 before the Billikens opened a 17-10 lead and rolled to the 25-14 win to force a fifth set. The Colonials took charge early with a 4-1 lead on a pair of kills from Whyte and one from Crosby. SLU rallied to tie the set at 11-11 on a kill from Deno. After a GW timeout, the teams traded points and were knotted at 12-12 before another Deno kill and a GW attack error gave SLU match point. Beaty then ended the match on a kill from setter Hannah Kvitle.
GW (17-14, 6-8 A-10) plays the final game of the regular season this Sunday when it hosts Xavier (17-8, 10-3 A-10) for `Senior Day' at 1 p.m. The Colonials need to defeat Xavier and hope for a Charlotte loss in either of its final two matches against Rhode Island and Duquesne, in order to secure a berth to the A-10 Tournament.
Live video and free live statistical updates of the GW-Xavier match are available by going to www.GWsports.com and clicking on the Audio •Video and Gametracker links on the volleyball schedule.
