George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
Virginia
Volleyball Vanquishes Virginia, 3-2, in Jefferson Cup
9/4/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 4, 2010
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA -- George Washington handed Virginia its first loss of the season, 3-2, Saturday afternoon in the final match of the 20th annual Holiday Inn Jefferson Cup at the University of Virginia's Memorial Gymnasium. The Colonials won by the scores, 25-22, 25-22, 10-25, 12-25, 15-9 in a see-saw battle that lasted just under two hours. Although GW, Liberty and Virginia all posted 2-1 records in the tournament, Virginia claimed the title by virtue of its 8-2 record in sets while GW was the runner-up with a 7-5 sets record. Liberty placed third by winning six sets and North Florida was fourth (0-3).
The Colonials took the first two sets by narrow 25-22 margins before the Cavaliers completely turned the tables and romped to 25-10 and 25-12 victories in sets three and four setting the stage for the decisive fifth set.
GW took control early in the fifth set and jumped out to a 3-0 lead behind kills from Katie Crosby, Lauren Whyte and Rachael Goss. UVa rallied to tie the set at 4-4 and again at 5-5 on a pair of GW attack errors. Another kill from Whyte ignited a 4-0 run for the Colonials for a 9-5 advantage but the Cavaliers responded with four points to knot the set at 9-9. GW junior MacKenzie Knox then took a set from Crosby and slammed a kill to put GW up 10-9 giving the Colonials a lead that they would not relinquish. A kill from Leah Hill and a pair of service aces from freshman Hillary DeCarl and the Colonials arrived at match point, 14-9. The match ended on an attack error by Virginia's Jessica O'Shoney to give GW the triumph.
GW senior co-captain Katie Zulandt led the way with a .429 hitting percentage on eight kills and assisted on three blocks. Crosby hit an errorless .667 with four kills in six swings to go with 12 digs and a block solo. Whyte added a team-high 13 kills but also committed an uncharacteristic 12 attacking miscues. Candace Silva-Martin added a team-high 20 digs. Zulandt and Crosby were named to the All-Tournament team.
Virginia (5-1) was led by O'Shoney's 18 kills and 12 blocks while A.J. Cushman added a team-high 23 digs. Both teams served four aces in the match but the Colonials committed five errors from the service line compared to 10 by the Cavaliers. With the win, GW extended it's lead to 10-5 in the all-time series against the Cavaliers dating back to the 1981 season.
GW (4-2) next plays Friday, Sept. 10, against Cleveland State (5-0) in the Cleveland State Invitational. The Colonials have won all three previous meetings with CSU. Kent State (4-3) and Morgan State (1-5) also make up the field in the CSU tournament. It marks the first meeting between GW and Kent State and the Colonials lead, 6-0, in the all-time series with Morgan State.
Free live statistical updates of GW matches are available by going to www.GWsports.com and clicking on the Gametracker link.
