George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
<b>CHARLOTTE</b>
GW Volleyball Overcomes Slow Start to Slam Charlotte, 3-1
10/1/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 1, 2011
WASHINGTON - Freshman Kelsey Newman was one of four Colonials to record double-digit kills as the George Washington volleyball team overcame a slow start to knock off Charlotte, 3-1, Saturday night at the Charles E. Smith Center. Set scores were 20-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-18.
GW (12-5, 1-2 A-10) combined to hit .274 as a team on 57 kills with 20 errors while holding Charlotte (6-9, 0-3 A-10) to a .179 (45k-21e-134a) attack percentage to win its first Atlantic 10 conference match of the season.
Newman paced the Colonials offense, leading the team with 14 kills to go with seven digs, three block assists and one service ace. Newman was joined in double-digit kills by junior Lauren Whyte (12 kills, 11 digs), sophomore Taylor Knox (12 kills, six block assists) and freshman Christy Harper (10 kills, two block assists).
Charlotte opened the match with an 8-2 run to assume control in the first set, hitting .310 and forcing eight GW errors on the way to a 25-20 victory. GW trailed by as many as eight points throughout the set but when faced with a 22-13 deficit, rattled off six points to pull within three points at 22-19. Charlotte was able to sustain the momentum and close out the set to take a 1-0 lead.
The Colonials responded by swinging .448 in the second set with just two errors to pull the match even at 1-1. Newman was the catalyst in the second set, totaling five of her 14 kills in the frame including the decisive kill to clinch the set.
The third set was the closest of the match with seven ties and three lead changes. The two teams exchanged points throughout the first part of the set and found themselves tied at 7-7. From there the Colonials locked down and never trailed for the remainder of the frame, pulling ahead 2-1 with a 25-22 victory.
In the final set the Colonials continued high paced offensive attack, hitting .375 on the way to a 25-18 match-clinching victory. GW hit just two errors in the final frame while holding the 49ers to a .128 attack percentage with six errors.
Defensively, the Colonials were led by junior Candace Silva-Martin who totaled 18 digs to go with five assists. Knox and sophomore Jamie Armstrong each totaled six block assists while Harper and Whyte contributed two block assists each.
Junior Katie Crosby was effective on both sides of the ball, posting 46 assists and one kill to go with 13 digs and one block assist.
GW will return to action on Friday, Oct 7, when it hosts Dayton at the Charles E. Smith Center at 7 p.m.
