George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
3-3
UC DAVIS
1-4
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC Davis | 24 | 25 | 18 | 25 | 13 | 2 |
| George Washington | 26 | 23 | 25 | 23 | 15 | 3 |
GW Volleyball Wins Two on First Day of GW Invite
9/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
GW 3, Princeton 1 | GW 3, UC Davis 2
WASHINGTON - The George Washington volleyball team set a new program record for single-match attendance in a 3-1 victory over Princeton before battling for a hard-earned 3-2 win over UC Davis on the first day of the George Washington Invitational on Friday at the Charles E. Smith Center.
A record crowd of 1,463 fans packed the Smith Center to see the Colonials rally for a 3-1 win over Princeton. Set scores were 20-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-23.
Junior Chidima Osuchukwu hit a blistering .489 in the match, tallying 26 kills against just four errors to pace the attack. She added four blocks (one solo, four assists) as GW picked up its first home victory of the season. The 26 winners mark the second-highest kill total of her career, second only to her 30-kill outburst in last season's 3-2 win over Dayton.
Freshman Kelsey Clark tallied her second consecutive double-double by adding 13 kills and 10 digs, while senior Jordan Timmer notched her 17th career double-double with 53 assists and 13 digs.
Princeton got off to a hot start by swinging .351 (16k-3e-37a) in the first set en route to a 25-20 victory.
GW (3-3) saw its defense come alive in the second set, using five team blocks and limiting the Tigers to a .077 attack percentage (10k-7e-39a), to tie the match with a 25-23 victory.
The Colonials kept the pressure on into the third set, swinging .343 (18k-6e-35a) on the way to a 25-19 win. Osuchukwu totaled eight of her match-high 26 kills in the third frame to pace the attack.
GW completed the comeback with a narrow 25-23 victory in the fourth set. Trailing 20-19 late in the frame, the Colonials scored four of the next five points to build a 23-21 cushion. A kill by junior Loren Williams put GW at match point at 24-21 before Princeton scored two quick points to pull within one. A kill by Osuchukwu put an exclamation point on a dominant performance to clinch the win.
The Colonials survived a back-and-forth battle to earn a 26-24, 23-25, 25-18, 23-25, 15-13 win over UC Davis in the nightcap.
Osuchukwu was nearly unstoppable once again, finishing with a match-high 23 kills against just three errors (.435). She added six blocks (one solo, five assists) to lead three players in double-digit kills.
Senior Maggie Skjelbred added 17 kills, a career-high mark, on a .389 attack percentage along with five digs and one block assist. Clark also narrowly missed out on her third straight double-double with 14 kills and nine digs.
Timmer posted her 18th career double-double in the nightcap with 58 assists and 13 digs in addition to six blocks (two solo, four assists). Senior Maddy Doyle finished with a match-high 26 digs to anchor the back line.
GW sprinted out to a 13-8 lead in the first set, but five straight points by UC Davis (1-4) tied the match at 13-13. The teams battled until another tie at 20-20 before the Colonials scored three straight points to pull ahead, 23-20. The Aggies answered with four straight points of their own to take a 24-23 lead before three straight kills, two by Osuchuwku and one by Clark, clinched the first set at 26-24.
UC Davis rebounded in the second set to post a 25-23 victory and knot the match at 1-1 headed to the break.
GW's best offensive effort of the match came in the third set, as the Colonials swung .389 (16k-2e-36a) en route to a 25-18 victory.
The Aggies would not back down, closing the fourth set on a 5-1 run to force a decisive fifth frame with a 25-23 win.
The fifth set featured seven ties, and the Colonials did not seize the lead until a 3-0 run when trailing 10-9 put them ahead 12-10. UC Davis responded to tie the match at 12-12, but the Colonials forced an attack error and got two huge kills from Skjelbred down the stretch to clinch the match with a 15-13 victory.
The Colonials hit .225 (68k-27e-182a) in the nightcap while holding the advantage in digs (88-71) and assists (66-62).
In other action on Friday, Princeton defeated Radford, 3-2, and UC Davis beat Radford, 3-0.
The Colonials conclude the GW Invitational on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. against Radford.
