Volleyball Wraps Opening Weekend at UT Invitational

Saturday, August 26

Knoxville, TN

7:00 PM

George Washington University

1-2

Tennessee

3-0

Team	1	2	3	Final F
George Washington	20	9	22	0
Tennessee	25	25	25	3

8/26/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Aug. 26, 2017

Box Score

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Freshman Sydney Welch was named to the All-Tournament team as the George Washington volleyball team concluded play at the season-opening UT Invitational on Saturday at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Welch, a libero from Louisville, Kentucky, totaled 62 digs across the three-match tournament for an average of 5.17 per set. She also dished out 16 assists ( 1.33/set) throughout the weekend.

GW (1-2) concluded its weekend at the tournament with a 3-1 loss to Western Michigan in the first match on Saturday before falling, 3-0, to host Tennessee in the nightcap.

Match 1: Western Michigan 3, GW 1
Set 1: Western Michigan 25, GW 19

The Broncos opened the match on a 5-2 run but the Colonials rebounded to take an early 10-9 lead.
Western Michigan responded with an 11-2 run to build a 20-12 lead.
GW staved off set point four times down the stretch but Western Michigan clinched the 25-19 win on a kill.

Set 2: GW 26, Western Michigan 24

The teams battled in the early going until a tie at 10-10.
Western Michigan created separation by embarking on a 10-2 run to build a 20-12 lead.
The Colonials stormed back on the strength of a 10-3 run to pull within one point of the lead at 24-23 on a service ace by sophomore Jordan Young.
The Broncos got to set point but four straight points, on a pair of kills by both junior Kelsey Clark and senior Aaliya Davidson, completed the comeback and tied the match at 1-1 with a 26-24 win.

Set 3: Western Michigan 25, GW 23

GW trailed early, 12-10, before rattling off four straight points to take a 14-12 lead.
The teams fought through three more ties before the Colonials broke a 16-16 deadlock with with a 4-1 run to take a 20-17 lead.
The Broncos closed on an 8-3 run to win the set and take a 2-1 lead in the match.

Set 4: Western Michigan 25, GW 20

GW erased an early 7-3 deficit to tie the set at 13-13.
Western Michigan rebounded and pulled ahead, 17-16.
GW scored three straight points to take a 19-17 lead but Western Michigan closed the set with an 8-1 run to clinch the match.

Key Stats
The teams fought through 27 tie scores and 15 lead changes throughout the four sets.
GW held advantages in both digs (58-57) and blocks (7.0-6.0) but hit just .113 (43k-28e-133a) compared to .204 (55k-25e-147a) for Western Michigan.
Clark finished with a match-high 13 kills to pace the offense.
Davidson finished with nine kills, five digs, two blocks and a pair of service aces.
Jaimeson Lee double-doubled for the second-straight match with 27 assists and 13 digs.

Match 2: Tennessee 3, GW 0
Set 1: Tennessee 25, GW 20
The Volunteers opened on a 6-1 run before the Colonials were able to close the gap to three points at 10-7.
GW used a 4-0 spurt to pull within one point of the lead at 12-11.
Tennessee responded with a 7-2 run to extend its lead to 19-13 and was able to maintain the advantage for the rest of the set.

Set 2: Tennessee 25, GW 9

Tennessee opened on a 9-1 run and was never threatened en route to the 25-9 win.

Set 3: Tennessee 25, GW 22
The third set was the closest of the match with five ties and three lead changes.
GW led 8-5 in the early going but Tennessee scored seven of the next eight points to pull ahead, 12-9.
GW kept it close down the stretch but was unable to overtake the home team in the final moments.

Key Stats
Sophomores Skylar Iott and Jordan Young shared the team lead with nine kills in the nightcap.
Welch finished with match-high 19 digs.
Freshman Callie Fauntleroy totaled four blocks (one solo, three assists) to lead all GW players.
Attack errors were the difference in the match. Tennessee swung .287 (35k-8e-94a) for the match while GW committed 30 attack errors en route to a .034 swing percentage (34k-30e-117a)

Up Next
GW will open its home schedule with next weekend's GW Invitational at the Charles E. Smith Center against Indiana (Fri., 7 p.m.), LIU Brooklyn (Sat., 12 p.m.) and Hofstra (Sat., 7 p.m.)

Tough matches today but plenty to learn from and build upon. Get the recap from @CoachBernson, Sydney Welch and Jordan Young #RaiseHigh pic.twitter.com/6dNuSRfpgq
-- GW Volleyball (@GW_Volleyball) August 27, 2017