It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

The GW women’s volleyball team finished its season this weekend by sweeping Xavier University and Atlantic 10 third-place team, the University of Dayton.

But despite the wins, GW was not one of the four teams that made the cut for the A-10 championships. GW (21-12, 11-9 in the A-10) finished the season tied for fourth place, missing the postseason because of a tiebreaker.

“It seems incredibly disappointing that we are not going to the tournament because we are one of the hot teams,” head coach Susie Homan said. “But we have to learn from the reasons that we were not able to accomplish our goals and be in the tournament.”

GW 3, Dayton 0

The Flyers (19-10, 14-6 in the A-10) jumped to a 5-0 lead in the first game behind good serving. GW stayed under control, scoring its first point on one of Julie Jahnke’s team-high 19 kills and went on to win the first game 17-15.

“When we got down we didn’t really get excited about it. I think that was a sign that we really are maturing,” Homan said. “Just two months ago it would have turned into sheer panic.”

With three players – Jill Levey, Theresa Ridder and Jahnke – hitting over .500 and tallying a combined 69 digs and 11 blocks, GW’s incredible performance led it to win the next two games 15-7 and 15-7.

The Colonial women started out the third game with a 9-0 run and finished things off with a solo block by Suzana Manole.

“We were bigger than Dayton physically and many times we were quicker than them. With that combination we’re a tough team,” Homan said.

GW 3, Xavier 0

Against the Musketeers (12-17, 8-11 in the A-10), the Colonial women stepped on the court, did their job and stepped off with a three-game victory.

“It was a very good display of following the game plan, and when we’ve been able to do that throughout the year, we’ve played our best matches,” Homan said. “When we don’t have control, especially with this team, it seems to feel very uncomfortable.”

Game one started out evenly matched, tied at nine different points in the game, until the score reached 11-11. But GW pulled away at the end with some big plays, winning 15-11 on Jahnke’s solo block.

GW put away the next two games 15-10 and 15-9.

Setter Jill Levey helped set that tempo with 43 assists, playing what Homan said was her best match all season.

“She’s just really done an outstanding job for the team this year, coming in as a freshman setter and taking the team from day one. It’s just an incredible task,” Homan said. “It was good to see her play that relaxed and with that much confidence and be that successful.”