The GW women’s volleyball team dropped its first three matches of the season to three strong teams at George Mason’s Patriot Invitational last weekend.

GW lost its first two sets to a powerful University of Illinois-Champaign-Urbana team Saturday morning, 30-17 and 30-15. In their third game, the Colonials showed promise by building a 13-5 lead only to see the Illini rally back to a 27-27 tie. Illinois then quickly scored three of the game’s final four points, swept the match and handed the Colonials their ninth straight loss.

Sophomore outside hitter Ruth Lazzari lead the Colonials with 10 kills and a team-high five digs, while promising freshman middle blocker Amanda Carnahan also had a good match. Carnahan finished the day hitting .400 with five kills.

While individuals shined in this game, the team did not play well together. GW hit a poor .127 as a team with 23 digs and only two service aces in the match. Illinois hit .416 with 38 digs.

Despite a difficult start, head coach Jojit Coronel remains positive, attributing the team’s poor performance to the inexperience of freshmen players.

“It’s their first NCAA tournament,” Coronel said. “They have never seen this speed (of play) before. It’s good to play against two veteran teams.”

He also said his team has not played together enough to have great chemistry on the court.

“The chemistry off the court is great; it’s finding it on the court,” Coronel said. “They are trying to find out who can step up for us and be consistent, so you don’t really get that chemistry yet. The formula is yet to be found.”

Prior to Saturday’s loss, GW dropped its first two matches Friday to the College of William and Mary and George Mason.

The Colonials lost their afternoon game to William and Mary 34-32, 30-20 and 30-24.

Sophomore Sarah Hokom led the way with 12 kills and nine digs, but also accumulated eight errors. The Colonials hit only .158 as a team, compared to the Tribe’s .318, picking up two service aces to William and Mary’s 15.

The Colonials were also overmatched by GMU in their first contest Friday morning. They began their tournament with a 0-3 loss as the Patriots outscored GW 30-22, 30-25 and 30-20. GW hit .118 as a team compared to GMU’s .269. The Colonials also had eight service errors.

“The only thing lacking is consistency and preseason tournaments are a great time to find it,” Coronel said. “We may be sacrificing wins or losses but for everyone to get the opportunity to showcase, you couldn’t ask for more.”