The GW volleyball team did not play its best volleyball of the season Tuesday night but still easily defeated Maryland-Eastern Shore at the Smith Center, 3-0. More important news came from Ohio, where Xavier (12-4, 6-6 A-10) upset Dayton (21-9, 10-2 A-10), 3-2, to pull to within one game of GW and Rhode Island (12-16, 7-5 A-10) in the Atlantic 10 standings.
The Colonials hold the tie-breaker over the Rams, meaning they currently own third place, with the top four teams making the A-10 Tournament. The Colonials can clinch a tournament berth with a win at home over either last-place La Salle (8-23, 0-12 A-10) Friday night or first-place Temple (16-7, 11-1 A-10) Saturday.
The Colonials will pay careful attention to the Rhode Island-Xavier matchup Friday. If the Rams win, GW is guaranteed a spot in the tournament. But if Xavier wins, they could end up catching the Colonials or Rams after Saturday’s games. Rhode Island is slated to host the A-10 Tournament, but if the Rams do not qualify, the location will be moved to the home of the A-10 regular season champion. At the moment, that would be Temple.
Before the Colonials can worry about where they play, they must beat La Salle Friday, especially since they have not defeated Temple in their last 10 tries.
“If there is any match this year that’s important, it’s this one (against La Salle),” GW head coach Jojit Coronel said. “It’s the biggest match of the season for us because it solidifies the A-10 Tournament berth. We have had several opportunities to seal the deal but we haven’t done it. We want it to be in our hands.”
Tuesday’s non-conference tune-up against Maryland-Eastern Shore (24-10) started well as GW jumped out to an early 17-10 advantage. The Colonials cooled quickly, however, as the Hawks cut their deficit to three at 22-19. Coronel called a timeout to refocus the team, and GW went on to win Game One, 30-23.
In Games Two and Three, Coronel gave more playing time to freshmen and bench players as the Colonials won both games, 30-22 and 30-26, respectively. Sophomore Abigail Hatter came off the bench and recorded seven kills and played superb defense at the net.
“We will look at her coming off the bench or starting because of her improving play,” Coronel said. “She is pretty much a freshman this year because she didn’t play much last year, and if she is getting better, our team will get better.”
Senior Ruth Lazzari led the Colonials with 12 kills and freshman Juliene McLaughin added 11 kills for GW. Senior Lauren Dunning had 33 assists.
Former Colonials assistant Toby Rens coached the Hawks, whose assistant coach is former GW volleyball player Rennee Arnold, who graduated in 2001.
Friday’s game against La Salle begins at 7 p.m.
