Fans in the Smith Center rose to their feet as the Colonials returned to the court for the deciding set against Xavier on Sunday.
The whistle blew, followed by a Musketeer’s serve to freshman Kelsey Newman, who emphatically blocked the ball back to Xavier’s half of the floor.
The spectators erupted with cheers, providing GW (13-6) with all the momentum it needed to run away with a 3-2 comeback victory. It was a weekend of mixed emotions for the volleyball team, but it ended with a definitive bang.
“They played like they were hungry today. That’s what we need to get back to,” head coach Amanda Ault said. “From start to finish, they just got after it.”
GW headed into a Sunday match that had special meaning for their head coach. Ault served as the Musketeers assistant coach and associate head coach from 2001 to 2007, but her loyalties lay solidly with the Colonials Sunday.
The match began quickly with high-energy play. The Colonials posted 15 kills in the first set, seven of them coming from junior Lauren Whyte, who totaled a 22 on the match. Errors proved to be a problem again for the Colonials, who racked up 12 in the first set. The set went down to the wire with four lead changes in the final minute, and ultimately the Musketeers came out on top. The Colonials did not put up their best fight in the second set, posting a .222 hitting average. Xavier hit .333, playing their best volleyball of the match and winning their second straight set.
GW mounted a comeback in the third set upping their hitting average for the set to .349 to put the match at 2-1. GW came back on the court for the fourth set and after tying the set at 11, the Colonials never gave up the lead, led by junior Candace Silva-Martin to a 25-18 set victory.
Newman fired up the crowd with block to start play in the fifth set, followed by multiple crucial blocks from sophomore Jamie Armstrong, handing GW the momentum it needed for a 15-8 set victory.
Sunday’s game was high with emotion for the Colonials as GW looked to defeat two undefeated league foes this weekend: Dayton and Xavier. But Dayton had other plans, defeating GW in straight sets Friday night.
The Colonials struggled to establish a rhythm, committing four quick errors in the first set, which allowed Dayton to set the tone with a 5-1 lead. Dayton hit .333 with four aces in the second set and GW committed eight more errors.
In the third set the Colonials battled back, playing though nine ties and three lead changes up until the final points. But in the end, the Flyers took the set by two points, defeating the Colonials three sets to none.
“We had no fight. We just needed to go out there and put everything on the line. We did that, but we did it too late,” Ault said. “It’s a hard lesson to learn and we were talking about how we have the ability to play and compete with any team in this conference, but that we’re just not allowing ourselves to do that.”
There was one highlight for a particular Colonial Friday, despite the team’s loss. Silva-Martin etched her name in the program’s history during the match, passing Suzana Malone , a 2000 graduate, and Ruth Lazzari, an alumna from 2003, on the school’s all-time digs list, recording 14 digs and putting her at a career total of 1,440.
“Breaking it as a junior who has half of a season left and a full season ahead of her, that is outstanding,” Ault said. “I think she can really take that record somewhere. That’s going to be hard to beat.”
GW next hosts Fordham Oct. 14 at 6 p.m.
