Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

NEWSLETTER
Sign up for our twice-weekly newsletter!

Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

Women’s volleyball winning streak snapped at four

Senior outside hitter Rachael Goss spikes the ball during Sunday's match against Rhode Island. GW lost in four sets, bringing an end to the team's four-game winning streak. Cameron Lancaster | Contributing Photo Editor
Senior outside hitter Rachael Goss spikes the ball during Sunday’s match against Rhode Island. GW lost in four sets, bringing an end to the team’s four-game winning streak.
Cameron Lancaster | Contributing Photo Editor

This post was written by contributing sports editor Sean Hurd.

The women’s volleyball team had their four-game winning streak snapped Sunday, when they dropped a four set match to the University of Rhode island (25-22, 25-22, 25-23, 25-18) on senior day at the Smith Center.

“We didn’t put it together today,” head coach Amanda Ault said. “I don’t think we truly ever got going, our passing broke down, and we didn’t stay aggressive on the service line.”

The Colonials fell victim to a Rams team that came out of the gate playing a high intensity game, which Ault says caught her team off guard. GW came out flat on the pin. Within the first seven points of the match, URI had amounted 3.5 blocks against a GW (14-12, 9-3 A-10) team that failed to adjust.

“We started off slow, and just weren’t able to pick it up like we usually are able to,” senior defensive specialist Jessica Burr said.

The Rams’ success came in large part from their attacking Sunday afternoon, with three Rams hitters totaling double-digit kills in the four-set win.

But URI (14-15, 6-7 A-10) played far from a perfect game, and gave GW multiple chances to retake the momentum with 11 service errors in the match. The Colonials simply failed to capitalize on the opportunities.

Ault says that her team may have lost focus of the importance of today’s match with the Atlantic 10 tournament just 12 days away.

“I think we got too far ahead of ourselves,” Ault said. “We need make sure we are looking at what’s right in front of us instead of down the road.”

Despite the loss, a handful of Colonials had solid performances Sunday. Junior Kelsey Newman led all players with 17 kills while outside hitter Landon Garvik totaled followed with 11 kills of her own.

Sophomore libero Maddy Doyle tied the game high with 12 digs while Burr and freshman setter Emily Clemens tallied 10 digs respectively.

After posting a 6-1 record in conference home games, the Colonials will now look to close out the season strong on the road with important matches against Saint Louis on Friday and Dayton on Sunday.

While Ault was displeased about her team’s performance Sunday, she says that she’d rather have her team experience a loss on their floor today, instead of in a couple of weeks when the circumstances change to “one and done.”

“We need to take what we learned from this match, what we need to work on and really just be cognizant of that this week in practice,” Ault said. “What’s in front of us is st. louis and that’s it. We need to take care of them on Friday night and our focus will switch from there.”

GW will travel to Missouri Friday to take on Saint Louis at 7 p.m.

More to Discover
Donate to The GW Hatchet