Friday, November 8, 2013

GW Volleyball Wins Fourth Straight, 3-0, Over Fordham

Sophomore Maggie Skjelbred - 3 kills

From our friends at GW Athletics Communications...

Osuchukwu Paces Offense With 10 Errorless Kills

The George Washington volleyball team hit .318 with just 11 attack errors on the way to a 3-0 sweep of Fordham on Friday afternoon at the Charles E. Smith Center. Set scores were 25-12, 25-22, 25-13.

With the win, GW (14-11, 9-2 A-10) has now won four matches in a row and nine of its last ten entering Sunday's regular season home finale.

Chidima Osuchukwu (#8) led GW with 10 kills

The Colonials swung .318 (38k-11e-85a) in the match while limiting Fordham (9-18, 2-9 A-10) to an attack percentage of .010 (26k-25e-99a), their best defensive showing of the season.

GW got off to a hot start in the opening frame, posting 11 kills against just three attack errors (.286) and limiting the Rams to seven kills while forcing 11 errors (-.103). The Colonials raced out to a 6-1 lead which forced a timeout by Fordham. The Colonials eventually extended their lead to 12-3 and never looked back en route to the 25-12 victory.

The second set was the closest of the afternoon as the teams battled through 11 ties and three lead changes. Fordham held an early 5-3 lead but a service error and kill by freshman Emily Clemens pulled the Colonials even at 5-5. GW grabbed a brief lead at 11-9 but three straight points by the Rams put them ahead, 12-11, forcing a GW timeout.

Rachel Goss (#1) with 1 of her 8 digs

Out of the break, Fordham strung together a 6-3 run to take an 18-14 lead which forced another GW timeout.

The Colonials responded by storming back on the strength of a 5-1 run to tie the match at 19-19. From there, GW forced three attack errors, one service error and got a pair of kills from senior Rachael Goss to take the set, 25-22, and a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.

The momentum carried over to the third set as the Colonials raced out to a 10-3 lead and hit a match-best .423 (15k-4e-26a) en route to a convincing 25-13 win to clinch the sweep.

Freshman Chidima Osuchukwu paced the offense with 10 errorless kills in 13 attempts (.769) in addition to one block assist.

Junior Kelsey Newman added eight kills and six digs while Goss posted six kills, eight digs and two block assists.

Junior Gabrial Rushton led the Colonials at the net with a match-high six blocks (one solo, five assists).

Clemens notched 26 assists while sophomore Maddy Doyle paced the defense with a match-high 13 digs.

GW will conclude its regular-season home schedule on Sunday afternoon against Rhode Island at 1:00 p.m. Prior to the match, the GW Volleyball program and the Department of Athletics & Recreation will honor seniors Jamie Armstrong, Jessica Burr and Rachael Goss.

Click here for tonight's box score.