Oct. 23, 2009

Box Score

WASHINGTON, D.C. - With a career-high 23 kills, senior Lauren Kaminsky led the Xavier volleyball team in a tough loss at George Washington, 3-2 (26-28, 25-23, 22-25, 25-11, 16-18) Friday night. Freshman Stephanie Vorherr also had a career night, tallying a career-high 30 digs for the contest.

Also for the Musketeers, junior Claire Paszkiewicz recorded her fifth double-double of the season after setting a season-high 58 assists to go with 15 digs. Senior Kelly Ruth also had a double-double in the match, her third of the season, with 15 kills and 12 digs. Senior Hillary Otte had a well-rounded match with 15 kills, seven assists, four digs and six assisted blocks.

Xavier (13-10, 5-3 A-10) started the first set with a 3-1 lead but George Washington tied the frame at the three-all. The Musketeers used a 6-0 run to take control of the set, 9-3, but the Colonials battled back to pull within one, 12-11. XU held onto the lead until the two teams were knotted at 23 each and GW held set point at 27-26. The Colonials took the first frame, 28-26, on a Musketeer attack error.

George Washington (18-7, 5-3 A-10) fell behind early in the second set as Xavier jumped out to the 5-1 lead, capped off with a kill from Kaminsky. The Colonials took their first advantage of the set, 15-14, after three consecutive Musketeer ball handling errors. XU answered by rattling off four straight to retake the lead for good. Back-to-back GW service aces set the score at 24-23 in favor of XU but the Musketeers took the frame, 25-23, with a Kaminsky kill.

The third set was close from the beginning as neither team could get ahead by more than one until a 3-0 run by GW gave the Colonials the 9-6 advantage. The set was tied at 11 apiece and the two squads traded point until George Washington pulled ahead 21-20. The Colonials closed out the frame with a 4-2 run to take the game, 25-22, and a 2-1 match lead.

The Musketeers came out strong in the fourth set and used a 12-0 run to blow open a 16-2 lead. XU dominated the entire frame and evened the match at two sets each with the 25-11 fourth-set lead.

Neither team was going down easy in the deciding game as Xavier held a 5-2 advantage to open the set. GW answered with a 7-4 run to set the score at nine points apiece. The two squads traded points and Xavier could not convert match-point, 14-13, as George Washington tied the set at 14-all on a kill from Leah Hill. The Colonials were able to score two points in a row to take the set, 18-16, and the match, 3-2.

The Colonials were led by Katie Butz with a team-high 22 kills and Candace Silva-Martin with a match-high tying 30 digs.

The Musketeers return to action on Sunday with a road match at Charlotte. First serve is set for 1 p.m.