The Charlotte 49ers volleyball team defeated the George Washington Colonials after neck-and-neck battles on the hardwood (26-24, 20-25, 27-25, 25-23) Saturday afternoon. The win puts Charlotte in third place in the Atlantic 10 standings.
During the first set of the game, the Niners were scoring back and forth points with the Colonials, but the Niners soon trailed by three.
George Washington quickly raised their score by six, due to Charlotte errors and their own kills. However, George Washington failed to keep a large lead, and Charlotte as the Niners quickly came back within three after George Washington errors.
A serve from sophomore Leah Leventhal left George Washington unable to pull the back over the net, leaving the Niners with a score of 12-14.
A long rally between the two teams was finally given to the Niners when Leventhal killed the ball past the George Washington defense, making the score 17-19.
A serve by sophomore Abbie Rees sent the ball to George Washington, that was blocked by junior Kara Raker, putting Charlotte within one.
The first set ended with 12 Charlotte kills, to George Washington’s 14, but a Charlotte percentage of 47, to George Washington’s 43.
The second set began with a George Washington lead of 2-1, which was quickly recovered in a tie at 2-2.
When the score slid to a 9-3 George Washington lead, Charlotte called for a time out. The Niners came back stronger, and scored the second point after the time out, making the score 9-5.
A double block by seniors Kaitlin Knight and Jenn Webb made the score 7-11.
When the score grew to a 18-12 in favor of George Washington, the Niners called for another time out.
The Niners and the Colonials finished the first and second sets with 10 tied scores, and five lead changes. Sophomore setter Sheri Davis ended with 15 assists, and red shirt junior Kat Hicks and Raker finished with five kills a piece. Knight led the Niner defense with 13 digs.
With the match tied at one set a piece, the Niners and the Colonials came out for a battle in the third set. A close set score left the entire game feeling much like the last five points of the last two games.
At 16-19, the Colonials finally widened the gap. But the Niners quickly caught up at 19-20, but fell behind again, after a kill from the Colonials.
At 24-24, Davis served a ball into the net, adavncing the Colonial’s score to 24-25.
Freshman Bianca Rouse finally found a gap between the double teaming Colonials, and sent a ball right through them, causing the score to be tied at 25.
The Niners increased their lead to 27-25 after a kill by Raker, and an error by the Colonials, and win the third set.
During the third set alone, the Colonials and Niners had a total of nine tied scores, and four lead changes, similar to their first game. Webb earned five more kills, and Davis gained six digs.
The Niners and the Colonials remain tied at 4-4, and 7-7 during the fourth set. The game trend continued on to 11-11 and 12-12, and was even more nail-biting than the third set. Neither team was able to catch a breath of air, or more than a one point lead.
The Colonials found a lead at 19-22, which was quickly suppressed when they struggled to send a ball back, 22-20. A kill by Hicks makes it a one-point game at 22-21, but was quickly given back to the Colonials when the ball bounced from a Niner block.
A kill by Raker sent the game back in to a neck-and-neck battle at 22-23, and then leveled it out at 23-all.
The Niners won the fourth set, and the match, after defeating the Colonials in three out of four matches.
“That was a wild one. We worked extremely hard this week to prepare for them because we only had one match. Their team and coach always does a good job of preparing for us and adjusting to us,” said Charlotte head coach Chris Redding. “It was a good one for us to build off of.”
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