The GW women’s volleyball team lost to Virginia Tech in four games Friday night in a two-hour Atlantic 10 battle in Blacksburg, Va. GW has not defeated Virginia Tech on the road since its A-10 championship season in 1995.

The Colonial women (8-5, 3-2 A-10) had a chance to make a major statement in league play Friday, especially after taking control of the first game against a talented Lady Hokies team.

Instead, the visiting Colonial women lost the four-game contest and now find themselves hovering just above .500 in conference play with two road contests coming up.

GW jumped out to a strong first-game victory to begin the match against the Lady Hokies, but errors and a poor attack percentage cost the visiting Colonial women. GW only committed seven errors in the 15-6 opening game victory, which marked the return of junior Renee Arnold, who had been sidelined with an injury. Arnold contributed eight kills and 13 defensive digs in her first game back.

Virginia Tech (5-9, 4-1 A-10) fought back, pounding 17 kills and forcing 14 GW errors in its 15-7 second-game win. Christine Shubat pounded a team-high 13 kills for the Lady Hokies in the match.

The third game of the match was a tight contest which Virginia Tech edged out, 15-11. Both teams had double-digit figures in kills and errors in the game.

The Colonial women bounced back offensively in the final game with 18 kills and 11 errors for a .132 attack percentage. But Virginia Tech also pounded 18 kills en route to its 15-11 victory. GW beat the Hokies 61-58 in kills but committed 46 errors in the match, while Virginia Tech only committed 39.

Juniors Tracee Brown and Suzana Manole had 13 and 15 kills, respectively, while co-captain Jill Levey added 47 assists to lead the Colonial women.

GW will get another crack at Virginia Tech Nov. 5 when the Lady Hokies visit the Smith Center.

The Colonial women continue their conference play Friday night when GW travels to Xavier at 7 p.m. GW defeated Xavier on the road last September in a tough five-game contest.