Wednesday’s match was not much of a challenge for the GW women’s volleyball team.

In just 64 minutes, they cruised past Morgan State 3-0 with scores of 25-12, 25-9 and 25-17.

“We were expecting a pretty solid win,” senior Katie Butz said. “We were definitely expecting to take care of our side.”

Although the match was over quickly, it was not without impact for the Colonials (15-6, 4-2 Atlantic 10).

“It definitely increases our confidence,” Butz said. “We were able to get a lot of people in tonight, which was really good and made us more well-rounded.”

The game allowed head coach Jojit Coronel an opportunity to use some of his role players in larger capacities than normal. Senior Abby Syverson spent the game resting on the bench, while junior Leah Hill played only one of the game’s three sets.

In their stead, players such as sophomore Alex Coward – who had three aces – and freshmen Brianna DeBrock and Christie Graf saw increased court time, giving them experience that may come in handy, should they be needed later in the year.

“It’s not that we’re worried about injuries, but we’re just trying to be as prepared as possible so if someone goes down, the girls are ready off the bench,” Coronel said.

Coronel said he was satisfied with what he saw from some of the less experienced Colonials.

“The speed of play is a big thing for them. Even though it’s Morgan State, they play pretty fast,” he said. “A lot of (what they were working on) was just position on the court and getting their eyes acclimated to the speed of play.”

GW came out to spirited introductions and kept the energy up on the court, jumping out to a 10-2 lead to open the match, never looking back on their way to resounding wins in the first two sets.

Only in the game’s third set did Morgan State keep it close for more than a few points, at one point tying the score 7-7. The Colonials ended up getting on track from there, however, winning six of the next seven points, and going on to win handily once again.

Butz led GW with 12 points on 11 kills, with freshman Lauren Whyte and sophomore MacKenzie Knox adding nine and eight points, respectively. Sophomore setter Alyssa Valentine had another standout game, collecting assists on 33 of her team’s 40 kills.

Coronel said the Colonials are getting ready for their “A-10 push,” nine key conference contests over the team’s final 11 games, beginning with a trip to Charlotte Saturday.

First, however, comes another nonconference game, this one coming Friday at North Carolina Central. Butz said she’s confident her team will maintain momentum and continue their winning ways.

“Definitely, definitely,” she said. “We’ll come home with a W.”