Cameron Lancaster | Contributing Photo Editor
What: Atlantic 10 Volleyball Championship Quarterfinals
Where: Smith Center
Who: Rhode Island Rams
When: 7:30 p.m.
Key to the game: If GW can dictate the pace of Friday night’s game, with the addition of home court advantage, the Colonials should be able to pull out a quarterfinal win.
Case for URI
Despite entering the conference tournament as the sixth and final seed, the Rams have to be happy with their opening matchup given their success against the Colonials this season.
URI went 1-1 against GW with a 3-1 win on the road against the Colonials at the Smith Center, GW’s lone home loss of the season. Although the Rams dropped a match in early October to the Colonials, the match was highly competitive, extending to a fifth and deciding set, which GW would win 15-10. Overall, the Rams lead in head-to-head set wins, 5-4.
The Rams, much like the Colonials, show solid production in almost every statistical category. At the end of the regular season, the Rams finished first in the conference with 14.80 digs per set, second the conference with 11.97 assists per game and second with at 13.09 kills per set.
In their last meeting the Rams were led by freshman Lena Vedder, senior Jill Anderson, and sophomore Franki Darnold. Each of the three players tallied at least 10 kills.
Case for GW
After posting a regular season conference record of 10-4, the Colonials enter the A-10 championship as the No. 3 seed, and ultimately the favorite to win Friday’s quarterfinal match.
During the regular season, the Colonials were led on the attacking front by freshman middle blocker Chidima Osuchukwu and junior outside hitter Kelsey Newman. Osuchukwu, who was recently named to the A-10 All-Conference Second Team as well as the A-10 All-Rookie Team, finished the regular season ranked third in the league in hitting percentage at .357 percent. Newman, who was also named to the A-10 All-Conference Second Team, leads the Colonials with 267 kills, which put her eighth in the league at 3.07 kills per set.
On the defensive end, sophomore libero Maddy Doylefinished the season ranked third in the conference averaging 4.10 digs per set.
Despite what might look like a sure win for the Colonials on paper, the Colonials will have to play consistently throughout the entire match, take advantage of the Rams’ subpar blocking defense on the pin with their multiple attack threats, and have a solid defensive game of their own to ensure a victory.
