The Explorers were only around for three sets before the Colonials kicked them out of their territory in a sweep to end the regular season Saturday night.
La Salle (6-25, 0-14 A-10) ran a fast-paced attack and controlled the tempo in the first set but GW (20-10, 9-5 A-10) made adjustments on the fly and sharpened their hitting precision to get the win. Set scores were 27-25, 25-15 and 25-9.
Despite the sweep, the Explorers were hungry in their final game of the year, as they missed the postseason. The first set saw an astounding 18 tied scores and eight lead changes.
“For them it’s the last game of the season, and so they were just going to put it all out there and they did,” head coach Amanda Ault said. “We were not focused, we didn’t take care of the things that we needed to and we were going to the wrong people. They were just running a super fast offense, and we weren’t anywhere near it.”
A couple times, La Salle pulled ahead only to have GW regroup out of a timeout. After trading points until the end, La Salle reached set point first, but junior middle blocker Chidima Osuchukwu held them off, knotting the game at 25-25, GW forced an attack error at the net and freshman outside hitter Hanna Justesen took the final swing to close out the set.
Despite a lead, Ault wanted more in the second and third sets. With the team’s sights set on next weekends Atlantic 10 Championship, Ault said she asked her team if they were giving “championship effort.”
From first serve of the second set, GW was the aggressor. Led by strong defense which kept many balls in play, GW got out to a 5-1 lead.
GW brought back the front line force with the blocking duo of sophomore outside hitter Aaliya Davidson and freshman outside hitter Kelsey Clark who helped extend the lead to 12-3.
La Salle started to push back, going on a 4-0 run by capitalizing on a few attack errors at the net, but GW answered.
The Colonials got their largest lead of the set at 23-13 and quickly closed out the frame with a strike from senior middle blocker Maggie Skjelbred through the hands of two diving Explorers.
“I kept up with my aggressive hits and I tried to get on the block more because that was one of our weaknesses,” Clark said. “I was trying to make those minor adjustments to help my team.”
GW came back onto the court with the same intensity to start the third, shooting out to a 8-2 lead with Osuchukwu wreaking havoc in the center and the whole team exploiting La Salle’s errors. GW extended its advantage to nine with a balanced attack from the pins to spread the floor, getting some breathing room after a 3-0 run out of a timeout.
GW had its foot on La Salle’s neck, and, after Ault’s speech during the first break, they pressed down. The Smith Center was roaring as sophomore middle blocker Kristel Moor knocked down an impressive kill to pull the end of the regular season ever closer at 23-9. GW finished their regular season in fitting form with a kill from powerhouse Osuchukwu.
“I think Kelsey and Chi Chi did a really good job of transitioning hard and going back in to be up in the air, and that’s what we want to see out of them,” Ault said. “As the night went on, that developed more and more and it’s important for the connection with Jordan.”
Osuchukwu dominated in the final two sets, finishing with 12 kills and five block assists. Clark followed suit with 11 kills to help GW take down the Explorers in three sets. The Colonials will have home court advantage for tournament play, and will take on No. 5 VCU as the No. 4-seed on Friday at 5 p.m.
Blocking will be a key focus of practice before the tournament begins. Ault said her front line is getting to the right spots to put up a solid block, but have a slow reaction time that allows the opposition to penetrate the net.
