The Revolutionaries traveled to Charlottesville, Va., Friday and Saturday to compete in the Jefferson Cup Invitational. 

In their last weekend of matches before they plunge into Atlantic 10 play, GW split the two-game invitational with a 1-1 record. GW will now begin conference play, looking to improve on their (3-8) season record.

Match 1: 

The Revs dropped their first match of the weekend 3-2 to the invitational-winning Wofford College Terriers (8-2) in their first bout of the weekend. 

The five-set series was a nailbiter, with the Revs exchanging blows with the Terriers early on to earn a 2-1 set lead. But a late-match barrage of kills pushed the Terriers over to seal the contest. 

Wofford started the match with spurts of dominance. They went up 3-1 after two quick kills assisted by senior setter Emily Hodsdon. GW tried to respond, but another scoring burst from Wofford put GW down 4-13. 

GW tried to crawl their way out of the hole with four kills from senior opposite Liv Womble and three from junior opposite MC Daubendiek. Despite the offensive effort, the Revs were unable to close the gap, and Wofford won the first set 25-18. 

GW came roaring back. After exchanging blows in the first half of the set, the Revs scored a quick 5 points to go ahead 16-9. GW held onto the lead following five errors from Wofford and a tetrad of kills to win the second set 25-18. 

Quick outbursts of offense defined the third set, which GW won 25-22. A 5-point surge from the Revs was rebuked by a 13-9 run from the Terriers before the teams exchanged back-and-forth blows through the rest of the set. GW clinched the tight battle with another kill by Daubendiek. 

A back-and-forth battle brought the fourth set to a tie, 17-17. The teams continued to score in flares with 19 points in the set resulting from errors. A tough Terrier offense was too much for GW to overcome, and the Revs lost the thriller, 30-28. 

With the series tied 2-2, GW entered the final stretch hoping to come out on top. The Revs took a 5-3 lead, but the Terriers surged with two quick kills to tie the set 7-7. Freshman outside hitter Bri Mahoney notched two kills and an ace to put the Terriers up 9-7. GW never recovered. The Terriers rolled ahead to close out the set, 15-11, winning the match 3-2. 

Womble led the team with 15 kills and tied the GW-best with three blocks. Graduate Kelsey Watkins also recorded three blocks and notched two aces. Sophomore setter Maeve Loughran led the team with 27 assists to go along with a hard-fought 15 digs. 

Match 2: 

On the second day of the invitational, the Revolutionaries faced off against a struggling Norfolk State squad that came into the match having lost four of their last five games.

The Revs dropped the first set 22-25 but came roaring back to win the next three and take the match three sets to one while outscoring the Spartans 72-59. 

Junior outside hitter Brittany Myers, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, paced the Revs with a season-high 17 kills, seven of which came in the first set, along with a career-high .452 hitting percentage.

In the second set, GW overcame a 12-18 deficit to win 25-21 and tie the match at 1-1. Myers played a pivotal role in the Revolutionaries’ comeback, scoring 5 of the Revs’ last 9 points. 

The Revs survived a furious 8-point Spartan run in the third set that tied it up at 20-20 to win the set 25-21. Junior outside hitter Salem Yohannes came alive, scoring two of her 13 kills in the set. Yohannes finished the match with a double-double, tallying 13 kills to go along with 11 digs. It was her second of the season. Myers added four more kills to help GW win the set and pull ahead for the first time in the match.

A litany of Spartan errors allowed GW to sprint out to a 12-3 lead in the fourth set. And the Revs never looked back, winning the set 25-15 to put the Spartans away for good. 

Womble had three of her 11 kills in the fourth set to help win the set and match for the Revolutionaries. Womble, who was named to the A-10 All-Conference First Team last season, led GW with 39 total attempts en route to their match victory. 

As a team, the Revolutionaries racked up 59 kills on 150 attempts, compared to the Spartans’ 47 on 135 attempts. 

On the defensive side, GW finished with seven blocks, three each from Daubediek and freshman Loukia Papadakos. 

The Revs will begin conference play Saturday, Sept. 23 and Sunday, Sept. 24 at Davidson. Saturday’s game is set to start at noon and Sunday’s match will kick off at 1 p.m.