For GW’s volleyball team, short has meant sweet this season. The Colonials have won 10 of their past 12 matches, most in four games or fewer. They held a six-match and three-match winning streak separated from each other by only one game. But when the matches go to five games, things are different.
This weekend they tacked two more to-the-wire matches onto their record with a 2-3 loss to Long Island and a 3-2 win over Fordham, adding on to the eight games this season that have been decided by sudden death. Of those matches, they have only been able to close on four.
On paper, everything looks great. The team is tied for first in the Atlantic 10’s East Division, and they have just two conference matches left in the season.
But the team (16-10, 7-4 A-10) has a knack for getting into close matches, and its ability to come out on top will determine the conclusion of its quest to win the East Division, which would earn it an automatic berth into the A-10 tournament. Their current record would place them fourth in the Western Division.
Despite all this, coach Jojit Coronel is not too worried.
“The season’s been going well. We’ve got a winning record and an opportunity to win our side, which we haven’t won since 2000,” he said. “Our girls know that whether we’re up or we’re down, we can be resilient and bounce back, we just need to stay confident.”
Senior libero Maggie Wright said the close scores this weekend were not actually indicative of the team’s ability. Though the Colonials were up by 2-0 in both matches before dropping the next two sets, extenuating circumstances explained both.
“Long Island is a really good team, and we surprised them at first,” Wright said. “With Fordham, this match was the difference between them making the A-10’s or not, and they fought really hard.”
The Colonials’ success this year is due to the depth of the team, Wright added.
“One reason we’re doing so well is team chemistry,” she said. “We’re working really hard and playing as a team this year, rather than focusing on one person to hold the burden.”
Of course, standout players like Alyssa Valentine – the freshman setter who was named A-10 rookie of the week on five separate occasions this year – certainly don’t hurt. Sophomore outside hitter Leah Hill’s career-high 23 kills helped the team close another 3-2 match over Charlotte last week. And Wright was recently named to the 2008 ESPN Academic All-District 2 University Division for the second year in a row.
“I think the biggest thing is that we’re really athletic, we have a lot of depth on the team,” Coronel said. “We just compete really well and if we struggle in practice or in a match, there’s someone ready to step in.”
