When GW walked off the court after its third set against VCU, it was walking away from the first set loss for the Colonials since Aug. 27.

The Rams hit .265 en route to a 25-20 set victory, and head coach Amanda Ault knew her team was struggling through a tough battle on the court. But she was also concerned that GW was fighting a mental battle, too, and she gathered her players around the bench, determined to settle them down in time to re-open play in the fourth.

“We talked about settling down and playing our game. We felt like we were rushed and really tight,” Ault said. “It almost felt like we had to make things perfect.”

The bench conversation worked – the Colonials posted a strong fourth set to defeat the Rams, sweeping the VCU/Third Degree Sportswear Invitational championship. The tournament win marked the 9th straight victory for GW, which has yet to drop a match this season.

The Colonials opened play against North Carolina A&T, winning decisively in straight sets. GW was dominant from the beginning of play, jumping out to a quick 12-4 start in the first set and continuing its offensive onslaught throughout the rest of the sets. That strength was matched defensively, holding the Aggies to a .208 attack percentage in the first set alone.

GW swept Cornell the next day, paced again by a dominant first set, when the Colonials swung a .515, recording 19 kills and converting on 76 percent of their sideout point opportunities. It was a victory that saw strong play across the GW roster: juniors Lauren Whyte and Katie Crosby led the Colonials attack, adding 15 kills and 42 assists, respectively. Senior MacKenzie Knox added 12 kills of her own, and sophomore Jamie Armstrong provided the defensive brawn, posting three blocks on the match. Consistent depth across the roster is crucial for the Colonials, Ault said, because it provides the push the team needs to reach its goals and continue to exhibit strong play.

“It’s big for us, every day when we’re in practice if we don’t have depth we don’t have people competing and challenging each other day in and day out,” Ault said. “It’s so important that we have that depth.”

The Colonials’ strength across the board proved crucial in their final match of the tournament, taking on an equally tough host VCU, who also entered the final match after sweeping the first two contests of the tournament. Besides dropping the third set, the Colonials battled to withstand VCU runs throughout the match. The Rams came back from a 24-18 GW lead in the first set to tie the score, fighting off match point seven times in that set before the Colonials were able to clinch. In the second, GW again had to fend off a scrappy VCU squad, pushing through 14 ties and seven lead changes. After the hard-won opening two sets, GW dropped the third to VCU, held to just a .162 attack percentage.

It was the hardest battle of the tournament for the Colonials, and arguably the toughest opponent they had faced in weeks. So Ault pulled her squad around her, quickly taking control before GW headed into the final set. She knew the team was capable of victory, but also knew that they needed to settle down and bring intent focus back to play.

“We talked about it in every set that we played we were up three, four points and let the lead slide and let them tie and then it was a battle. We talked about, we can’t keep letting runs and errors happening. We’re taking care of getting ahead and taking the lead,” Ault said, “But we can’t let them come back.”

GW didn’t let VCU come back, exploding out to a 7-0 lead and swinging .500 to post a decisive 25-11 set victory over the Rams. It was an effort that again saw the team’s leadership set the tone for play, including Crosby and junior Candace Silva-Martin, who were named to the All-Tournament team. Crosby closed the weekend with 125 assists, 12 digs and five block assists, and Silva-Martin added 43 digs and five service aces.

With the three victories, GW extended their win streak to nine, putting them just one victory shy of tying their best start to a season since 2003. But as the team prepares to host Georgetown Tuesday night, completing the D.C. Challenge, Ault says earning a record is the last thing on the Colonials’ minds.

“We’re trying not to focus on it at all, we’re trying to stay away from it, we’re not putting focus on it,” Ault said. “We need to get better every match, and if we do that the wins will take care of themselves and we’ll be a better team.”