Ben Martindale, Sports Editor
VCU women’s volleyball lost 3-0 in the second match of a weekend series against The George Washington University on Saturday.
According to VCU third-year setter Casin Sendir, today just was not their day.
“We didn’t show up with our game,” Sendir said. “It was not our game and everyone was aware of that and we couldn’t play together.”
The loss comes after the Rams won the first game of the series comfortably, 3-0.
Kills from VCU third-years, middle blocker Letizia Galli and outside hitter Lara Del Core, gave the Rams a quick lead out of the gates.
GWU responded by scoring twice to tie the set. The two teams remained knotted up for the next few minutes, going back and forth with neither team able to extend their lead past two points.
The Rams put together their best run of the first set, scoring three points in a row to give them a 15-12 lead, but just as they had throughout the set, the Revolutionaries responded with a 3-point run of their own to tie the match at 15.
GWU used their momentum to extend the lead to 18-16, forcing a VCU timeout. The Rams came out of the timeout and responded, putting together a run of their own and taking a 20-19 lead.
Ultimately, GWU edged out VCU to win the first set 25-23.
In similar fashion to the first set, the Rams got on the board first and quickly put together a 3-0 lead.
GWU battled back, but VCU maintained their lead as the set continued, taking an 11-8 advantage.
A chaotic rally that saw both teams nearly score resulted in the Revolutionaries’ fourth consecutive point as they took a 12-11 lead.
From that point, GWU dominated, putting together a 10-0 run to take a commanding 21-11 lead in the second set.
VCU head coach Tim Doyle believes being on the wrong end of runs was a big factor in the Rams’ defeat.
“That run and then the way the first set ended even, in my opinion. it instilled some belief on their side,” Doyle said. “After a tough 0-3 loss to us yesterday, they kinda came out like,
‘How’s this gonna go?’ And then I think once you get a run like that you’re like ‘oh yeah we’ve got their number’.”
The Revolutionaries went on to complete the comeback, winning the set 25-12.
The Rams came out energized to start the third set and jumped out to a 4-2 lead, but in similar fashion to the previous set, the Revolutionaries took control, mounting a 13-7 lead.
Things went from bad to worse for VCU as GWU went on a 4-1 run to extend their lead to 17-8. From that point GWU cruised, winning the final set 25-11 to earn the victory.