WASHINGTON, DC - Traveling to the nation's capitol Friday night, the La Salle Explorer volleyball team took on the George Washington Colonials at the Smith Center.  Despite three Explorers landing 10 kills, La Salle lost the match 3-0 by scores of 30-19, 30-27, 20-26.  La Salle slides to 6-10 overall and 0-4 in the Atlantic 10, while the Colonials stand at 6-9 and earned their first A-10 win of the season at
1-2.

La Salle was led by a trio of players with 10 kills each. Kara Branz, Christa Dominick and Kristen Kelsey each had 10 kills. The senior, Branz, hit an impressive .556 on 10 kills, no errors and 18 attempts.  Dominick turned in another solid hitting percentage at .346 (10-1-26).  Setter Caitlin Conner assisted on 40 La Salle kills in the match.

At the net, Branz posted two kills (one solo, one assisted) and Dominick matched that with two assisted blocks.  Also on defense, libero Carolyn Judge continued her league-leading performance with a match-high 19 digs.  Sophomore Stephanie Owen contributed 10 digs in the loss.

Landing just four kills more than La Salle, the Colonials were also led by a trio of hitters, with Kelly Kabbes, Abigail Hatter and Janine Brown each knocking down nine kills in the Colonials win.

After coasting to victory in game one, the Colonials built an 8-4 lead in game two, partly due to three ball-handling errors called on the Explorers. With his team trailing 8-4, La Salle coach Dave Stever drew a yellow card followed quickly by a red card for arguing the official's calls resulting in GW's ninth point. The Colonials worked their way to a 22-15 lead before the Explorers battled back to within one at 26-25 on a kill by Stephanie Owen. Following a La Salle attack error, Brown took a set from Juliene McLaughlin and put down a kill for a 28-25 margin. Brown had two chances to put the game away and, after hitting her first chance long, made good on the second one for the 30-27 win.

Following the 10-minute intermission, the Explorers came out strong in game three and raced to a 5-1 lead. La Salle maintained it advantage until GW rallied for a 14-13 lead on a Brown kill. The teams traded points and were tied at 21-21 and again at 26-26 before GW gained the lead for good on a pair of Explorer errors at 29-26 and ended the match on a kill by Shannon Parks.

The Explorers head to Charlotte, North Carolina to take on another new Atlantic 10 opponent, the Charlotte 49ers on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.