PHILADELPHIA- In what came down to just two rallies, the La Salle volleyball team fell as George Washington used a late fifth set run to overcome the Blue and Gold 3-2. The Colonials were able to slip past the Explorers in five sets, with scores of 26-24, 18-25, 25-21, 20-25, 15-17.

The first set fell in the Explorers favor, as the team jumped ahead with a 22-16 advantage after battling point for point through the first half of the set. The Colonials crept back to trail by just two, but a pair of kills from Graver and Corah gave La Salle the 1-0 advantage.

After a knotted score at 8-8, GW used a four point run to leap ahead of the Explorers in set two. The Colonials built on their lead, despite an ace and a kill from Graver to capture the set 25-18. In set three, the Explorers opened on a 5-2 run before GW was forced to take a time out. After GW crept back to even the score at 17 all, the Explorers took a three point run spearheaded by a kill from Graver to secure their lead.

The Colonials charged ahead in set four, taking a lopsided 18-7 advantage when La Salle came storming back on a 9-3 run, championed by a pair of kills from Madison Kuch. It was not enough to fully recover as GW clung to the lead to win the set by just five. 

Knotted at 2-2, La Salle opened the fifth set with a 10-3 advantage, thanks to three kills from Reilly Lowe and two kills apiece from Maya Barton and Graver. The Colonials took an uncontested six point run to put themselves back in the game, where it would come down to a point-for-point fight. The Colonials used a pair of kills to end the elongated fifth set to take the Atlntic 10 victory.

Graver and Corah led all kills with 16 each, while Graver added 20 digs in La Salle's effort. Lowe posted a career-best 13 kills to go with three total blocks.

Sharrtis amassed 21 digs, while adding two aces for La Salle. Barton contributed a team best four total blocks on the day. With the loss, La Salle slips to 9-7 overall and 0-1 in conference play.

The team will be back in action on Sunday, when they face George Mason to continue Atlantic 10 play. The match opens at 4:00 PM at Tom Gola Arena.