The Georgetown University women’s volleyball team dropped their final two home games of the season this past weekend to two of the Big East’s more elite clubs.
On Friday, Georgetown (5-21 overall, 2-11 BE) fell to No. 7 Louisville (23-1 overall, 11-1 BE) 3-1 (30-18, 28-30, 30-25, 30-9) at home. As heavy underdogs, the Hoyas fought hard to wrestle one win from the Cardinals, and they pressured Louisville in each of the losses.
“Our team did a great job of fighting,” Head Coach Li Liu remarked after the match. “Especially since they (Louisville) are such an athletic, tall team.”
Overmatched by the nationally ranked Cardinals, the team fiercely defended its home court, with the fervent backing of a gang of loyal Hoya Blue members. During the match, senior outside hitter Rachel Nelson recorded the milestone 1,000th kill of her career, en route to her 12th double-double of the season. Meanwhile, sophomore outside hitter Katie Nulty posted her third double-double of this season during the loss.
“The mentality we had was really good,” Liu said of the team’s mindset. “We came into the game ready to put up a good fight.” Despite the effort, the Hoyas fell short of notching a major upset. With the match tied at 1-1, the Hoyas led 18-9 in the third game, before the top team in the Big East regrouped to take the third game, and eventually the match.
On Sunday afternoon, the same Hoya team did not show up for Senior Day, but Cincinnati (18-9 overall, 9-3 BE) left them with the same result. The visiting Bearcats rolled 3-0 (30-20, 30-28, 30-26) behind double-digit kills from three different UC players.
In the final game of her career at McDonough Arena, senior Rachel Nelson again led the Hoyas with 10 kills. But the young, injury-plagued Georgetown team was out-hit .258 to .072, unable to keep pace with the versatile Cincinnati team.
“I was a little disappointed…we didn’t start the game where we left off (on Friday night),” coach Liu stated. “We need to continue pushing up, but this just happens with a young team. We move up and down.”
The team has struggled to win games this year, but they have alwasy managed to stay positive.
“Our kids keep their head up,” Liu said. “I’m very proud, I know the team is going in a great direction. They’re still pushing hard and getting better.”
Georgetown will finish off their season this weekend as they travel to play a non-league game against Long Island University on Saturday before meeting with Seton Hall on Sunday.
