Ending a long season with a difficult weekend, the Georgetown women’s volleyball team failed to record a win in their final two matches of 2005. The Hoyas full-season records dropped to 6-22 overall and 2-12 in the Big East, leaving the team one game ahead of last-place DePaul and South Florida.
Last Saturday, Georgetown fell to non-conference opponent Long Island University (22-12, 8-0 Northeast Conference). Playing in Brooklyn, NY, the Hoyas were dismissed in three straight games (30-23, 30-20, 30-22), leading only briefly in the second and third games. The Hoyas were led by the spirited play of senior captain Rachel Nelson and freshman Caitlin Boland. Nelson, who recently recorded her 1,000th career kill, added a team-high 15. Boland aided the team with 31 assists and 7 digs, while hitting .333. However, the Blackbirds of LIU out-hit the Hoyas in all three games and .320 to .129 for the match.
Sunday did not bring much of an improvement, as Georgetown traveled to New Jersey for a contest with Seton Hall. The Pirates (14-16, 4-10 BE) have experienced similar struggles this year in the newly reformatted Big East. However, the Hall had no such difficulties on Sunday, ending the Hoyas’ season with a 3-0 sweep (30-28, 30-20, 30-26). Nelson, in her final appearance as a Hoya, battled throughout the match, leading the team with 16 kills and posting nine digs. Sophomore Katie Nulty and first-year Katherine Niesen both added to the Georgetown effort, tallying 11 and seven kills. In each of the three games, Georgetown held the lead, but could not put away Seton Hall, who out-hit the Hoyas .323 to .129.
These final two losses stretched the Hoyas’ losing streak to seven, a slide that began with a loss at Notre Dame on October 23. Georgetown’s two Big East wins this year came on visits to two of the newer conference members, DePaul and Marquette. Marquette, a team that finished No. 7 in the Big East this year, forced the Hoyas to a full five games before Georgetown came away with their first Big East win of the season. The Hoyas earned two additional wins when they traveled to Winston-Salem, NC. There they defeated Morehead State and South Dakota, 3-0 and 3-1, respectively, at this year’s Black and Gold challenge. In late August, Georgetown opened the year with wins over local competition George Mason, 3-2, and Howard, 3-0. Although Georgetown managed to put together consecutive wins on two occasions, the team was plagued by losing streaks that spanned seven, six and then seven games again. Nonetheless, with patience and practice, this young Hoya squad is hoping develop into a greater Big East threat over the next few seasons.
