A conference win eluded the Georgetown volleyball team for a sixth time as Saturday afternoon’s game proved to be a tough one for the Lady Hoyas. The Hoyas, ranked 14th in the Big East Conference, lost 3-2 against the University of South Florida, which is ranked seventh in the conference.
The Hoyas’ season record fell to 6-13, and their conference record is now 0-6.
“The Hoyas fought so hard, and we were down and we came back,” Head Coach Arlisa Hagan said. “Then [USF] made another little run on us again, and that was the difference in the match.”
The Hoyas got the momentum moving in the first game, holding the lead for most of the game. Weak blocks on the part of USF, along with strong blocks and well-hit kills by the Hoyas, gave the game to Georgetown 30-21.
For as hard as the Hoyas played, they could not hold on to games two and three. USF took both by scores of 30-21 and 30-27.
In the fourth game the Lady Hoyas peaked again, despite loosing an extremely long volley near the end of the game. The score changed 26-25 in favor of USF after the volley, but the Hoyas did not let up. They were still in the game as they racked up five points before USF could manage two and took the game 30-28.
“Too bad we didn’t win it, but that was an amazing rally, that was great volleyball,” Hoya freshman middle blocker Kiersten McKoy said of the long volley. “I have never seen a rally that long, and we played really, really hard, and we played really good defense. I was proud of our team.”
USF led the fifth game 3-0 immediately, and the Hoyas failed to get ahead. While Georgetown came close, tying the game 7-7, USF pulled away again and took the game 15-11 and the match 3-2.
Despite the loss, the Hoyas produced solid performances throughout the day. Senior middle blocker Annie Connor led the team in kills with 20, and sophomore outside hitter Jessica Buffum held 17 kills. McKoy finished the game with a .409 hitting percentage.
“I just wanted to get out there and be aggressive for my team and give them all I had,” McKoy said. “I had an opportunity to go in, and I just really wanted to win and really wanted to compete.”
This weekend the Hoyas host the ladies from Rutgers on Friday at 8 p.m. and the ladies from Villanova on Saturday at 2 p.m. in McDonough Arena. The girls will attempt to claim their first Big East Conference win among these matches.
“We out-blocked [USF],” Hagan said. “We had great play, and if we continue to build on that, it will be a fun rest of the way.”
