After getting off to a bad start this season, the Georgetown women’s volleyball team knows better than anyone that how you finish is more important than how you start.
Luckily, the team took their early season experience to heart in Tuesday night’s game against the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. After dropping the first two sets, the Hoyas mounted a comeback for a hard fought 3-2 win.
A tough loss to Furman broke the Hoyas’ seven-game winning streak last weekend, and losing their second game in a row would have been a disappointment. Plus, two consecutive losses would not be the most ideal way to go into the conference schedule. Instead, the team was motivated by their coach and dug deep to get back on the winning track.
Head coach Arlisa Williams used what she said were “not the kindest words” to rally the Hoyas during the 10-minute break after two rough sets, both of which the Hoyas lost 25-20. Whatever she said, it seemed to work. Junior captain Tory Rezin said the team knew after the second set that they needed to step it up and work together, and the Hoyas rallied to win all three subsequent sets. From then on, they played relentlessly and outscored the Retrievers 65-48.
“We’re not going to push ourselves five days a week, three hours at 7 a.m. everyday, to just let some team come into our gym and walk all over us,” Rezin said. Rezin added that after the second set, the team improved communication their on the court.
Their hard work finally paid off in the final three sets, in which the Hoyas had 40 kills. Nine of these came from senior Samantha Trauth, and senior Vanessa Dorismond and freshman Elizabeth Riggins also contributed eight each. Five of the team’s seven blocks also came in the last three sets.
Late in the match, the Hoyas got a huge contribution from sophomore Paris Coleman, who came in during the fourth set. Rezin said she led key background attacks that helped the team win.
Georgetown had the lead for the all of the fourth and fifth sets, and five unmatched points lead them to victory in the deciding set of the night.
With this win, Georgetown is looking to start a new winning streak as they kick off their Big East season against their vaunted rival, Syracuse, this Friday in the McDonough Arena at 7 p.m. Williams and the team are looking forward to the match.
“We’ve gotta come out hard and make sure we’re nice and disciplined,” she said. “[We’re] just really excited for our Big East opener.”
