The Georgetown volleyball team (8-14, 2-7 Big East) fell to the Xavier Musketeers (10-8, 6-2 Big East) 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-18) and the Butler Bulldogs (6-15, 3-6 BIG EAST) 3-1 (22-25, 25-21, 29-27, 25-21) in their two-game road-trip over the weekend. Freshman outside hitter Alyssa Sinnette led the Hoyas with 29 kills over the two matches, while freshman libero Kenzie Higareda totaled a whopping 72 digs.
Against Xavier, Georgetown seized the first set with a strong 0.457 hitting percentage, but could not put away the Musketeers in the second set after taking a 17-all tied. The Hoyas would fall behind early in the third and fourth set, spotting Xavier a 6-1 and 15-8 lead, respectively. Higareda liked what she saw from her team early on, but acknowledged that the Musketeers’ relative advantage in experience played a role in the turnaround.
“The experience came out on their side,” said Higareda. “We’re all young, their experience came out and they were able to take the lead and we were falling behind.”
Head Coach Arlissa Williams loved the fight and energy her team displayed, and was even happier with their performance against Butler the following day.
“The Xavier match, I think that they came out and played hard, and the scores were close,” said Williams. “That one just got away from us. But they turned around on Saturday and played lights out. We played such a good match against Butler, with long rallies, balls going back and forth, high energy, I thought they did a really nice job.”
To Williams’ point, the Hoyas came out firing on all cylinders on Saturday as well, winning the first set once more, 25-22. After dropping a close second set, the Hoyas and Bulldogs engaged in a tense, back-and-forth occasion in the third set. Each side had multiple opportunities to take the set, but the Bulldogs would hang on longer to preserve a 29-27 edge.
Coach Williams said she couldn’t asked any more of her team, and agreed that the ending simply “bounced the other team’s way.”
“That’s exactly what happened. We were taking some great swings, there were long rallies, playing hard, and we just couldn’t get that last point, said Williams.” “We had set point a couple times, as did Butler, and we just couldn’t get it. But it wasn’t for lack of effort for sure.”
Higareda dispelled any ideas that fatigue of playing back-to-back matches contributed to the loss in any way, instead lauding the team’s enthusiasm and overall engagement.
“We were really excited for that game, said Higareda. “It was a lot fun, everyone was going all out, it was a really good game to be in. Everyone was enjoying themselves.”
The Hoyas would drop the final set and the match, but the team has been able to look at the weekend road trip as another stepping stone of improvement for a very young group. Higareda points to a better care for the ball, something that has been stressed in practices and team meetings.
“I definitely think we improved on that, said Higareda.” “Referring to the Butler game, we had like three unforced errors which is ridiculously low. We transferred that over to the weekend which came out in our favor.”
Coach Williams sees her team following the gameplan and executing to the best of their ability, as well as a sense of purpose that flows through every kill and dig. And even with the disappointing results over the weekend, she feels that something greater is at stake for her team.
“Lauren Saar summed it up well at practice the other day: We have to play with intentionality. And they really took that to heart and are really focused on the things they need to do to take care of our side of the net. We talked about it again Friday night and Saturday morning, and they came out and worked on their communication, committing to responsibilities, expanding their range a little bit, and finding a sweet spot.”
The Hoyas will return home to McDonough Arena this Friday night to host St. John’s (14-10, 4-5 Big East) at 8:00p.m.
