The Georgetown volleyball team (8-20, 2-14 Big East) split its weekend matches on the road, losing in straight sets (25-12, 25-9, 25-18) on Friday to Marquette (19-8, 13-3 Big East) before winning a four-setter (25-21, 19-25, 25-22, 25-17) on Sunday against DePaul (8-21, 2-15 Big East). The win against DePaul ended a 12-game losing streak for the Hoyas, who had not won since Sept. 29.
Junior middle blocker Symone Speech led the Hoyas against Golden Eagles with 11 kills, while junior outside hitter Alyssa Sinnette added five kills and five digs for the Hoyas, who never threatened Marquette in a relatively lopsided affair. Georgetown never led in any of the three sets, and surrendered a 37.2 hitting percentage against a 2.9 hitting percentage from themselves. The Hoyas defense struggled to contain the elite Marquette attack, falling behind early in each of the three frames and failing to string together a comeback. Speech marked a bright spot for the Hoyas as she entered elite territory, notching her 1000th career kill during the third set.
The story was flipped on Sunday, as the Hoyas asserted their competitiveness against the Blue Demons from the outset. Junior outside hitter Alyssa Sinnette led Georgetown with 15 kills and 10 digs, notching an offense-defense double-double, while junior middle blocker Symone Speech added 13 kills. Sinnette joined Speech in the 1000 career kill club, reaching the milestone during the first set. Sinnette’s 1000th kill makes Georgetown one of just 21 programs with multiple players to reach the mark.
The Hoyas showed resolve in the opening frame, battling back from a 7-3 deficit to tie the game at 10 and then once more at 20, before scoring five of the last six points to take the set 25-21. DePaul bounced back in the second set, taking an early 11-6 lead en route to a 25-19 set victory. Georgetown faced another tight affair in the third set, but managed to take the frame following a Sinnette kill and back-to-back blocks from sophomore middle blocker Emily Herrington. The Hoyas made sure that the fifth set would not come down to the wire, surging ahead to a 17-9 lead and prevailing 25-17.
Georgetown will have a chance to build off of its momentum on Friday against Providence (16-15, 5-11 Big East ) at McDonough Arena, before turning around to face Creighton (22-5, 15-1 Big East) on Saturday at McDonough. First serve for both matches is slated for 6:00 pm.
