Aug. 23, 2007
Washington, D.C. - The Georgetown University volleyball team opens the 2007 season at the D.C. Challenge this weekend. For the second year in a row, Georgetown will take on American, George Mason and George Washington in the two-day event. The Hoyas' first match of the two-day tournament is on Friday, August 24 against American. The 5 p.m. match will be played in the Physical Education Building on George Mason's campus in Fairfax, Va. GU will play George Mason and George Washington on Saturday inside American's Bender Arena at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively.
"Our players had a great preseason and we are looking forward to seeing where we stack up against outside competition," Head Volleyball Coach Arlisa Hagan Williams said. "The D.C. Challenge is a competitive tournament and a fabulous starting point for the Hoyas. We are very fortunate to have such strong teams in the local area. We will use this weekend as our barometer to determine what steps we will need to take for a successful season."
In last year's inaugural D.C. Challenge, the Hoyas won one of three matches. They dropped a tough 3-1 contest to George Washington as the Hoyas have an all-time series record of 27-31 against the Colonials. Hagan Williams tallied her first win at the helm of the Georgetown volleyball program with a 3-1 win over George Mason and the Blue and Gray lead the all-time series against the Patriots, 13-10. In the final match of the two-day tournament, GU lost a close match to American, 3-1. The Eagles hold a slight lead in the all-time series (10-7) and have won six of the last seven matches.
Under the helm of second-year head coach Hagan Williams, the Hoyas return seven letterwinners from last year's squad that went 8-19 overall. Junior captain Caitlin Boland (Naperville, Ill./Benet Academy) will lead the squad this year with the help of classmate Katherine Niesen (Gainesville, Fla./Eastside).
The Georgetown squad will look to the guidance of Niesen, a 6-3 middle blocker who played in 77 games in 2006 and was third on the team with 120 kills. Boland will look to maintain the same level of play as she has the two previous years. In 2006 Boland participated in 91 games and led the team with 656 assists, 7.21 assists per game. Her serve has proven to be an asset for the Hoyas as she topped the team with 26 service aces in 2006.
The core of sophomores will provide a steady atmosphere for the Hoyas as they spent a number of minutes on the court in 2006. Jessica Hardy (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa) saw action in 76 games and ended the season ranked second on the team with 272 digs.
Kortney Robinson (Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleasant Grove) and Kiersten McKoy (Oakland, Calif./Bishop O'Dowd) will look for significant minutes in 2007 after successful freshman seasons. Robinson hit double figures in kills three times during the 2006 campaign and recorded the first double-double of her GU career against BIG EAST Conference opponent Seton Hall. McKoy ranked third on the team with a .225 hitting percentage last season and really honed her game during the conference portion of the schedule. Against BIG EAST Conference opponents, McKoy led the team with a .270 hitting percentage and even hit .500 at Connecticut.
Courtney Cohen (Tampa, Fla./Berkeley Prep) and Dana Dumas (Nokomis, Fla./Pine View) will look to play a larger role for the Blue and Gray this season after successful efforts off the bench in 2006. Cohen found success later in the season as she hit .310 in her last six games, with an impressive .667 at Pittsburgh and .571 at St. John's. Dumas' top performance of the season was an 11-kill, .435 showing against American in the D.C. Challenge.
Four newcomers will compete for playing time this season and will add much-needed depth to the roster after the departure of three seniors from last year's squad and an additional three letterwinners.
