Final Stats

WASHINGTON - The Georgetown University volleyball team dropped a tough, 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-23), decision to Butler University on Friday night in a BIG EAST Conference match at McDonough Arena.

The Hoyas fall to 10-19 on the season and 4-12 in the BIG EAST, while the Bulldogs improve to 11-17 and 7-8 in conference action.

Alyssa Sinnette (Pearland, Texas/Dawson) led all players in the match with 11 kills and Lauren Saar (Richland, Mich./Plainwell) and Symone Speech (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest) each were in double figures with 10 kills. Kenzie Higareda (Woodbridge, Va./Forest Park) led the GU defense with 11 digs and Sinnette and Paige McKnight (Atlanta, Ga./Dunwoody) each had eight. McKnight also contributed a match-high 31 assists.

First Set
The Hoyas led for most of the first set, thanks to an early 3-0 run on a kill by Sinnette and service ace from Higareda. Butler eventually used a run of five-consecutive points to overcome a 15-13 GU lead and go ahead, 18-15. With the lead at 20-16, the Bulldogs scored five of the final seven points to win the first set, 25-18. Sinnette had three kills to lead the Georgetown offense and Saar added three. Both Sinnette and Higareda had five digs, while McKnight had 10 assists.

Second Set
It was Butler's turn to open the set with a 3-0 run as the Bulldogs jumped to an early lead. The Hoyas were never able to pull even, however, as the visitors took the second set by an identical 25-18 score, taking a 2-0 lead in the match. Saar had four kills to lead the Blue & Gray, while Sinnette and Speech each contributed three. McKnight had 10 more assists and added four digs, tying for the team lead in the set with Liv King (Ardmore, Pa./Lower Merion).

Third Set
The third set was back-and-forth the entire way. The Hoyas took their largest lead of the set, 18-14, on a huge block from McKnight and Ashlie Williams (Los Angeles, Calif./Marymount), but Butler responded with five of the next six points to tie the score at 19. Both teams traded points until, after GU took a 23-22 lead on a Butler attacking error, the Bulldogs answered by scoring the final three points to win the set, 25-23, and complete the sweep. Both Sinnette and Speech led the offense with four kills in the third set and Saar added three. McKnight had 12 assists and was one of three players with three digs.

Season Notes
Higareda was recognized on Friday for recording her 476th dig of the season last weekend at Marquette, setting the Georgetown record for digs in a single season. Higareda, who now has 487 digs this year, broke the previous record of 475 digs, set by Tori Rezin in 2009 ... With her seven digs on Friday, Saar now sits at 999 digs for her career, just one away from becoming the ninth player in program history to reach 1,000 digs for her career ... Sinnette needs just 16 kills over the final two matches to become the first Hoya since 2002 to reach 350 kills in a season.

For the season, Sinnette leads the Hoyas with 334 kills and 3.52 kills per set. Speech leads the front court with 0.75 blocks per set and has a team-high .295 hitting percentage. McKnight is averaging 9.70 assists per set and leads the team with 35 service aces, while Higareda is atop the defense with 4.55 digs per set.

Georgetown closes out the weekend on Sunday with a 1 p.m. match against Xavier at McDonough Arena. Kids Club members will enjoy an exclusive pre-game pizza party with Jack the Bulldog. Fans are also asked to bring canned good for a Canned Food Drive to be donated to the food bank at S.O.M.E (So Others May Eat).