Aug. 24, 2017 WASHINGTON - For the 12th-consecutive season, the Georgetown University volleyball team will open its season at the D.C. Challenge. The Hoyas face local rivals Howard and American as well as Santa Clara in the event this weekend.
Friday's season opener against Howard will be played at AU's Bender Arena, a mere two miles up Foxhall Road from the Hilltop. Saturday's matches against Santa Clara and American will be played crosstown at Howard's Burr Gymansium.
The Hoyas return 13 letterwinners from the 2016 season, including preseason All-BIG EAST selection
Symone Speech (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest). Speech averaged 2.95 kills per set a sophomore while hitting at a .327 clip to go with a team-high 0.77 blocks per set. Fellow juniors
Alyssa Sinnette (Pearland, Texas/Dawson) and
Olivia King (Ardmore, Pa./Lower Merion) added 3.40 and 2.48 kps, respectively, while setter
Paige McKnight paced the offense with 9.82 assists per set.
Defensively, junior libero Kenzie Higareda (Woodbridge, Va./Forest Park) eclipsed the 1,000 career dig mark last season behind an impressive 4.08 digs per set. McKnight chipped in 2.46 dps and Sinnette was just shy of two a frame with 1.95 dps.
Howard and American represent two of Georgetown's longest running rivalries. The Hoyas boast a 30-2 all-time record against the Bison, including 30-consecutive victories from 1977 to 2015. A 3-1 win by Howard in the D.C. Challenge last season snapped that streak and will set the tone for the upcoming season.
The Bison went 26-6 in 2016 after winning their second-straight Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship and earning a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Khaila Donaldson led Howard with 3.89 kps, 2.52 dps, 0.56 bps and 36 service aces. Jessica Young also returns with her 2.32 kps from a year ago while Tamia Dockery paced the offense with 9.65 apg.
Georgetown has played American 35 times in program history, with the Hoyas holding on to an 18-17 advantage in the win column. The Eagles have held the recent edge with four-straight wins with the last GU victory coming in a 3-0 sweep in 2012.
American went 27-8 in 2016, winning the Patriot League championship for the fourth-straight season and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles return their top five offensive weapons from last season, including Aleksandra Kazala and Shannon Webb with 4.32 and 2.59 kps, respectively. Loren McKenzie paced AU at the net with 1.12 bps and Kennedy Ethridge led the offense with 9.96 aps. Also back for the Eagles is libero Hoakalei Dawson who missed the entire 2016 season with an injury.
Georgetown has only ever face Santa Clara once before, with the Broncos pulling out a 3-0 victory in 2006 at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif.
Santa Clara went 16-14 overall in 2016. The Broncos lost their top two offensive players, but return three middle blockers that all averaged around two kills per game. Jensen Cunningham, Hailey Lindberg and Taylor Odom averaged 2.17, 1.95 and 1.45 kps, respectively, while Odom was good for 1.15 blocks per frame. Taylor Laugero chipped in 3.95 digs per set for SCU.
