WASHINGTON – Georgetown University's volleyball team wraps up the first half of BIG EAST Conference play with a pair of home matches this weekend. The Hoyas welcome No. 10 Creighton to the Hilltop on Friday before taking on Providence at McDonough Arena on Saturday.
First serve for Friday's match is slated for 6 p.m. while Saturday's action begins at 5 p.m. Live stats and video for both matches will be available at www.GUHoyas.com. Saturday's match will also serve as Georgetown's Dig Pink event.
Georgetown returned to its winning ways last weekend with a pair of 3-0 sweeps on the road in BIG EAST action. The Hoyas opened the road trip with a 3-0 victory at Butler in Indianapolis before winning, 3-0, at Xavier in Cincinnati. The win over the Musketeers was the first in program history for Georgetown.
Symone Speech (Oak Park, Ill. / Oak Park-River Forest) was named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week after averaging 1.83 blocks and 1.50 digs per set as a middle. She chipped in 3.17 kills per set on the offensive end.
Alyssa Sinnette (Pearland, Texas / Dawson) led the Hoyas with 3.83 kills per set and added 1.17 digs per set. She also tallied three service aces in the two matches, earning a nod to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll in the process.
Iva Vujosevic (Bar, Montenegro / Niko Rolovic / UMES), playing in just one match over the weekend, posted her ninth double-double of the season with 11 kills and 13 digs.
Kenzie Higareda (Woodbridge, Va. / Forest Park) anchored the Hoya back row with 35 total digs for a 5.83 average.
Vujosevic, Speech and Sinnette all average at least three kills a set, posting 3.64, 3.16 and 3.05 kps, respectively.
Margo Pivonka (Broadview Heights, Ohio / Walsh Jesuit) paces the offense with 9.12 assists per set.
Defensively, Higareda anchors the back row with 4.86 digs per set. Vujosevic adds 2.62 dps while
Jessica Cusi (Pacifica, Calif. / Lick-Wilmerding) adds 2.61 a frame. At the net, Speech has been credited with 69 blocks on the season for a 1.08 average and
Brennan Wilhite (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. / Cathedral Catholic) adds 0.48 bps.
Creighton (14-4, 6-0 BIG EAST) is coming off a pair of home sweeps over Seton Hall and St. John's. Taryn Kloth leads the Bluejays with 4.38 kills per set while Jaali Winters and Megan Ballenger add 3.71 and 2.52 kps, respectively. The offense runs through Madelyn Cole who averages 10.83 assists a frame.
Defensively, Brittany Witt paces the back row with 4.74 digs per set while Winters adds 3.34 dps. At the net, Naomi Hickman averages a clean 1.00 blocks per set while Ballenger is just behind her at 0.85 dps.
Georgetown is 0-10 all-time against the Bluejays dating back to Creighton joining the BIG EAST in 2013. Two of the last three showdowns in McDonough Arena went five sets, including the season finale on the Hilltop last season.
Providence (7-10, 1-5 BIG EAST) has lost four-straight matches in BIG EAST play following an opening weekend split. Allison Impellizeri leads the Friars with 3.27 kills per set while Addison Root and Jena Alderson add 2.94 and 2.47 kps, respectively. Allison Barber paces the offense with 10.10 assists per set.
Defensively, Mackenzie Taylor averages 4.47 digs per set while Alserson and Barber both add at least two a frame. Up front, Impellizeri averages 0.85 blocks per set while Lindsey Schaible adds 0.69 rejections a frame.
Georgetown and Providence have met 43 times in program history dating back to 1981 with the Hoyas owning a 27-16 advantage. The Friars won both meetings last season, both by 3-2 scores, while the Blue & Gray won 14 of the 15 matches prior to that.
Following the weekend, Georgetown begins the back end of league play on the road at Seton Hall and St. John's.
