WASHINGTON – Georgetown University's volleyball team opened the back end of the BIG EAST schedule with a 3-0 (27-25, 25-19, 25-23) loss at Seton Hall on Friday night. The Hoyas fall to 13-9 overall and 5-4 in conference action while the Pirates improve to 8-15 overall and 3-7 in the BIG EAST.

Alyssa Sinnette (Pearland, Texas / Dawson) led the Hoyas with a match-high 11 kills while Symone Speech (Oak Park, Ill. / Oak Park-River Forest) added 10. Defensively, Kenzie Higareda (Woodbridge, Va. / Forest Park) notched 12 digs while Speech led all players with seven blocks.

A highly competitive back-and-forth first set saw 16 ties and five lead changes but still needed extra points to decide the winner. Neither squad could manage a decisive early lead until a Higareda ace gave the Blue & Gray a four-point lead, up 12-8. Seton Hall would battle back, knotting things up on multiple occasions en route to a 21-21 tie before Georgetown posted three-consecutive points to go ahead 24-21. The Pirates responded, evening things up at 24-24 and battled off another set point to take the opening stanza 27-25.

In the second, SHU jumped to an early 6-1 lead to force a Georgetown timeout. The Hoyas would pull within four points, down 14-10 and again at 18-14, but couldn't get any closer as the Pirates won the second set, 25-19.

The third set featured a GU resurgence as both teams battled for an early 10-10 tie. Trading leads, Seton Hall pushed to a 16-12 advantage while the Blue & Gray slowly chipped away at the deficit to pull within a pair, down, 22-20. Trading points down the stretch, the Pirates held off a late Georgetown rally to claim the set, 25-23, and the match with a 3-0 sweep

Haylee Gasser paced Seton Hall with 10 kills while Eden Dolezal led all players with 16 digs.

Georgetown returns to action on Saturday at St. John's in Queens, New York. First serve is set for 5 p.m. with live stats available at www.GUHoyas.com. The match will also be broadcast on ESPN3.