Box Score WASHINGTON – Georgetown University's volleyball team dropped a BIG EAST showdown to visiting Villanova 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-19) on Friday at McDonough Arena. The Hoyas fell to 13-11 overall and 6-6 in league play as the Wildcats salvaged a series split on the season.
Alyssa Sinnette (Pearland, Texas / Dawson) led the Hoyas with eight kills while
Iva Vujosevic (Bar, Montenegro / Niko Rolovic / UMES),
Symone Speech (Oak Park, Ill. / Oak Park-River Forest) and
Hannah Hamling (Warwick, N.Y. / Warwick Valley) each tallied four.
Defensively,
Kenzie Higareda (Woodbridge, Va. / Forest Park) and
Jessica Cusi (Pacifica, Calif. / Lick-Wilmerding) both collected 11 digs.
Villanova (13-11, 6-6 BIG EAST) opened the first set on a 9-1 run and, following a Hoya side out, posted another 4-0 spurt to take a 13-2 lead. Battling back, the Blue & Gray rallied with runs of 6-1 and 5-1 to pull within three points, down 18-15, and force a Villanova timeout. Coming out of the huddle, the Wildcats scored three-straight points and held GU without consecutive scores the rest of the way for the 25-17 set victory.
A tightly-contested second set saw 15 ties and 10 lead changes throughout. With the Hoyas trailing 12-11, Georgetown went on a 5-0 run to take its first two-point lead of the frame en route to a 16-12 advantage. Villanova responded with a 5-1 spurt to knot things up at 17-17 before a 20-20 tie set up the race down the stretch. Three-consecutive points from the Wildcats put VU up 23-20 and forced a Georgetown timeout. The Blue & Gray scored out of the break, but Villanova closed out the frame with back-to-back points to win 25-21.
In the third, Villanova opened the stanza with a 4-0 lead and pushed its advantage to 11-6 as Georgetown called a timeout. A subsequent 7-2 run from the Hoyas tied things up at 13-13 but GU wouldn't be able to take the lead at any point in the set. Although Georgetown would pull within two points, trailing 18-16, the Wildcats kept their hosts at bay the rest of the way for the 25-19 victory.
Clare Delaplane led Villanova with a match-high nine kills while Regan Lough had a contest-best 12 digs.
Georgetown remains in the Nation's Capital for a pair of BIG EAST rematches next weekend against DePaul and No. 18 Marquette.
