WASHINGTON – Georgetown University's volleyball team closed out the 2018 Hyatt Regency Invitational with a second day split on Saturday, defeating Winthrop 3-1 (29-31, 25-16, 25-16, 25-21) before falling to host Georgia Tech 3-0 (27-25, 25-22, 25-19). Senior middle blocker Symone Speech (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest) was named to the All-Tournament team after averaging 3.19 kills and 1.19 blocks per set while hitting at a .271 clip. She added five aces as GU went 2-2 over the weekend.
Match 1 – Georgetown 3, Winthrop 1
In the opener, Iva Vujosevic (Bar, Montenegro/Niko Rolovic/UMES) and Alyssa Sinnette (Pearland, Texas/Dawson) both notched double-doubles in the victory. Vujosevic paced all players with 19 kills to go with 12 digs while Sinnette added 12 kills and 13 digs. Speech chipped in 11 kills while Margo Pivonka (Broadview Heights, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) quarterbacked the offense with 37 assists. Kenzie Higareda (Woodbridge, Va./Forest Park) tied the match high with 22 digs and Madison Smith (Elk Grove, Calif./Elk Grove) recorded seven kills while hitting at a .429 clip to go with five blocks.
A back-and-forth opening frame saw 10 ties and six lead changes throughout. Winthrop took an early 3-1 lead, and pushed its advantage to 8-3, before the Hoyas stormed back to knot things up at 9-9. Keeping pace with neither team leading by more than three points the rest of the set, GU forced a Winthrop timeout at the 22-22 mark following a 4-1 run capped with a Sinnette service ace. The Blue & Gray would go on to reach three set points in the stanza but couldn't overcome the Eagles' hot hitting before dropping the set, 31-29.
In the second, Georgetown put together a dominating offensive performance with 13 kills and a lone attack error for an impressive .429 clip. The Hoyas jumped to an early 11-6 lead to force a Winthrop timeout and caused the Eagles to burn their final timeout following a 16-11 GU lead. A strong service rotation from Vujosevic put the set in hand for the Blue & Gray, up 20-11, before closing out the win, 25-16.
Another strong start in the third gave the Hoyas an 8-2 lead but Winthrop battled back with a 5-2 run to force a GU timeout. Coming out of the huddle, Georgetown scored six of the next seven points to take a 16-8 lead as the Eagles were unable to make up any more ground en route to another 25-16 GU set victory.
Trading runs early in the fourth, Georgetown kicked things off with a 4-1 spurt before WU answered back with a 7-4 outburst of its own to knot things up at 8-8. An 8-2 run from the Hoyas put the Blue & Gray back in the drivers' seat as the Eagles never got within three points the rest of the match.
Sydney Gunter led the Eagles with 15 kills.
Match 2 – Georgia Tech 3, Georgetown 0
Against the host Yellow Jackets, Sinnette and Speech both logged double-figure kills with 19 and 12, respectively. Higareda led all players with 23 digs and Jessica Cusi (Pacifica, Calif./Lick-Wilmerding) nearly had a double-double with 13 digs and nine assists.
In an opening set reminiscent of the Winthrop showdown, the first set against GT needed extra points to determine a winner. The Yellow Jackets led early, jumping to a 12-7 advantage to a force a GU timeout. Georgetown burned its final timeout, down 17-11, before sparking a steady comeback. The Hoyas cut the deficit to just one, down 22-21, before knotting things up at 24-24 after surviving back-to-back set points. A Georgia Tech timeout allowed the hosts to regroup and close out the stanza with a 27-25 victory.
A tightly-contested second set featured 13 ties and a pair of lead changes. Keeping pace with each other, neither team led by more than two points before GT used a 4-0 run following a 16-16 tie to take its biggest lead of the frame. Georgetown battled back, knotting things up at 20-20, but the Yellow Jackets closed out the set on a 5-2 run to win 25-22.
In the third, the Hoyas took an early advantage to lead 7-3 and force a Georgia Tech timeout. The Yellow Jackets responded in full, tying the set at 7-7 and again at 9-9 before eventually pushing to a 16-12 lead. Georgetown would pull within two points on multiple occasions down the stretch, but couldn't get any closer as GT wrapped up the match with a 25-19 set victory.
Mariana Brambilla led Georgia Tech with 12 kills and 11 digs for a double-double.
The Hoyas return to action next weekend as they host the Georgetown Classic at the friendly confines of McDonough Arena. Georgetown takes on Norfolk State and Penn on Friday before hosting George Mason and UNC Wilmington on Saturday.
