WASHINGTON – Georgetown University's volleyball team defeated District foe George Washington 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-18) for its first win of the 2021 season to close out the DC Challenge on Sunday. The win is the first for the Hoyas since November 8, 2019, a span of 649 days.
 
"What a great way to close out a tough weekend," Head Coach David Heller said. "The level of competition in DC volleyball is definitely rising. GW really challenged us at the pins. Mak and Chanelle worked hard in transition to get more involved in the offense and opened things for our pins. Our young outsides were outstanding today. Giselle was just shy of a double-double and created some offensive opportunities in the back row. Our block came up big in long rallies. We are proud of what we put together this weekend and have our list of things to work on in practice this week. We are excited to take this momentum into our next tournament."
 
Hoya Highlights

• Along with the first win for the Hoyas (1-2) this season, the victory was also the first for Heller at the helm of the Hoyas. He now has 99 career victories following a stint as the head men's coach at Division II Mount Olive for six seasons.
• Freshman Giselle Williams led the Hoyas with 13 kills and nine digs while fellow rookie Mary Grace Goyena added 10 kills and four digs.
• Makayla Serrett notched six kills in the middle while Minnie Purcell added four and Chanelle Smith had three.
• Smith continued her impressive dominance at the net and was credited with six blocks on the day.
• Emma Plutnicki had another impressive all-around match, leading all players with 34 assists to go with 12 digs, three blocks and two kills and service aces each.
• As a team, the Hoyas had nine aces with Williams recording three, Jessica Cusi matching Plutnicki's two and Karis Park and Makana Meyer adding one as well.
• Meyer paced the Hoyas with 13 digs while Cusi and Kelly Chen added 12 and 10, respectively, on the back row.

 
How it Happened

• A back-and-forth affair to start the match, the two teams traded leads nine times and saw 11 ties before the Hoyas broke things open with a 5-0 run to lead 18-14 and never looked back. Georgetown closed out the frame with a 6-1 run including four points courtesy of Williams on three kills and an ace to win 25-19.
• In the second, another tight start saw a 12-12 tie before a 7-2 run from the Blue & Gray put things out of reach for GW. The Colonials would manage to pull within three points late, but back-to-back kills from Williams and Goyena sealed the 25-20 set victory for the Hoyas.
• Georgetown scored the first point in the third set and never trailed or tied the rest of the match. Early aggressive serving by Cusi gave the Hoyas the cushion they would need as a late rally from GW, down 23-13 at that point, made the frame seem closer than it was.

 
GW Notes

• George Washington falls to 0-3 on the season.
• Salem Johannes led the Colonials with 13 kills while Liv Womble added 10.
• Bella Bowman led all players with 28 digs on the day.

 
Side Out
The Hoyas return to action next weekend to play in the Red Flash Classic, Presented by Altoona Grand Hotel in Loretto, Pennsylvania. Georgetown will take on Delaware State on Friday before battling St. Peter's and host St. Francis (Pa.) on Saturday.
 
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All Georgetown Volleyball home matches are currently scheduled to be played at McDonough Arena. In accordance with Washington, D.C. regulations, masks are required for attendance at all indoor events on campus.