WASHINGTON – Georgetown University's volleyball team lost a pair of tough matches to close out the DC Challenge on Saturday at McDonough Arena. The Hoyas (0-3) fell by a tough 3-1 (25-18, 20-25, 25-20, 27-25) decision to New Orleans (2-0), before dropping a 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-19) decision to local-rival Howard (2-0) in the nightcap.

Hoya Highlights

• Giselle Williams led the Hoyas against New Orleans with a team-high 19 kills, while Mary Grace Goyena added 14.
• They both posted double-doubles with 15 digs for Goyena and 10 from Williams.
• Karis Park hauled in 25 digs to lead the Hoyas.
• Jessica Cusi managed four service aces for the Blue & Gray.
• In the nightcap against Howard, Goyena added another nine kills for the Hoyas.
• Emma Plutnicki ran the offense with nine assists to go along with six digs.
• Karis Park collected eight digs and Goyena added seven.
• At the net, Brennan Wilhite had three blocks.

Coach Heller's Reflections on the Matches
 "I'm really proud of what our team was able to do this weekend. We were faced with a lot of adversity with injury, and players stepped up to fill some roles. We had some breakthrough performances as Ellen Chang, Karis Park and Ellie Watkins kept a lot of balls off of the floor for us. They also put us in some great positions with their serves. Vaughan Anoa'i and Lydia Schubert held us down at the net and made the opposing attackers have to adjust. There is a lot of learning we can do to prepare for next weekend. Mary Grace (Goyena) and Giselle (Williams) both had double-doubles in our match with New Orleans. We are pushing the team to get more comfortable in those uncomfortable situations. And we are starting to score on some of the points we couldn't last season. It's really exciting to see the team continue to improve from match to match on our serving aggression and out of system attacking. We are excited to get another chance to play next weekend at Stony Brook."

How it Happened - New Orleans

• New Orleans would jump out to a quick lead in the opening set, and the Hoyas struggled to come back from the deficit. Five-straight points pulled the Hoyas within four, 17-13, but the Privateers would answer right back and close out the set 25-18.
• Georgetown rallied in the second game starting out with a 6-2 lead bolstered by a pair of kills from Williams.
• It would stay close throughout the game, until Cusi would step up to serve trailing 20-18. She would serve up seven-straight points including a service ace to get to set point as Georgetown came back for the 25-20 win.
• The final set was back and forth forcing two set points. The Hoyas led by as much as four, 23-19, but the Privateers managed a late comeback and sealed the set as well as the match 27-25.

How it Happened - Howard

• The Hoyas kept it close early on, sitting at 14-12 thanks to a kill from Makayla Serrett. However, Howard would put together five quick points and GU never recovered, falling 25-14.
• The second set was much of the same as GU battled, tying the game at 13 thanks to a kill from Goyena. The Bison found the answer again with five quick points and even kills from Goyena and Williams could not stop the momentum as Howard took the second set by a score of 25-17.
• It looked as though Howard would run away with the match in the final set as the Bison were on a roll leading 20-11. But the Blue & Gray would not back down as Georgetown scored four straight punctuated by kills from Plutnicki and Minnie Purcell.
• Georgetown continued to fight, but could not complete the comeback resulting in the 25-19 decision.

Side Out

• The Hoyas will head to the Stony Brook Invitational next weekend in Stony Brook, New York Georgetown will face local-rival Maryland on Friday, September 2 at 12:30 p.m. before taking on South Florida at 4 p.m. On Saturday, September 3, the Blue & Gray will battle the host Seawolves at 1 p.m. Live stats will be available for all three matches and there will be a stream to follow the Stony Brook contest.