WASHINGTON – Georgetown volleyball opened its 2026 season with a 3-1 victory (16-25, 25-21, 25-22, 26-24) over American University on Friday night at the Meltzer Center. With the win, the Hoyas improved to 1-0 while the Eagles fell to 0-1.
"Very proud of the team's resolve tonight. It was a complete team effort in a fun and hostile environment at American. Our girls showed some resilience after that first set. It's a great group to coach, and we look forward to showcasing ourselves at home tomorrow. Hoya Saxa!" -Head Coach
AJ Bonetti
"I'm so proud of our team for an awesome finish to the match. We fought hard and executed the scout. I trust our team to finish the weekend strong!" -Junior
Dionna Mitchell
American came out firing, opening the match on a 7-0 run before freshman
Alexis Anderson recorded Georgetown's first kill of the season. The Hoyas trimmed the deficit to three points mid-set, but the Eagles pulled away late to take the opener 25-16.
Georgetown regrouped in the second set, starting on a 3-0 run before the teams began trading points.
Kamryn Lee-Caracci and
Dionna Mitchell led the attack with four kills apiece in the frame, guiding the Hoyas to a 25-21 set win to tie the match 1-1.
Four service aces from
Juleigh Urbina and a pair of kills from Lee-Caracci carried that momentum into the third set as the Hoyas jumped out to an early 6-0 lead. Georgetown tallied 16 kills in the frame to narrowly take the third set 25-22 and grab a 2-1 match lead.
Georgetown and American traded points early in the fourth set, with
Berkeley Ploder registering three early kills for the Hoyas while Sophie Dufour, Prinzez Zeck, and Elise Sterling paced the Eagles' attack. In a back-and-forth finish, a right-handed swing from Ploder gave Georgetown a 25-24 lead before Sterling's final attack sailed out of bounds to seal the set and match victory for the Hoyas.
Hoya Highlights
- Mitchell paced the Georgetown attack with a match-high 14 kills, while Lee-Caracci added nine. Ploder, Katherine McGregor, and Grace Albaugh provided depth at the net with eight kills apiece.
- Juleigh Urbina dished out a team-best 25 assists and collected a match-high four service aces.
- Natalie Nguyen and Bella McGirr both posted double-doubles. Nguyen tallied 17 assists and 14 digs, while McGirr recorded 10 assists and a team-high 18 digs.
- Ploder anchored the defense with a match-best three blocks, with Lee-Caracci and McGregor contributing two blocks each.
Up Next
Georgetown returns home to McDonough Arena to continue the DC Challenge this weekend, hosting George Mason on Saturday at 4 p.m. and Big Ten foe Northwestern on Sunday at 2 p.m. Links to live stats and broadcasts are available on GUHoyas.com.
