WASHINGTON – Georgetown volleyball defeated George Mason University 3-1 (30-28, 22-25, 25-19, 25-21) on Saturday at McDonough Arena in its second match of the DC Challenge. With the victory, the Hoyas improve to 2-0 on the season while the Patriots fall to 1-1.
"Great way to open the home slate this year with a win over a strong George Mason team. They pressed us in ways that will make us better this year. The team played great. We will enjoy this one tonight." -Head Coach
AJ Bonetti
"I'm so proud of how we played tonight. We came out strong and confident against a very talented team. Excited for what's to come and hope to bring this energy into tomorrow." -Senior
Grace Albaugh
The teams traded points early in the opening set before a block by
Kamryn Lee-Caracci and multiple Patriot errors gave the Hoyas a 20-17 advantage. George Mason answered with a late surge behind kills from Camryn Weldon and Caroline Rodriguez to level the score at 22-22, but
Katherine McGregor and
Grace Albaugh answered with clutch kills to secure the 30-28 set win for Georgetown.
Georgetown built an early 10-6 lead in the second set before a 5-0 run pushed the Patriots ahead. The sides battled to a stalemate late in the frame before George Mason capitalized on consecutive Hoya errors and a key block from Weldon and Meredith Brown to take the set 25-22.
Out of the break, the George Mason offense hit its stride as Weldon dished out six assists on the first eight points to build an 8-4 Patriot lead. Georgetown answered with a 5-1 run powered by three kills from senior
Grace Albaugh, followed by a 7-1 surge that put the Hoyas ahead 19-13. Two late kills from
Dionna Mitchell and a Patriot set error closed out the 25-19 win to give Georgetown a 2-1 match advantage.
The Hoyas jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the fourth set behind an active attack from Albaugh, Mitchell, and McGregor. George Mason rallied to knot the frame at 6-6, sparking another back-and-forth stretch. Despite a late push from the Patriots,
Katherine McGregor sealed the match victory with a kill to secure the fourth set 25-21.
Hoya Highlights
- McGregor led three Hoyas in double-digit kills with 12, while Albaugh and Mitchell added 10 apiece. Lee-Caracci chipped in nine kills while hitting .500 on the night.
- Bella McGirr anchored the Georgetown defense with a match-high 21 digs.
- Natalie Nguyen and Juleigh Urbina both posted double-doubles in the win. Nguyen tallied 21 assists and 11 digs, while Urbina recorded 19 assists and 10 digs.
- Mitchell registered two blocks at the net, with Lee-Caracci adding one.
Up Next
Georgetown closes out the DC Challenge on Sunday at McDonough Arena, hosting Big Ten opponent Northwestern at 2 p.m. Links to live stats and the broadcast are available on GUHoyas.com.
