Oct. 10, 2006

Box Score

Washington, D.C. - The Georgetown volleyball team defeated non-conference opponent UMBC, 3-1 (30-23, 30-23, 30-32, 30-25 ) this evening at McDonough Arena. The Hoyas snap an eight-game losing streak as they improve to 6-12 on the season while the Retrievers fall to 9 -10 on the season. The Hoyas improve to 4-0 this year at home against non-conference opponents.

In the fourth game, freshman Katherine Niesen (Gainesville, Fla./Eastside) led the team with seven kills en route to the 30-25 victory. Neisen recorded critical back-to-back kills in a span where the Hoyas took four of seven points to take a 13-11 lead. A kill from senior Annie Connor (Los Altos, Calif./St. Francis) followed by a kill from freshman Kortney Robinson (Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleasant Grove) would give the Hoyas a 28-22. A kill from Neisen would solidify the game, 30-23, and the match, 3-1.

The third game saw UMBC come out and take a 15-9 lead midway through the contest. Facing their biggest deficit of the game, the Hoyas answered back, taking seven of the next eight points and evening the score at 16. The match would go back and forth from there as Georgetown was still unable to get a lead of any kind in the game. Then, with the score tied at 29, a kill by senior Connor finally gave the Hoyas a one-point tilt for match point. One point away from victory, GU faltered as a kill by UMBC's Ashley Oscars and a service ace by Sarah Ball gave the lead back to the Retrievers, and eventually the game, 32-30.

The second game was much closer at the onset than the first game, but GU started to creep away, taking four-point leads at 13-9 and again, at 16-12. The closest UMBC would get after that point was 17-15. GU closed the game on a 13-8 run and got consecutive kills from freshman Courtney Cohen (Tampa, Fla./Berkeley) and Niesen to end the match in the Hoyas' favor, 30-23.

In the first game, Georgetown stormed out to a 9-1 lead and never looked back, taking their largest lead of the contest, at 18-7. UMBC would go on a run of their own, scoring 15 of the next 23 points and closing the gap to 26-22. However, four Retrievers errors would give the Hoyas the edge as the won the game, 30-23.

Connor led the team with 18 kills and five blocks. Sophomore Jessica Buffum (San Jose, Calif./Lynbrook) posted nine kills and 11 digs while sophomore Kate Fisher (Menlo Park, Calif./Menlo) maintained a .538 hitting percentage, playing all four games while recording seven digs. Cohen notched 10 kills and four block assists while Niesen had 11 kills and four blocks (one solo, three assists).

"I'm very please with the effort everyone displayed," Georgetown University Head Coach Arlisa Hagan said. "It was a great showing by all of our middles and a great blocking effort by all. I'm looking forward to building on it."

The Hoyas return to BIG EAST action on Saturday, October 14 when they host USF at McDonough Arena. The match is slated for 1 p.m.