Oct. 16, 2007
Washington, D.C. - After a 2-0 deficit, the Georgetown University volleyball team looked as if they were going to once again clinch a come-from-behind win as they had last Friday against BIG EAST opponent Pittsburgh; however, a determined VCU team halted the Hoya rally and defeated Georgetown, 3-2, tonight in McDonough Arena. The Hoyas are now 5-18 while the Rams improve to 7-14. Game scores were 25-30, 18-30, 30-28, 30-28, 6-15. The Hoyas took a comfortable 3-0 lead in the fifth game behind the serve of junior setter Caitlin Boland (Naperville, Ill./Benet Academy). The rally started with an assisted block effort from freshman Vanessa Dorismond (Cary, N.C./Cardinal Gibbons) and sophomore Courtney Cohen (Tampa, Fla./Berkeley Prep) and was followed up by a kill from junior Katherine Niesen (Gainesville, Fla./eastside) and a block from Niesen and Cohen. The Rams came blistering back winning 11-straight points with both Georgetown timeouts immersed within the run. The 11-point run proved devastating for the Blue and Gray as they were able to pick up a mere three points before VCU ended game five and the match with a kill from Ariel Newman. After dropping the first two games, Georgetown found a renewed energy on the court as they tallied 36 kills in games three and four alone and hit .281 over the two-game span. Game three saw Georgetown trail for a majority of the game. Despite a handful of three-point spurts, the Hoyas could not break the Ram lead until a vital kill from Cohen followed up by an errant VCU play tied the score at 24. VCU would take the lead again until Georgetown tied the game at 27 after a Niesen kill and took a 29-27 lead for double game point behind back-to-back kills from sophomore Jessica Hardy (Manhattan Beach, Calif.,/Mira Costa) prompting a Ram timeout. Virginia Commonwealth saved one game point but a Niesen kill ended game three and put the Hoyas on the board trailing, 2-1. Game four saw a quick three-point lead for Georgetown (11-8) as the Hoyas capitalized on five wayward VCU plays. A kill from VCU's Jessica Ojukwu started a four-point rally that gave the Rams a 14-12 lead before the Hoyas tied it up again on back-to-back Hardy kills. The Blue and Gray picked up seven of the next 10 points for a 21-17 lead inducing a timeout called by the Rams. The break was beneficial for the Rams as they swung the momentum in their favor with three kills, two assisted block efforts and a service ace in the following seven points to tie the game at 23. The Hoyas pulled ahead slightly again (27-24) behind a Cohen kill but the Rams did not go away as they score was again tied at 28. Another pair of Hardy kills ended game four and tied the match at two games apiece. Georgetown came off to one of its better starts of the year hitting .243 in game one. However, the .359 performance from Virginia Commonwealth denied the Hoyas the first frame. In game two, VCU hit an impressive .537 as a team and committed just two errors while the Hoyas hit below .100 and dropped game two, creating a mountain of a comeback. For the match, Hardy led the team with 26 kills and a .396 hitting percentage. Niesen followed up with 11 kills of her own while sophomore Kortney Robinson (Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleasant Grove) recorded a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs. Boland guided the Hoya offense as she tallied 53 assists and pitched in 10 digs for the double-double. Dorismond shared the team lead in digs (12) with Robinson and put up five kills. The Hoyas return for their final contest in a four-match homestand at McDonough Arena on Saturday, October 20 when they welcome BIG EAST Conference opponent South Florida for a 1 p.m. match. The Bulls are currently 12-5 with a 4-3 mark in conference play. They will host Florida Gulf Coast tomorrow, October 17, before they make the trip to Washington, D.C. for Saturday's match.
|
 
 |
