Coming off a loss to South Florida last weekend, the Georgetown volleyball team (14-11, 6-6 Big East) faces two critical matchups in the final weekend of the regular season as they prepare to face No. 18 Cincinnati (20-8, 10-2 Big East) and Louisville (19-7, 11-1 Big East) at home.

“The bottom line is that we just didn’t take care of our responsibilities,” Head Coach Arlisa Williams said. “But our players are still riding high and feeling good, and [we’re] just looking at this past weekend as a blip on our radar.”

The Blue and Gray currently sit at seventh in the Big East standings, but with only eight teams making the Big East tournament and Georgetown tied with three other teams at 6-6 in the league, the Hoyas need to take one and possibly both of these games to earn a trip to the tournament in Milwaukee.

That certainly will be no easy task, as the Cardinals and the Bearcats boast the two best records in the league. Louisville is currently first with only one league loss, but Cincinnati is the only Big East team ranked in the nation’s top 25.

The Bearcats come into the match on fire. They have seven straight wins and haven’t lost a game since falling to Louisville on Oct. 14. Cincinnati also boasts a strong offense, and ranks in the top three in the league in hitting percentage, assists and kills.

Senior outside hitter Missy Harpenau and junior middle blocker Jordanne Scott lead Cincinnati. Harpenau leads the team with 347 kills and was named to last week’s Big East honor roll, while Scott comes in with 326 kills and a stellar .302 hitting percentage.

“Cincinnati is more of a gamer team, [and] they have a fast offense and can take care of the ball well,” Williams said. “Harpenau is a skinny little thing, but she’s going to bring it with some heat, and Scott [is dangerous because she] can play any position across the front row.”

Louisville also relies on a powerful offense, but the Cardinals also limit opponents to a .170 hitting percentage — the third best in the Big East. They also enter the weekend with momentum, having defeated Syracuse and Marquette, two of the top teams in the league, last weekend.

The Cardinals boast the Big East’s best finisher in junior outside hitter Lola Arslanbekova, who has posted an incredible 458 kills with 4.98 kills per set, first in the league by a large margin. Sophomore outside hitter Emily Juhl serves as a fine complement to Arslanbekova, tallying 219 kills with a .281 hitting percentage.

“Arslanbekova will try to hit over [the] top of us and Juhl does some really good things for them [as well],” Williams said. “Louisville is huge. They have lots of size and will try to overpower us.”

But despite the challenge that confronts them, Williams and her team are confident and ready to battle. On top of that, two of the teams’ senior leaders in libero and captain Tory Rezin and setter Ashley Malone will play with plenty of emotion in their final time taking the court at McDonough Arena.

“I think our team has played so well this year. We’ve played good volleyball and have battled back after overcoming obstacles,” Williams said. “We’re the underdogs here, and have absolutely nothing to lose by giving our all.”

Georgetown will square off against Cincinnati Friday at 12:30 p.m, and will take the court for Senior Day Sunday at 2 p.m. against Louisville.