The Georgetown Volleyball team (5-4) headed west this past weekend to compete in the Hilton Inn Garden Classic in Berkeley, Calif. The Hoyas fell to Sacramento State (5-4) Friday before beating Texas-Arlington (2-9) and falling to host and national No. 1 California (10-0) on Saturday.

“Going out there and being able to play the number one team in the country was definitely an eye-opening experience for us,” Head Coach Arlisa Williams said. “We also played some tough competition and a scrappy Sacramento State team,” she added.

The Blue and Gray opened the tournament with a tough four-set loss to Sacramento State, succumbing 25-20, 25-23, 19-25, 25-17 to the Hornets. Georgetown was out-blocked 16-7.5 and had a disappointing hit percentage of .074.

“[Our] overall performance was a little disappointing … I think we were a little more evenly matched than what the scores indicated,” Williams said. “We came out ready to play in California, but not ready to play Sacramento State.”

Senior libero and captain Tory Rezin stuck out for the Hoyas, notching a game-high 26 digs and continuing her stellar defensive play this season.

“Tory just placed disciplined defense and was just ready to go all weekend,” the coach said. “She’s a true leader for us and stepped it up with her defense.”

The Hoyas played in another four-setter in the second match, but this time emerged victorious against UT-Arlington. The first two sets were very tightly contested, with Georgetown taking the first, 26-24, and dropping the second to the Mavericks, 28-26.

However, the Blue and Gray would dominate the rest of the match, taking the third and fourth sets, 25-16 and 25-15, respectively. Georgetown hit a much better .301 in the match, and also finished with 64 kills compared to 51 for UT-Arlington

Freshman outside hitter Alex Johnson led the Hoyas in kills with 15. Most of Johnson’s kills came via senior setter Ashley Malone, who tallied 44 assists to go along with nine digs and 10 kills. The Bay Area native was able to consistently set up her teammates for kills in her homecoming and earned All-Tournament honors.

“Ashley did a fine job distributing her sets so that all our players could get in the mix,” Williams said. “She was lights out against Texas-Arlington.”

In their final game of the tournament, Georgetown fell in straight sets to California. After struggling in the first two sets, the Hoyas put up a fight in the third but were eventually overpowered by the Golden Bears. The final score was 25-14, 25-14, 25-18.

Freshman middle blocker Dani White and sophomore outside hitter Brooke Bachesta both played well for the Hoyas. Bachesta totaled 12 kills and White added six, and both had positive hit percentages.

“We were so eager for that match, but we just came out a little bit tentative,” Williams said. “But we took a step back between games two and three and played neck and neck for a while. It showed us that we are capable of playing with the best in the country,” she added.

The team will make up their match at undefeated George Washington (9-0) on Wednesday and then head south this weekend to take part in the James Madison University Classic in Shenandoah Valley, Va.