They fought and battled, but the Georgetown volleyball team’s (14-13, 6-8 Big East) season came to an unfortunate end at home this past weekend at the hands of Cincinnati (22-8, 12-2 Big East) and Louisville (21-7, 13-1 Big East). The Hoyas fell to the Bearcats on Friday, 25-17, 25-17, 25-22, before losing to the Cardinals by a score of 25-19, 25-14, 25-23.
The two losses knocked the Hoyas down from seventh to 10th place in the league standings, meaning Georgetown will not travel to Milwaukee next week for the Big East tournament.
Louisville and Cincinnati, who finished as the first and second teams in the Big East, respectively, proved to be tough matchups for the Blue and Gray. Head Coach Arlisa Williams and her team will enter the offseason on a low note, having lost their last three games after a promising four-game win streak in October.
The losses also mark the end of outstanding careers for two leaders in senior captain and libero Tory Rezin and senior setter Ashley Malone. Both have been significant contributors since their freshman years and have started since their sophomore seasons.
Rezin, the team’s captain over the past two seasons, finishes her career as Georgetown’s all-time digs leader with 1,614, while Malone holds the all-time second place spot in assists for the Hoyas with 3,499.
The Blue and Gray put up a fight in each game, but the team was eventually overpowered and fell in straight sets to both teams. On Friday afternoon against Cincinnati, the Hoyas came out strong and stayed with the Bearcats for much of the first set, at one point only trailing 17-16. But Cincinnati recovered and went on to win eight of the next nine points to take the set.
The Bearcats jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the second set and never looked back despite the Hoyas’ recording their best hitting percentage of the three sets. The final set was a battle throughout, with Georgetown needing just four points to close out the set; unfortunately for the Blue and Gray, the Bearcats took five of the next six points, the set and the match.
The Bearcats outdug and outblocked the Hoyas in the contest, but the biggest difference was in hitting percentage. Cincinnati posted a .344 percentage on the match while the Hoyas recorded a mediocre .186.
Rezin led the team with 10 digs while Malone had a strong day with 28 assists, eight digs and six kills. Freshman outside hitter Alex Johnson led the team with 10 kills.
Sunday afternoon was Senior Day for the Hoyas, which called for prematch celebrations — including framed jerseys and flowers — for Malone and Rezin. Unfortunately, the celebratory mood did not last as the Blue and Gray dropped another tough match to the Louisville Cardinals.
The Hoyas rallied from an early deficit to tie the score at 10 in the first set, but it was all Louisville from then on. The second set featured even more dominance from the Cardinals, as the visitors held Georgetown to a negative hitting percentage.
Georgetown came out energized after intermission and dominated early in the third set, but ultimately fell prey to a Louisville comeback. The difference again came in hitting percentage, as Louisville hit .275 compared to Georgetown’s .170.
Still, Malone and Rezin were both able to turn in one last solid performance, as Malone had 24 assists to go along with four kills and a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage and Rezin added nine digs.
