VOLLEYBALL Hoyas Headed to Big East Tourney By Sean Gormley Hoya Staff Writer

Senior night started off with a bang for the Hoyas, but ended with a whimper as the Temple Owls swept Georgetown in three straight games last night in McDonough Gymnasium. The final regular season match of the season left the Hoyas on a down note entering the Big East Tournament in the final home appearance of seniors Yulia Vtyurina and Megan Mullen.

Georgetown (17-8, 10-2 Big East) had much more success over the weekend, defeating Virginia Tech 3-0 on Saturday in its final regular season Big East match. The win clinched the Hoyas’ second-place finish in the Big East (tied with Rutgers) and a trip to the Big East Tournament this weekend, where Georgetown will square off with Rutgers in the first round of the four-team tournament (3:30 p.m. Saturday in Pittsburgh).

Jumping off to a quick lead and attacking with a flurry of kills in the first match (in which Georgetown hit at a .424 percentage), Georgetown quickly disposed of Virginia Tech (9-16, 5-7 Big East) and ended its first season of play in the Big East. The Hoyas again cruised in the second game of the match, taking down the Hokies 30-18.

The final game provided the only drama of the evening, as Virginia Tech came back from an early deficit and fought to the very end before succumbing 33-31 to end the match.

Vtyurina led the Hoyas in kills on the night with 17 while adding nine digs, complimented by 14 digs and 10 kills from junior outside hitter Lauren Warner. Sara Albert continued to provide a calm presence on the court in just her first year, with 13 kills and a match-high .579 hitting percentage. Albert also leads the Hoyas in hitting percentage on the season.

After rolling over the Hokies and securing their spot as the No. 3 seed in the Big East Tournament, the Hoyas came into Monday night’s match only looking to continue building momentum as the postseason approaches, having won nine of their previous 10 matches.

Yulia Vtyurina and Megan Mullen were both honored in a pregame ceremony as the only seniors on the team, but that emotion did not carry over into the team’s play on the court – it was not meant to be from the opening serve. Temple (19-9, 9-6 Atlantic 10) got off to a hot start and never looked back in a 3-0 victory in which Georgetown never got untracked. The Owls’ talented sophomore duo of Yamit Haba and Yun Xu led the way for Temple, dominating both the serve and at the net, where they were repeatedly able to find gaps in Georgetown’s coverage.

This allowed Senior Night to quickly slip away for the Hoyas, as Temple cruised through the first two sets without a serious challenge from Georgetown. The Hoyas stayed even with the Owls through a third of each game, but Temple made a run midway through each game and Georgetown was unable to respond.

The Hoyas again fell behind in the third game, but this time were able to make a run with the match on the line. Down 26-22, Yulia Vtyurina led Georgetown to four straight points with an ace and two kills, but that was as close as the Hoyas would get.

Haba finished things off for Temple with a pair of service points to end the third game for a 30-27 Owls victory and 3-0 match.

Despite the disappointing end to the season, the Hoyas head to the Big East Tournament as winners of nine of their last 11 matches. A pair of wins there against Rutgers and most likely Notre Dame would give Georgetown the Big East’s guaranteed bid to the NCAA tournament.