Hoyas in Fourth Place after Splitting Pair

The Georgetown volleyball team split a pair of matches this weekend, suffering a defeat to the Pittsburgh Panthers on Saturday (13-15, 9-15, 15-9, 5-15) and then rebounding with a victory over the West Virginia Mountaineers on Sunday (15-7, 15-5, 15-2). The split put the Hoyas at 15-9 overall, 5-3 in Big East play. They are now tied for fourth place with St. John’s.

In the matchup against West Virginia, the Hoyas crushed the ountaineers in three short games, allowing just 14 total points throughout the entire match. The Hoyas maintained a .278 hitting percentage, holding the Mountaineers to a .000 percent hitting.

“There was a definite change in attitude and consistency in the second game,” Head Coach Li Liu said. “We held tight and played much better. Everybody stepped up and did their part.”

Junior middle blocker Anna Kleinsorge had a match-high nine kills, hit .500 for the match and registered six blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Lauren Warner and junior outside hitter Yulia Vtyurina also posted solid play, racking up eight kills on the day. Freshman setter and five-time Big East Rookie of the Week Jennifer Ward had a match-high 30 assists despite a nagging thigh injury that has not allowed her to practice. Ward has had to play through her injury for the past few weeks because she is the team’s only setter.

Despite Ward’s injury, Liu was confident and impressed with her play.

Liu characterized the Hoyas performance in Saturday’s game against Pittsburgh as fragmented.

“The game could have gone either way,” she said. “We’re just as good as them. It’s just we weren’t fighting hard enough, and we weren’t playing as a collective team – just a bunch of individuals.”

The Hoyas got outstanding individual efforts from Warner with a match-high 19 kills, Kleinsorge, who posted 12 kills and six digs, and Ward, who registered a match-high 51 assists. Senior Kaili Stevens returned to the lineup after being sidelined with an injury the past few weeks and hit .385 for the match.

However, Liu felt the team was lacking in leadership and was simply waiting for things to happen instead of stepping up. According to Liu, this is a result of senior captain Kiran Gill’s absence. Gill remained sidelined this weekend with an injured back but might be able to return to the lineup this coming weekend if her condition improves.

Next weekend will prove to be very decisive for the Big East Tournament. Currently, Georgetown stands tied for fourth place with St. John’s, behind Notre Dame, Rutgers and Pittsburgh. Liu said the team has vowed to win the next and final three games of conference play, which would clench a tournament berth for the Hoyas. Georgetown next plays in a non-conference game at American on Wednesday at 7 p.m.