Hoya Staff Writer Tuesday, September 12, 2006 Lindsay Anderson/The Hoya

With three straight wins at the Georgetown Classic Volleyball Tournament, the Hoya women’s volleyball team is riding its best streak in two years. Georgetown was nearly perfect at its home tournament in McDonough Gymnasium over the weekend, losing only one game in the team’s three matches. The Hoyas defeated the Campbell Camels 3-0 on Friday night and downed the Howard Bison 3-0 and Coastal Carolina Chanticleers 3-1 on Saturday. Though the competition was not as difficult as what Georgetown has faced in earlier tournaments, the wins provide the team with a big confidence boost. The last time the Hoyas won more than two games in a row was during the 2004 season, when they reeled off five wins from Sept. 4 to 11. The results from this weekend bump Georgetown’s 2006 record up to 5-4. “We passed okay, but we were really able to dig balls in transition,” Georgetown Head Coach Arlisa Hagan said. “We were able to get balls to our outsides and to our middles and play our game.” Against Campbell (3-6), who Hagan called a “very competitive” team, Georgetown took the lead early but faced pressure from the Camels throughout the first game. With the score knotted at 22 in game one, Georgetown strung together a string of four consecutive points to seal the game. After halftime, the Hoyas held the Camels in check, coasting to a 30-15 win to clinch the match. Outside hitters sophomore Jessica Buffum and junior Katie Nulty, a co-captain, led the Hoyas on Friday. Buffum contributed a .435 hitting percentage and 12 kills while Nulty anchored the Hoyas at the libero position with 11 digs. On Saturday, Georgetown faced off against Howard (1-6) in a match that quickly highlighted Georgetown’s strengths against Howard’s glaring weaknesses. The first game of the match ended 30-15 with freshman outside hitter Kortney Robinson and senior right side hitter Jessica George combing for an important block and several kills to stretch Georgetown’s lead to 8-3 after three straight Howard points. In the second game, Robinson came alive and led Georgetown to an overwhelming 30-7 win. “Kortney had a great second game,” Hagan said. “She really came alive with her jump serve and knocked Howard back on their heels.” For part of the match, Howard was literally knocked back on its heels; its libero senior, Vanessa Hubbard had trouble handling Georgetown serves all day. In the second game, she made several costly errors, losing balls off the sides of her arms and chest. Senior middle blocker co-captain Annie Connor delivered the hammer blow for the Hoyas when she killed a Howard service and stepped up to the service line herself. From there she rattled off seven straight points and the Hoyas quickly were up by 10, 14-4. In the three games this weekend the team saw every player record court time and contribute. “We’ve just got a great bunch of girls,” Nulty said. “We have five new girls and they’re all contributing. It’s like a new era here.” Hagan also pointed to strong performances from seniors Connor and George and junior Nulty. “As good as our freshmen have been, they would not be where they are if it were not for the upperclass leadership we have on this team,” Hagan said. Connor and sophomore Katherine Niesen were named to the all-Tournament team, while Buffum was tournament MVP and Big East player of the week. Against Howard, Buffum hit a career-high .556, with nine kills, 12 digs and only one error. The player of the week award is her first, and it is the first time a Hoya has received the honor since Sara Albert (COL ’05) shared the award on Sept. 8, 2004. “We had another great game from Buffum,” Hagan said. “When you have that consistency, good things happen.” In the third game of the tournament, Georgetown had its toughest match, facing Coastal Carolina (2-7). The Hoyas dropped their first and only game of the tournament when they let the Chanticleers get out to an 8-1 lead and eventually win the third game. The Hoyas will participate in one more tournament before beginning their Big East schedule. Georgetown travels to California this weekend for the Stanford Invitational, where they will play UC-Irvine on Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Stanford at 10 p.m. on Friday and Santa Clara at 10 p.m. on Saturday, respectively. All times are Pacific.