With a smashing kill, senior right side hitter Kiersten McKoy closed out the DePaul Blue Demons, Georgetown’s volleyball season and her Georgetown volleyball career. In the same match, Tory Rezin broke the Georgetown record for digs in a season.

Even though they finished twelfth in the Big East this year, the Hoyas (14-16, 4-10) proved that they could compete with, and defeat, some of the best teams in the nation. This was never more evident than during their final two road games. Last weekend the Blue and Gray fell to Notre Dame but defeated DePaul.

The Hoyas put up a fight against Notre Dame (19-4, 13-0 Big East) on Friday night, but could not handle the No. 24 Fighting Irish. The Hoyas rushed out to an early 5-2 lead behind kills by sophomore outside hitter Sara Manley and an ace by senior right side hitter Courtney Cohen. Notre Dame responded, however, and retook the lead at 8-7. A service ace and a kill put Notre Dame ahead for good at 23-21 and the Fighting Irish would take the set 25-22.

An early 8-3 spurt by Notre Dame put the Hoyas behind in the second set, but Georgetown rallied to tie the set at 15 and later gain the lead, 17-16. Notre Dame, however, would go on another 8-3 scoring streak to claim the set 25-20.

“After the first two sets, we matched them kill for kill and felt we should have been leading. But we just got some tough breaks,” Head Coach Arlisa Williams said.

Two early aces from junior middle blocker Vanessa Dorismond allowed the Hoyas to maintain an early advantage in the third set. The Blue and Gray remained close to the Fighting Irish, but ultimately Notre Dame’s service game allowed the Irish to close out the set 25-19, and match 3-0.

anley hit a team-high .364 and killed 11 balls. Junior outside hitter Kortney Robinson led the Hoyas with a double-double of 12 kills and 10 digs. Sophomore setter Ashley Malone fueled the Georgetown attack with 32 assists.

On Sunday, Georgetown finished out its season with a decisive 3-1 victory over the DePaul Blue Demons. With 19 digs, Rezin reached 475 digs on the season and passed Simone Kollman’s season dig record of 472 digs, set during the 1990 season.

“Tory’s record is a tribute to the hard work she has put in this season,” Williams said.

Seniors Cohen and McKoy also ended their collegiate careers with strong performances on Sunday. Cohen led the Hoyas with a .417 hitting efficiency and six kills while McKoy terminated seven balls and hit .333. Dorimond, however, had the team-high of 15 kills. Robinson had her second consecutive double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs.

The two teams played point-for-point in the early stages of the match. With the game tied at 10-10, the Hoyas went on an electric 15-5 surge to claim a 25-15 set victory.

In the second set, the Blue Demons would answer Georgetown’s run with one of their own. With the score at 9-9, DePaul went on a strong 14-3 streak to make the score 23-12. DePaul won 25-18, tying the set score at one.

Once again, the Hoyas started the third set with a 10-1 run. Georgetown kept its lead to more than four points throughout the whole set, and Cohen finished things off with a kill, 25-18.

DePaul gained a quick 9-6 advantage in the fourth, but Georgetown scored four straight points, capped by a kill from freshman middle blocker Lindsay Wise, to take a lead they would not surrender. McKoy’s kill ended the set 25-22, and match 3-1.

“To be able to defeat DePaul to end the season was a high note for us,” Williams said.

The Hoyas finished their season at twelfth place in the Big East standings, missing out on the eight-team Big East Tournament.

Williams was proud of her team’s accomplishments throughout the year.

“This season was hard for us for many reasons,” Williams said. “This team responded to all the problems, though. Every coach in the country wants her team to play their best volleyball at the end of season and I am very proud that we did that.”

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