The Georgetown volleyball team, coming off a five-set victory over St. John’s on Sept. 19, won its fifth straight game, defeating Villanova on the road last Saturday, again in five sets.
After losing their first two sets against the Wildcats (9-6, 2-1 Big East), the Hoyas (10-5, 3-0 Big East) bounced back, winning three consecutive frames to close the match.
The third, fourth and fifth sets were all decided by two points. Georgetown won all three, including a comeback victory in the decisive final set.
The Hoyas have played five games that have been decided in the final set and have won three of those matches.
Trailing 8-3 in the deciding fifth frame, the Blue and Gray rallied with kills down the stretch from junior outside hitter Iva Vujosevic, senior middle blocker Symone Speech and sophomore setter Margo Pivonka.
The Hoyas won the final set 16-14, continuing their momentum from the previous two sets in which they edged out Villanova 25-23.
Villanova set the pace in the beginning of the match. Villanova sophomore Mallory Potts and freshman Clare Delaplane dominated throughout the contest, finishing with 18 and 14 kills respectively.
Senior Amanda Pedersen-Henry added 11 kills for the Wildcats, and junior Regan Lough contributed 30 digs, more than all other players. Villanova took the first set 25-22, and the second 25-14.
The Hoyas also had multiple standout performers. Vujosevic led Georgetown with 22 kills and 19 digs, recording her seventh double-double of the season. Pivonka was a key facilitator with 46 assists, and added the match-winning kill. Meanwhile, senior libero Kenzie Higareda had 27 digs, leading the Hoyas’ defense.
Four days later, on Wednesday, Sep. 26, Georgetown swept Seton Hall in straight sets (5-12, 0-4 Big East) for its sixth consecutive victory.
Each set was closely fought: 25-21, 25-16 and 25-18. The third frame was defined by back-and-forth play, consisting of nine ties and seven lead changes in total. Georgetown sparked an 8-1 run in the third set, winning the final frame by seven points.
As a team, the Hoyas hit .419, including a .600 mark in the second set. Vujosevic and Speech led Georgetown in kills again, both recording 13 kills to lead the attack. Senior outside hitter Alyssa Sinnette also reached doublefigures, adding 11 kills to the total.
The Hoyas will face Marquette this Friday and DePaul on Saturday, a doubleheader of Big East road matches.
