Still seeking its first Big East win, the Georgetown volleyball team will take to the road to face conference rivals St. John’s and Seton Hall on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

Georgetown (6-10, 0-3 Big East) will attempt to rebound from two tough outings last weekend, when it lost to both Marquette and DePaul in three straight sets.

“I think that we did get better in the gym this week,” Head Coach Arlisa Williams said. “We looked at the match from DePaul this weekend, and I think that there are some things that we did very well against DePaul, but there were some areas where we were deficient. Our players could actually see that instead of just feeling it on the court, and they were able to make some changes.”

Williams sees the fire in her team as it works to notch a conference victory.

“Our team is still super excited and super motivated. They’re working really hard,” she said.

The Blue and Gray will first travel to New York to play the Red Storm (12-7, 2-2 Big East), who are undefeated at home this season.

St. John’s is looking to avenge its recent loss against Xavier, and it will have the support of its home fans when it faces Georgetown.

“I think the biggest thing is to make sure we don’t get caught up in the emotion of them and their fans,” Williams said. “They always have a decent crowd at the game, and there’s a lot of energy. Their players make a whole lot of noise, and we need to really make sure that we don’t get caught up in that.”

The Hoyas will also have to look out for the Red Storm’s personnel on the court, like sophomore setter Deniz Mutlugil, who had 48 assists against Xavier.

“They have an experienced setter and some pins with really fast arm swings, so getting our hands over fast enough blocking-wise and then defending behind the block is going to be a challenge for us. And we’ve seen that already this year, so we’ve got to really focus on that,” Williams said.

But she is confident that if the Hoyas can take care of their responsibilities, the success will follow.

“We just need to make sure that we’re taking care of our side of the net, and if we take care of our side of the net at a high level, some of the emotion and momentum a team can get, [St. John’s] won’t have,” she said.

After playing against St. John’s, Georgetown will travel to play Seton Hall (6-9, 0-3 Big East), which is also still trying to record its first Big East win.

Seton Hall is coming off a three-set sweep of Hofstra, where junior setter Shelbey Manthorpe recorded her 13th double-double in 15 matches, while her twin sister, junior outside hitter Stacey Manthorpe, finished with six kills.

“Seton Hall’s got those twins that just bring nothing but energy, that setter/hitter connection between them,” Williams said. “They run a really fast offense, so I think just making sure that we stay with the speed of the game, and if we don’t, it’s going to be a tough weekend.”

Meanwhile, the Hoyas have continued production from sophomore outside hitter Lauren Saar, who had 15 kills against DePaul, bringing her season total to 197. Freshman setter Caitlin Brauneis leads the team with 611 assists on the year.

Because both teams are familiar foes, Georgetown knows its style of play and has a clear understanding of what to look out for.

“We know the types of decisions that their coaches make and what they’re trying to do, and so of course that’s going to help us,” Williams said. “But on the flip side, they know us just as well, so I think it’s probably a wash.”

Having lost to both teams last year, Georgetown will seek a different ending for these two weekend matches.