Georgetown’s final two matches of the year proved to be a fitting end to a disappointing Big East season, as the young Hoyas played well but came up empty-handed against conference foes Cincinnati and Louisville over the weekend.
Georgetown has struggled through a tough Big East slate all season, and this weekend’s two 3-0 losses mark the seventh and eighth times the Hoyas have been shut out in a league contest this year. Georgetown ends its season with an 8-19 overall record and a 2-12 mark in the Big East.
Friday saw the Hoyas travel to Cincinnati to take on the third-place Bearcats (21-6, 10-4 Big East).
“We came out hard, we fought hard, and we were low-error,” Georgetown Head Coach Arlisa Hagan said. “We just got overpowered again.”
Georgetown trailed 20-15 in game one when Cincinnati ran off six-straight points to gain an 11-point lead, which the Bearcats soon turned into a 30-21 win.
The Hoyas recorded eight of 11 points with the score knotted at 12 for a 20-15 advantage in game two. Cincinnati capitalized on four of Georgetown’s 27 total errors, however, to get back into the game. With the teams tied at 29, Bearcat senior middle blocker Myanna Hellsten hit two kills to propel Cincinnati to a 31-29 win and a two-game lead.
The Bearcats held an 18-13 lead in game three, but the Hoyas were able to tie the score at 19 with the help of a three-point run on the serving of freshman outside hitter Dana Dumas. Cincinnati won the points that matter the most, however, taking six of the final seven for a 30-24 victory.
Sophomore middle blocker Jessica Buffum recorded a double-double with 13 kills and 11 blocks, and Dumas added six kills and a .455 hitting percentage. As a team, Georgetown hit only .137.
Cincinnati’s sophomore middle blocker Jessie Nevitt tied a school record with 13 blocks in the three-game match. Nevitt added 16 kills and a hitting percentage of .517. Hellsten, whose record Nevitt tied, notched 12 kills and helped the Bearcats to a .260 team hitting percentage.
Sunday afternoon the Hoyas were once again outclassed by a better Big East team, as the second place Louisville Cardinals (20-6, 13-1 Big East) swept Georgetown.
The Cardinals jumped out to an 18-8 lead in game one, and would extend that to a 30-17 win. The Hoyas committed 10 errors and hit a pitiful .020 on the game.
After their rude awakening, Georgetown matched Louisville point by point, and the score stood at 25 apiece late in the second game. A kill from freshman outside hitter Tatyana Kolesnikova gave the Cardinals the lead for good, as they took the game, 30-27.
The Hoyas trailed 13-8 in game three when they went on a seven-point run, with Dumas serving, to take a slim lead. Two-straight Georgetown errors tied the game, and though the Hoyas would force five more ties in the game, they did not hold another lead. Louisville won, 30-27, to complete the three-game sweep.
“I wish we had two or three more weekends to play,” Hagan said, “because we are hitting our stride right now.”
Senior middle blocker Annie Connor led Georgetown with 10 kills and a .269 hitting percentage in her final match as a Hoya. Dumas chipped in nine kills and Buffum had a game-high 14 digs.
Kolesnikova had 17 kills for Louisville, and senior outside hitter Stephanie Marsh added 11 kills and seven block assists.
Hagan said she was pleased with her team’s improvement in serving competitively and making relatively few errors on the season, two areas she set as goals at the beginning of the year.
“We wanted to be at six or fewer errors per game, and you saw us improving on that all season,” Hagan said.
In the two conference matches the Hoyas won – against Rutgers and DePaul – they averaged fewer than six errors per game.
Georgetown finishes in a three-way tie for 12th place in the Big East’s final standings, well out of the top eight that make the conference tournament.
The Louisville match marked the end of three Hoyas’ careers – Connor, senior right-side hitter Jessica George, and senior outside hitter Rachel Barton. Connor finished second on the team in kills, while George was fifth. Barton was an important figure on the bench and in the locker room.
The Hoyas will return their leader in assists, sophomore setter Caitlin Boland, and Buffum, their leader in kills.
