The Hoyas’ women’s volleyball team began its season with all the ups and downs of a roller coaster. After a disappointing 1-2 opening performance at the Michigan State Invitational where the Hoyas dropped matches 3-0 to both Michigan State, ranked No. 15 nationally, and South Carolina, the team rebounded impressively, winning all three of its matches at Fairfield Inn Jefferson Cup at the University of Virginia. Their victories over William & Mary, College of Charleston and their close win against Virginia (32-20, 26-30, 30-27, 30-28) gained them the tournament title.
“We definitely turned it around and everyone played really well. That was kind of a turning point for our team,” team captain and senior outside hitter Lauren Warner said. Senior Anna Kleinsorge was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament for her impressive 35 total kills and many blocks. Two sophomores, middle blocker Sara Albert and outside hitter Julie Grauert, made the All-Tournament team.
Unfortunately, the Hoyas’ streak would come to a halt after three games. The undefeated University of Maryland Terrapins edged out the Hoyas in four games (30-26, 27-30, 30-25, 30-28) last Tuesday night in the Georgetown home opener at McDonough Gymnasium. The Hoyas found themselves plagued by errors and inconsistency, especially in their serves. While the team hit seven service aces, they racked up 16 services errors. Maryland showed a little more control, collecting 11 of each. Freshman outside hitter Natasha Nguyen led the team with a .355 hitting percentage, followed by Warner and senior middle blocker Anna Kleigsore, who both hit over .300. Kleinsorge supplied five blocks, four of which were solo, and Warner led the team in kills with 21. Junior setter Jennifer Ward proved to be indispensable, snagging 52 assists throughout the course of the match.
While the statistics showed two very evenly matched teams, the match was won or lost on errors. The teams equaled each other on hitting percentage, with the Hoyas finishing with a .286 average to aryland’s .281. The Hoyas often trailed the Terps, only to come back and fail to take the lead by losing composure on key points and tense rallies. To their credit, the Terps, led by junior outside hitter Lynnsy Jones, played well defensively, returning many difficult hits and putting pressure on the Hoyas to come up with big points.
“We played hard, but we made more errors than they did,” Head Coach Li Liu said. “Maryland is a good team . I think they’re getting stronger.”
As to whether the lack of experience among the large number of underclassmen on the team this year, both Liu and Warner echoed each other’s sentiments.
“The freshmen are getting better and better and are getting more consistent,” Liu said.
“It doesn’t hurt us to have them,” Warner said. “The underclassmen are playing really well. I think as the season goes on we’ll all mature a little, and it won’t matter that they’re freshmen.”
The team has a chance to improve the record (4-3) this weekend as they play host to the Georgetown Hoyas Tournament. Warner summed up the team’s sentiment concerning this weekend. “I’m excited. We’re not home that much, so it’ll be nice to be here. It’s our first chance to really go out there and show that we’re a strong team because we should dominate this weekend.”
The Hoyas open up the tournament tonight at 7 p.m. against Long Island in McDonough Gymnasium.
