Kortney Robinson had just let her poor communication allow a George Mason kill to fall in for a point, but the outside hitter did not hang her head. After some stern motivation from Head Coach Arlisa Hagan Williams, Robinson cheered and encouraged her teammates to win the next point. Despite the 3-0 defeat and volleyball that could have been better, there was no room for disappointment or dejection.
“I think this weekend was a big success as far as trying different lineups, getting rid of pre-game jitters,” sophomore outside hitter Dana Dumas said. “Even though the numbers didn’t show it, I think our chemistry was incredible on the court.”
Statistically, Georgetown’s (0-3) weekend at the D.C. Challenge was not so incredible. The Hoyas lost all nine games they played in three matches against American (4-0) on Friday and George Washington (1-2) and George Mason (2-2) on Saturday.
Georgetown suffered from poor hitting all weekend with just a .068 attack rate while their three opponents hit .275. The Hoyas lost last season’s two biggest hitters – Annie Connor (COL ’07) graduated and Jessica Buffum transferred to Biola University in La Mirada, Ca. – leaving the brunt of the offensive load on the shoulders of Dumas and Robinson. The duo tallied 75 of Georgetown’s 101 kills over the weekend.
“Hitting-wise, it’s baby steps but it’s getting better,” Williams said. “We have an especially young team. . We’ve got a group that’s had a whole lot put on their shoulders right now.”
The team has no seniors and just two juniors along with six sophomores.
Against American, Georgetown suffered from poor hitting and digging, notching just 40 digs over the three games. Only Dumas, Robinson and sophomore middle blocker Courtney Cohen had more kills than errors for the Blue and Gray while all but one American player ended in the positive.
Georgetown played its closest match against George Washington on Saturday, dropping three games 30-16, 30-28 and 30-25. While Georgetown suffered from the same hitting woes (36 kills to 51 for GWU) they closed the gap with superior digging. The Hoyas dug 23 balls per game against the Colonials.
“I think our back-row digging was our biggest strength today,” Robinson said. “We were OK the first day and we’ve gotten better but we still have those tweaks we need to work on every day in practice.”
Robinson and Dumas had 12 digs each against George Washington but the team was led by freshman Paola Annoni and sophomore Jessica Hardy, who dug 15 balls each. Hardy wore the libero shirt Saturday – because of her passing skills, according to Williams – as she did most of last year, but she, Robinson, Dumas and Annoni have split digs evenly in the first three games. Most teams have two players – a libero and an outside hitter – receiving most serves, but Georgetown’s young lineup means that all six players will have to be ready to dig serves.
Last year’s dig leader, then-junior outside hitter Katie Nulty left the team after last season for an unknown reason, putting more defensive responsibility on Hardy, with whom she split libero duties.
In Saturday evening’s match with George Mason, Georgetown suffered from poor hitting and lacked the digging effort that made its earlier match against GW competitive. The Hoyas hit just .117 for the match
Junior middle blocker Kit Niesen had the best day for the Hoyas, hitting .375 with eight kills although she failed to register a block.
Last season’s team may have been more talented with more experienced players, but Robinson feels something different about this year’s team.
“We have so many freshmen coming in, we lost so many starters but the first day, coming in, we knew that we bonded really well,” she said. “Nobody’s a prima donna and I think that’s going to prove to be one of our greatest strengths.”
The team plays tonight at 7 p.m. and tomorrow at 12:30 and 5 p.m. at the University of Kentucky against Kentucky (3-1), Cleveland State (3-2) and Austin Peay (3-2).
