Hitting the home stretch of its season, the Georgetown volleyball team (6-14, 0-7 Big East) has two chances to end its 13-game losing streak when it faces Notre Dame and DePaul this weekend as the first half of a four-game homestand.

Despite their frustrating losing streak, the Hoyas have improved their play on both sides of the ball in recent games and have avoided making many of the errors that crippled the team earlier in the season.

That better effort has shown on the scoreboard, as the Blue and Gray has brought its past six games to at least four sets, including a tight five-set defeat to South Florida last Sunday. More consistent play like the effort against the Bulls will be needed, however, if Georgetown is to claim its first win since Sept. 8.

“We’re playing better for longer spurts,” Head Coach Arlisa Williams said. “We’re doing things that we need to do to be successful for longer periods of time. As unfortunate as it is to come out with a loss, we’ve played good volleyball.”

In last weekend’s matches against Pittsburgh and South Florida, Georgetown benefited from the improved attacking play of senior middle blocker and team captain Lindsey Wise, who hit .400 against the Panthers and .333 against the Bulls.

“I’ve been working hard on transitions after I block,” Wise said. “I try to get off the net earlier and be available to hit so I can see the block and hit around it.”

Wise believes that the Hoyas’ biggest issue is their inability to close out close matches and thinks that this week’s work on playing in pressure situations will pay dividends.

“In practice, we set the score at 18-18 and work on finishing the last few points of the game because that seems to be where we are less efficient,” Wise said. “We’ve been working on a lot of things in practice, trying to find ways to earn points and terminate rallies. It’s giving us hope and a lot of encouragement for the next few games.”

Despite its improved play, Georgetown will be hard pressed to record its first Big East win against Notre Dame on Friday. The Fighting Irish (13-6, 6-1 Big East), who sit at third in the conference, boast an experienced lineup led by dangerous right-side hitter Jeni Houser.

Its clash with DePaul (6-14, 1-6 Big East), however — a team with only one Big East win thus far — seems a great opportunity to snatch that win.

“I think we can definitely get a win this weekend,” Wise said. “We’ve had some really good practices, and we have a good feeling going in. Everyone seems hopeful and ready for a win.”

The Hoyas will face Notre Dame in McDonough Arena at 8 p.m. Friday, take Saturday off and then meet DePaul at 2 p.m. Sunday.