Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Volleyball | Hoyas Focus On Unity Down the Stretch

STANLEY DAI/THE HOYA Freshman outside hitter Liv King has recorded 246 kills on the season, averaging 2.51 kills per set. King recorded her first career double double in Georgetown’s 3-2 win over Seton Hall on Oct. 30.
STANLEY DAI/THE HOYA
Freshman outside hitter Liv King has recorded 246 kills on the season, averaging 2.51 kills per set. King recorded her first career double double in Georgetown’s 3-2 win over Seton Hall on Oct. 30.

The Georgetown volleyball team (10-16, 4-9 Big East) will travel off campus for the final time this weekend as it takes on DePaul (13-11, 2-10 Big East) and Marquette (18-7, 9-3 Big East) in the final away matches of the season. The Hoyas will finish this year’s campaign with games at home against Butler (9-16, 5-7 Big East), Xavier (13-10, 9-3 Big East) and Creighton (18-8, 12-1 Big East) in the coming weeks.

After a trip that ended with mixed results last weekend, the Hoyas will hope to build on their positive momentum and finish the season strong. Georgetown won a five-set thriller against Seton Hall (11-14, 5-8 Big East) last Friday before losing in three sets to Villanova (21-5, 11-2 Big East), one of the Big East’s best teams.

Head Coach Arlisa Williams said she is proud of her team’s win against Seton Hall, in which the Hoyas came back from a two-set deficit.

“Our team has demonstrated that they have a lot of heart all year long. We’ve talked about this being a process, and I think it’s just a step forward for us in the process. They worked hard, they were high energy and they persevered,” Williams said.

The team will first travel to Chicago, where it will take on DePaul at the McGrath-Phillips Arena. This will be the Hoyas’ second match of the year against the Blue Devils, after a five-set win on Homecoming Weekend in early October.

Georgetown will have to contain freshman outside hitter Brittany Maxwell, who leads DePaul in sets played and kills, with 97 and 261 on the season, respectively. On the other end of the court, senior defensive specialist Tyler Graham is a standout performer, with a team-leading 313 digs so far this season.

The Hoyas will then travel to Milwaukee, where they face a tough match against the Golden Eagles. Marquette came out victorious in three sets the last time the two teams met.

One key to beating Marquette will be limiting the impact of redshirt freshman outside hitter Taylor Louis. Louis leads the team with 457 kills on the year, more than twice as many as any other player on the Golden Eagles.

Williams has high expectations for her team this weekend.

“We’ve talked all year about being a family, being a cohesive unit, and they are doing that day in and day out. I want to see us maintain that, first and foremost,” Williams said. “We have demonstrated at times that we are extremely talented, but we haven’t been able to sustain that for an entire match. I want to see us do that for the remainder of the season. And, we’re going to give every single team that we play our best effort, and hopefully have them on the ropes.”

One player who will be crucial to the Hoyas’ success this weekend is freshman outside hitter Liv King. King has been an important part of Georgetown’s attack this season. She has 246 kills this season, the second-most on the team.

However, King is more focused on her team’s goals than on her own accolades. “As a team, our biggest goal was to just come together with all these new people and prove to ourselves and other people that just because we have a young team doesn’t mean that we can’t do amazing things together,” King said. “Personally … I just wanted to hold my own and have a really fun time playing this year, and learn how college volleyball is different.”

Williams is optimistic about the Hoyas’ future, especially given the talent of the freshman class.

“We’re not ready for our season to be over by a long shot, and we’re going to fight through these last five matches,” Williams said. “We are really looking forward to the spring, when we can get in the gym with them and do a whole lot of skill development stuff. I think we’re going to see an even more talented team on the floor a year from now.”

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