VOLLEYBALL | Struggling Hoyas Set For Southern Swing

When Georgetown’s volleyball team (6-3) traveled to Delaware Tuesday night, they hoped to use the road match as a chance to get back on track after dropping two of three games last weekend. Instead, the Hoyas left with another disappointing loss.

Although the Blue and Gray believed that they would have the upper hand on the Blue Hens (2-7) if they performed up to their standards, Georgetown came out flat, allowing Delaware to take the first set, 25-20.

“This is not the first time [our outside hitters] have been attacked, nor is it the first time the right back has been attacked,” Head Coach Arlisa Williams said. “We know how to stop it, but we were just not running on all cylinders.”

In the second set, Delaware was even more dominant, leading from the get-go and winning it, 25-18.

“We knew Delaware was a team that we could compete with,” Williams said. “We found ourselves in a hole, and I think, more than anything, we just got anxious. We made a whole lot of unforced errors — pressing a little too hard.”

That impatience and frustration was obvious in the third set, which Georgetown dropped, 25-13, in a rather sullen end to the match.

“The bottom line is the Hoyas did not show up to play and Delaware did,” Williams said.

Having dropped three of their last four games after a 5-0 start, the Blue and Gray are now urgently looking to recreate the chemistry that fueled this season’s beginning.

“It is just very easy to get involved in your total life and not just your volleyball life, and that distracts from what we do,” Williams said. “So we refocused as a team, came together and we had a great practice.”

They will need that renewed sense of purpose as they face College of Charleston, Michigan State and Presbyterian in this weekend’s Holiday Inn Tournament in Charleston, S.C.

First up for the Hoyas is College of Charleston (5-4), which promises to be a tough test despite its record. The Cougars have been the Southern Conference champions for 11 straight years.

“This is a team that knows how to win,” Williams said. “Their girls are just going to come out battling, so we have got to take it one point at a time and make sure we take care of our side of the net.”

Saturday’s doubleheader features one daunting game and another that seems quite winnable.

First up is undefeated Michigan State (9-0). For the Hoyas to win, they must avoid even the smallest errors, lest the Spartans make them pay.

Williams, however, says her team is not thinking about that marquee matchup until they get past the Cougars.

“We have not even looked at the second match yet, and we have not talked about Michigan State yet,” she said. “We have got Charleston right in front of us.”

In the final match of the weekend, Presbyterian (2-10) seems like an easier test. Though the Blue Hose have struggled this season, the Hoyas will have to remain on guard, given that they have been surprised twice by teams that did not seem to present a considerable challenge.

Georgetown will kick off the tournament tonight at 7 p.m. against the Cougars before their doubleheader on Saturday, when they face the Spartans at 10 a.m. and the Blue Hose at 4:30 p.m. All three games are in Charleston, S.C.