Sept. 15, 2007

Box Score - Georgetown 3, Mercer 1 | Box Score - Winthrop 3, Georgetown 2

Washington, D.C. - The Georgetown University volleyball team split a pair of matches on the final day of the Wingate Inn Tournament held at Winthrop Coliseum in Rock Hill, S.C. The Hoyas defeated Mercer, 3-1 (31-29, 30-27, 27-30, 30-23) but then lost the final match of the tournament to host Winthrop in a dramatic five-game match, 3-2. The scores were 30-24, 21-30, 30-24, 15-30, 11-15. The Hoyas are now 4-10 and on the verge of the BIG EAST Conference portion of the schedule. Sophomore Jessica Hardy (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa) was named to the Wingate Inn All-Tournament Team.

Against Mercer, a quartet of sophomores led the attack for the Hoyas. Kortney Robinson (Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleasant Grove) had a stellar match with a career-high 17 kills and led the team with a career-high .469 hitting percentage. Hardy led the team in kills for the third-consecutive match with 19 and recorded her third double-double of the year when she added another 18 digs. Dana Dumas (Nokomis, Fla./Pine View) leads the team in double-doubles as she tallied her sixth today on 18 kills and 15 digs. Kiersten McKoy (Oakland, Calif./Bishop O'Dowd) rounded out the sophomore effort with a season-high 13 kills and maintained a .281 hitting percentage. Junior Caitlin Boland (Naperville, Ill./Benet Academy) contributed a double-double with a season-high 62 kills and 11 digs.

The match was tight to begin with as there were 10 instances when the score was tied in game one alone and eight lead changes. Hardy tallied seven kills and hit .357. As the two teams traded leads, Georgetown tied the game at 27 points apiece on a Robinson kill. That play was followed by an assisted block credited to Robinson, McKoy and Dumas and a kill from McKoy to give the Blue and Gray double game point. However, Mercer's Drennan Dexheimer notched a kill and Allison Davis served up an ace to knot the game at 29. A kill from Dumas and a crucial blocking effort from Robinson and junior Katherine Niesen (Gainesville, Fla./Eastside) gave the Hoyas game one.

Georgetown led for the entirety of game two. The Hoyas extended the lead to five (11-6) behind three-consecutive GU kills, one from Robinson and the other two credited to McKoy. The Bears traded kills with the Hoyas until two GU errors put Mercer within one point and Karen Dorris' kill tied the game at 22. Georgetown continued to battle and fittingly, the last three GU points were won on Hardy kills. Hardy had six kills in game two and hit .750 as she committed zero errors on eight attempts.

The third game saw a lackluster Hoya offense as it was the only game that Georgetown did not outkill its opponent. Georgetown hit a mere .151 (the only game that Georgetown dipped below .200) and the Bears hit .261. With the game tied at 24, Mercer won six of the next nine points behind the play of Jen Darty who recorded two kills and one service ace in the nine-point span. The Bears proved too much for GU in game three.

In game four, Georgetown took the quick lead behind a service ace from freshman Vanessa Dorismond (Cary, N.C./Cardinal Gibbons), back-to-back kills from Hardy and Robinson and two generous errors from the Bears. Georgetown inched away as back-to-back kills from Robinson and McKoy followed a wayward Mercer play prompted a timeout. The Blue and Gray continued to wide the gap and won the game with three of the last six points ending on GU kills.

Despite hitting just .104 for the match, the Hoyas pushed the Eagles to a deciding fifth game; however, seven matches in the last eight days took its toll on the young squad as they lost, 3-2. For the first time in five contests the Hoyas hit below .200 as a team. For the fourth-consecutive match, Hardy led the team in kills with 13 and recorded her fourth double-double of the season when she tacked on 12 digs. Robinson also had a double-double performance with 12 kills and 10 digs. The Hoyas were able to win the first and third stanza, but a devastating negative hitting percentage in game two and a .033 performance in game four evened the match at two apiece. Both teams delivered eight kills in game five, but a solid .316 hitting percentage from the Eagles gave them the match.

The Hoyas return to the court on Friday, September 21 when they open up the BIG EAST Conference portion of the schedule. Georgetown welcomes the Cincinnati Bearcats to McDonough Arena for a 7 p.m. match.