Oct. 12, 2007
Washington, D.C. - The Georgetown volleyball team came back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat BIG EAST Conference opponent Pittsburgh, 3-2, today at McDonough Arena. This is the first conference win of the season for the Hoyas as they improve to 5-16 overall with a 1-5 slate in BIG EAST play. The Panthers are now 11-9 on the year with a 5-2 mark in conference action. Game scores were 16-30, 22-30, 30-25, 30-27, 15-13. Sophomore Jessica Hardy (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa) led the team with 21 kills while classmate Dana Dumas (Nokomis, Fla./Pine view) and freshman Vanessa Dorismond (Cary, N.C./Cardinal Gibbons) followed up with 13 kills apiece. Sophomore Kortney Robinson put in a flawless performance as she tallied nine kills with no errors on 21 attempts to lead the team with a .429 hitting percentage. Junior captain Caitlin Boland (Naperville, Ill./Benet Academy) recorded 48 assists and five kills for a .417 hitting percentage. With the score tied at two games each, Georgetown looked to continue the momentum they had to win the previous two games. The deciding game saw the lead exchange three times and eight tied scores. Georgetown too a slight lead with a kill from Hardy followed by an assisted block from Dumas and sophomore Kiersten McKoy (Oakland, Calif./Bishop O'Dowd). However, the teams would trade points back and forth until two-consecutive wayward plays prompted a Pitt timeout. Following the break, a Dorismond kill extended the Hoya lead to three points (10-7). Key defensive efforts from Pittsburgh's Diana Andreyko and Meagan Dooley tied the game at 12 before Georgetown called a timeout. An error from Pittsburgh and a Robinson kill would set up match point for the Hoyas behind the serve of McKoy. On a Boland set, Dumas tallied her 13th kill and won Georgetown game five and the match. Game four saw the Hoyas hit the floor with renewed energy. Georgetown fell behind by as many as five points (12-7) before taking 10 of the next 12 points for a 17-14 lead and inducing a Pittsburgh timeout. The 12-point span featured two kills each for Dumas and Dorismond and an assisted blocking effort credited to the two as well. Dumas ended the run with an ace before the break. The rest proved beneficial for the Panthers as they climbed back from the three-point deficit and even claimed the lead (21-20) on a GU error. With the score tied at 22, Georgetown surged ahead to take the lead again behind the serve of Robinson and later Dumas as they led 27-23 after a vital shared block from Dorismond and Hardy. Georgetown held the lead and did not let Pitt crawl back within more than two points as a Dumas kill on a dish from Hardy ended game four in favor of the Hoyas, 30-27, despite a hard-fought, .308 effort from the Panthers. A rejuvenated squad shocked the Pittsburgh team as Georgetown pulled ahead to a quick 7-1 lead in game three. The Panthers tied the game at 13 and even took the lead before a Hardy kill knotted the score once again (14-14). The momentum swung in favor of the Blue and Gray once again as they won eight of the next 11 points, capitalizing on three Pitt errors and two critical blocking efforts for a 24-17 lead. The Hoyas held the lead and won game three on a Hardy kill. The Blue and Gray fell behind 2-0 after the Panthers hit .480 and .452 in games one and two, respectively. The Hoyas managed to hit .028 in game one and put up a respectable .243 in game two, but it was not enough as Pittsburgh tallied three more kills and had fewer errors than GU. The Hoyas continue with BIG EAST Conference action on Sunday, October 14 when they host West Virginia for a 2 p.m. match at McDonough Arena.
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