Volleyball (7-3) fell to crosstown rival Georgetown University (7-2) 3-1 concluding the D.C. Showdown with a loss on Hoya territory Saturday.
The team struggled with hitting, knotting just a .214 hitting percentage compared to Georgetown’s .365. The Revs also lost the battle at the net, scoring just three blocks, compared to the Hoyas’ eight.
Head Coach Katie Reifert said last month that defense was a priority during the team’s practices, after having difficulty blocking opponent’s attacks last season.
The Revolutionaries swept the first day of the D.C. Showdown Friday defeating Rider University and Indiana University Indianapolis, both 3-1. Georgetown also defeated both teams on Friday, 3-0 and 3-1 respectively.
The Revs previously took on the Hoyas at home last season on Sept. 9, winning 3-1, and collecting an overall .244 hitting percentage during the match. Current junior setter Dilara Elmacioğlu notched 14 assists and four service aces in last season’s match.
Senior outside hitter Salem Yohannes led the team in kills on Saturday notching 14 over the four set contest. She also had the most digs in the match with 17. Freshman opposite Taylor Treahy helped out at the service line, with two aces. Elmacioğlu led the team in assists with 28, doubling the amount of assists she logged during her last showdown with the Hoyas.
After a back-and-forth start to the first set, the Revs took the lead at 14-13, and never gave it up during the set, taking the opener 25-21.
The Revolutionaries continued to build on their first set success throughout most of the second set, at one point leading 20-16, but they were unable to fend off a late Hoya comeback that captured the set 26-24.
The Hoyas carried this momentum, starting off the third set with a 4-0 run led by Hoya sophomore setter Emily Wen at the service line. The lead quickly ballooned to 13-3 and Reifert took the team’s second and final timeout of the set. The Hoyas would go on to win the third set 25-8.
During the third set, junior middle blocker Cianna Tejada appeared to slip on a slick spot on the floor but got back on her feet and continued to play the rest of the match with no apparent injury. She finished the match as the hitting leader for the team with a .400 hitting percentage.
The fourth set was tight with neither team leading by more than two points the whole set. GW was able to fend off two match points, but on their third match point, the Hoyas sealed the win over their crosstown rivals.
All four of Hoya Coach AJ Bonetti’s challenges successfully aided the Hoyas in key moments, including a challenge late in the fourth set that gave Georgetown their first match point. The original call of no touch by the GW block was reversed, changing the score from 24–23 in favor of the Revolutionaries, to 24-23 in favor of the Hoyas.
The Revolutionaries will compete in their last tournament before they enter conference play next weekend, traveling to Dover for the Delaware State Tournament where they will face New Jersey Institute of Technology, Delaware State University and Harvard University over the two-day stint.
