Syracuse University
Georgetown
Volleyball Wins First BIG EAST Match, 3-1, Against Georgetown
9/26/2003 9:35:49 PM | Volleyball
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Orangewomen volleyball team defeated Georgetown, 3-1, Friday night at Manley Field House. It was the first SU win versus the Hoyas since 1997. Syracuse (9-6, 1-0 BIG EAST) beat Georgetown (4-10, 0-1 BIG EAST), 30-26, 30-32, 31-29, 30-27.
"I'm very happy that we beat Georgetown," assistant coach Alexis Dankulic said. "We didn't play well offensively, but we still got it done."
The Orangewomen's offense generated 54 kills on 167 attempts, including 23 errors, for a .186 hitting percentage, compared to the Hoyas' .197 percentage on 68 kills, 34 errors and 173 attempts. Both teams struggled serving the ball, with Georgetown recording 21 service errors and SU posting 19 errors from behind the baseline.
Syracuse made up for its offensive and serving woes with its front-row defense. Sophomores Kelly Duan and Kristen Conway each recorded career highs with seven and eight block assists, respectively. As a team, SU out-blocked Georgetown, 26-14.
Conway and classmate Aila Dommestrup finished the first game with a block of Georgetown's Ashley Lancaster. In game two, the Orange led, 27-24, after a kill by sophomore Jessica Logan. The Hoyas sided out, and pulled within one point, 27-26. Sara Albert tied the game at 28 with a service ace. After that, the Hoyas had a game-point situation at 30-29, but junior Morgan Jones denied the opportunity with a kill. Lancaster secured the final two points for the Hoyas to tie the match at one game each.
The third game was also closely contested. With Syracuse leading, 26-25, Albert and Basak Karamehmet combined to block two straight attacks by Jones to give the Hoyas a 27-26 advantage. Freshman Erin McQuillin entered the game, and immediately earned two consecutive points for the Orange with a pair of kills, which put SU up 28-27. The teams traded side-outs until blocking once again secured the win for Syracuse, as Duan and Conway denied Lancaster on game point.
In the final game, Georgetown led as late as 19-18, before kills by Jones and Duan put Syracuse ahead, 20-19. The Hoyas knotted the game at 24 on a Jones service error, but could not take advantage of it, as Syracuse recorded the next two points and never looked back.
Jones led the Orange attack with 15 kills on 40 attempts. Duan finished with 10 kills and eight digs, and Logan had 11 kills on 36 attempts. Conway recorded eight kills on 28 attempts, as well as nine digs and nine total block. Seniors Christen Casey and Michaela Skelly led the back-row defense with 15 and 12 digs, respectively.
Lancaster finished with a match-high 23 kills on 56 attempts. Rachel Nelson had 21 kills on 56 attempts and finished the double-double with 12 digs. Julie Grauert led all players with 27 digs, and Jen Ward posted a match-high 42 assists.
SU returns to action on Saturday at 1:00 p.m., when the Orangewomen take on St. Francis (N.Y.) in a non-conference tilt at Manley Field House.
