WASHNGTON, D.C. (October 29, 2010) – The Rutgers volleyball team (9-14, 1-8 BIG EAST) dropped a five set match to the Georgetown Hoyas (14-12, 4-6 BIG EAST) this evening at the McDonough Arena in Washington, D.C.
The Hoyas took the first two sets by scores of 25-21 and 25-19 and headed into the break with the momentum.
Georgetown kept the momentum to begin the third game jumping out to an early 11-4 advantage forcing Rutgers head coach CJ Werneke to call a timeout. Following the timeout, RU went on a run of its own to knot the score at 14-14. From there, the squads played back and forth volleyball with neither team gaining an advantage of more than two points. The Hoyas looked to have the set in hand as they held a 23-21 lead but the Scarlet Knights went on a 3-0 to regain the lead and force set point. Georgetown was able to tie the score at 24 a piece but a pair of Hoya attacking errors gave the set to the Scarlet Knights, 26-24.
In the fourth set, Georgetown again jumped out to an early lead at 4-1. Rutgers responded going on an 18-10 run to take a 19-14 lead. Keeping with the trend of the set, the Hoyas rallied to knot the set at 23-23 before Rutgers ran off the final two points to take the set, 25-23. Rutgers closed out the set with a block assist from Lauren Voss (Hartland, Wis.) and Brittany Bozzini (Saratoga, Calif.).
In the deciding fifth set, Georgetown again jumped out to an early lead at 13-7. Rutgers again rallied getting within a point at 14-13 on a kill by Sheridan Taylor (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) but it wasn’t enough as the Hoyas closed out the set and match on the next point with a kill from Kortney Robinson.
The Scarlet Knights were led by sophomore Stephanie Zielinski (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) who recorded her 11thdouble-double of the season with 31 assists and 15 digs. The RU offense was paced by fellow sophomore Alex Jones (Chesapeake, Va.) who had 15 kills while hitting a team-best .270. The defense was led by Zielinski and seniors Caitlin Saxton (Encinitas, Calif.) and Emma Chrystal (Portage, Mich.) who each tallied 12 digs.
Rutgers returns to action Sunday when it travels to Tampa, Fla. to take on the USF Bulls in a noon matchup.
