UConn Women’s Volleyball hit the road for the first time in nearly a month to take on Big East foes Georgetown and Villanova.
The weekend started Friday night in Washington, D.C. against the Georgetown Hoyas. The first set remained close early on, with Georgetown holding onto a narrow 6-5 advantage before a quick run put the Hoyas up three. The hosts would take advantage of the momentum to build a 12-7 lead. The Huskies struggled to find a break point before Georgetown rattled off another four in a row, giving them a commanding 19-10 lead. UConn showed some fight late in the set, claiming ten of the next fifteen points, capped off by a Maja Daca ace to pull within four. However, their efforts came too late and the Hoyas shut the door 25-10.
UConn had a more promising start to the second set, with a block and a Helena Einarsdottir ace giving them a quick 2-0 lead. A few errors kept the Hoyas within reach, however, allowing them to take three straight to snatch the lead, 7-6. That lead would grow to 14-11, but the Huskies didn’t back down. A crucial block followed by a Sydney Borowy kill brought the score back to an even 14-14. Georgetown answered back, with another string of costly UConn errors allowing the Hoyas to take five of the next six. The Huskies only managed four more points, all coming from opposing service errors as Georgetown cruised to a 25-19 victory in the second set.
With their backs against the wall, the Huskies came out firing in the third set, as back-to-back aces by Audrey Jensen put them up 4-2. Once again, Georgetown stormed back with an 8-3 run, taking full control up 10-7. UConn responded with another run fueled by an ace from Hazuna Akishige and consecutive Borowy kills to knot it back up at 13. A block and another Einarsdottir ace sparked a quick 4-1 run to put the Huskies ahead 18-16. Georgetown brought it even again at 20 but after trading points back and forth UConn reached set point first, thanks to a kill by Olivia Pasternak. Unable to capitalize, the Hoyas took the next two and stole the third set 25-23, completing the victory in straight sets.
The Huskies traveled to Villanova for a Saturday evening matchup with the Wildcats. The first set started off back-and-forth but UConn found themselves down 10-7 after a surge from Villanova. The hosts pushed the lead up to 14-9 before the Huskies found some much-needed momentum. Two kills from Borowy sparked a run to close the gap to 15-14. The Wildcats responded by taking six of the next eight and reached set point first at 24-18. After clawing two points back, a block sealed the first set for the Wildcats, 25-20.
UConn started off the second set hot, going up 4-0 after a pair of kills from Borowy and a service ace by Akishige. Errors by the Wildcats helped extend that margin to 9-4. The Huskies’ defense couldn’t hold the Villanova attack, however, and a 7-2 run evened the score 11-11. A five-point flurry swung the momentum in the Wildcats’ favor, going up 17-12. The Huskies tried to stage a late comeback with three straight after a Pasternak kill, but Villanova closed the second set 25-19 with consecutive kills.
The Huskies looked flustered to begin the third set, with three straight errors handing Villanova a 3-0 lead. The Huskies settled in quickly, and kills from Courtney Grayson, Pasternak and Jordyn Hughes helped tie it back up 4-4. The Wildcats caught fire, taking 10 of the next 12 to build a dominating 13-6 advantage. A Pasternak ace capped off a Huskies 4-1 run to cut the deficit to four. Einarsdottir picked up a pair of late kills but Villanova held off any comeback attempts from that point, not allowing many break points for Connecticut. Villanova completed the sweep with a 25-19 win in the third set.
It was a tough weekend for the Huskies, dropping both games in straight sets and falling to 0-4 in the Big East. Audrey Jensen has looked comfortable after being thrust into the role of the primary setter, contributing 49 assists and two aces over the two games. Einarsdottir and Borowy led the UConn attack, powering in 12 and 17 kills over the weekend, respectively.
After a difficult stretch against some of the top conference competition, UConn will look to bounce back next weekend at home against St. John’s and Seton Hall.