Volleyball Hosts St. John's Tuesday in BIG EAST Opener

The Georgetown University volleyball team (4-9) returns home to McDonough Arena on Tuesday, welcoming St. John's University to the Hilltop to open BIG EAST Conference play. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m

Live stats and a subscription-based webstream will be available at www.GUHoyas.com.
The Hoyas are coming off of a 2-2 showing at a pair of tournaments last weekend in Colorado. On Friday at the Air Force Invitational, GU fell to Northern Colorado, 3-0, before bouncing back for a straight-set victory over Air Force. The following day, at the Denver Invitational, the Blue & Gray saved three match points over the final two sets to open up with a thrilling, 3-2 win over Southern Utah that saw three Hoyas finish with 20 kills. GU closed out the weekend with a 3-0 loss to Denver.

Symone Speech (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest) was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday for her play over the weekend. The sophomore was named to the Denver Invitational All-Tournament Team after registering 36 kills, including a career-high 20 against Southern Utah, and a .508 hitting percentage in the two matches on Saturday. In all, Speech averaged 3.93 kills per set, a .484 hitting percentage and totaled 11 blocks in GU's four matches in Colorado.
For the season, Alyssa Sinnette (Pearland, Texas/Dawson) leads the GU offense with an average of 3.50 kills per set and Speech is right behind her with 3.06. Paige McKnight (Atlanta, Ga./Dunwoody) is averaging 10.17 assists and is second on the team with 2.84 digs per set. She has been a double-double machine this year, registering seven in the team's first 13 matches. Kenzie Higareda (Woodbridge, Va./Forest Park) tops the defense with 4.47 digs per set and also leads the way with 13 service aces. Caitlin Brauneis (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) is second on the squad with 12 aces. Speech leads the frontcourt with 37 total blocks.

The Red Storm (9-4) are playing their fifth match in just seven days after going 1-2 at the West Point Invitational last weekend. After winning its first seven matches of the season, St. John's has dropped four of its last six. Eight of the nine wins have been straight-set victories. The offense, which has a .275 team hitting percentage, is led by Margherita Bianchin (3.43 kills/set), Julia Cast (3.26) and Gaia Travallie (3.04). Danisha Moss leads the BIG EAST and ranks 11th nationally with 1.53 blocks per set. Bianchin and Erica Di Maulo are among the conference leaders with 17 and 16 service aces, respectively, while Di Maulo is third in the BIG EAST with 10.41 assist per set.
Following Tuesday's match, the Hoyas will make the short road trip to Philadelphia on Saturday for a 7 p.m. match against Villanova.