Photo credit: Greg Fiume
By Matthew Brooks (@brooksie1219)
After so much time on the road without any success, GW volleyball came into their home debut itching to get their first win of the season. With a brand new court at the Charles E. Smith Center and an energetic home crowd, the Revolutionaries were able to take the last two matches of their three match set in the DC Showdown this weekend.
It’s hard to succeed as a team without confidence, and junior right side hitter MC Daubendiek said that the home crowd gave them the confidence that they needed.
“It’s amazing to be back in Smith and I think that that energy is just what we needed to realize how good we are as a team, so now we have this starting block we can build on.” Daubendiek said.
The weekend started off with a Friday double header where the Revs first lost 3-2 to North Alabama. GW came out hot and carried momentum all the way through the first two sets, with major contributions from senior outside hitter Grace Wiczek, senior right side hitter Liv Womble and graduate middle blocker Kelsey Watkins. Womble hit an impressive .636 in those first two sets with seven kills, and the team as a whole came up with seven blocks. Despite being one set away, NAU spoiled their hopes of leaving Smith with that first season win. The Lions (4-3) offense heated up fast, and they tightened up their act defensively which forced GW to work much harder for kills. Those factors compounding with some communication issues on the part of GW, and NAU was able to take the final three sets and complete the reverse sweep.
Despite the disappointing finish from earlier in the day, the Revs were able to bounce back and secure their first match win of the season 3-1 later that night against Old Dominion Monarchs (4-5). The Revs continued to struggle in the early sets with communication issues and mistakes, but after splitting the first two sets things finally started to fall into place. Wiczek had a career high 17 kills, and the Revs “brick wall” frontline looked back in midseason form. Junior outside hitter Brittany Myers and sophomore middle blocker Sydney Stewart led the team with six blocks a piece. Watkins and Daubendiek trailed close behind with five each.
Defense has been a major factor in the Revs struggle so far this season, but second year head coach Katie Reifert was always confident that her team would be able to turn it around.
“I’m really happy that everyone here got to see what I see everyday in practice,” Reifert said. “Our firepower on offense has been really lighting people up, but our defense hasn’t been there. This weekend it struggled at times, but for the most part it was a lot stronger.”
After splitting Friday’s double header, Saturday came and brought the highpoint of the young season for GW. Going into the match 1-6, the Revolutionaries certainly seemed like underdogs to 6-2 Georgetown. But the Revs pulled off the stunner and sent the Hoyas home in four sets. The offense was once again led by Wiczek with 11 kills, and the Revs racked up a season high 15 aces in front of the home crowd.
Sophomore libero Penelope Heipler stepped up in a big way on Saturday and throughout the weekend. She set her three career highs in digs and looked far more comfortable out on the court than she had earlier in the season. She takes the torch at libero from program staple Bella Bowman, who just graduated after her fifth season on the team. Coach Reifert noted how important the position is, not only for their individual performance, but how their play affects the entire team.
“It’s a transition for the team as well playing around a new libero,” Reifert said. “But our team everyday is buying into her more and more and trusting her… it’s her responsibility to really run the defense and tell people where she’s gonna be, what she’s gonna take confidently, and what she needs help from other people.”
Reifert also commented on how all of the younger players on the team are learning to rely on each other, saying “I think sometimes the younger players just want to say ‘I can be everywhere, I can do everything’. In reality, there are places where you need help from your team.”
The players also talked about the importance of student attendance and building a culture around athletics at GW. Daubendeik said that the team is “so grateful for George’s Army and everyone who sh0wed up to watch us. It really helps, like that environment is crazy. It lights a fire inside us.”
Womble, who’s a four year veteran of the team said that, “The culture around GW sports and being in the arena is changing a lot. Big shout out to mens basketball last year getting everyone in here.”
Sophomore and new Georges Army President Sara Cline talked about how George’s Army has already done some work with mens basketball to promote athletics for the sports happening now and the upcoming seasons.
“It’s been a lot of fun working with the men’s basketball team already, they’ve been really cooperative, we’ve already filmed some content that we’re posting soon.” Cline said.
Both Reifert and Womble noted how proud they were of the team’s ability to turn things around this weekend after a rough start.
Womble said “I’ll be honest, I’m really proud of the team’s maturity… a lot of our new additions are making their impact this weekend.”
Coach Reifert talked about how proud she was of her team’s resilience. “We didn’t start our season the way we wanted, clearly, and a lot of teams I think would fold under that, just thinking ‘we’re not good enough’, thinking ‘we don’t have what it takes.’ My team recognized the good that we had, that we were producing every day in practice, and finally we were able to showcase it this weekend.”
The Revolutionaries get back on the road on Wednesday for their next match against NC State, which can be found on ACC Network Extra. They return to the Smith Center for the beginning of A10 play where they play Rhode Island on Saturday September 30th and Sunday October 1st.
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