Tuesday evening at the Siegel Center featured a match between VCU Volleyball and Georgetown. In honor of Bey Day, VCU honored Beyoncé with “We Slay” T-Shirts and a performance on the court that could make the queen smile. While the Hoyas historically held the advantage, the Rams slayed their opponents led by their diva duo of Vicky Giommarini and Gina Tuzzolo.
Who Let The Beehive In?!?
Giommarini adjusted her halo and went to work in the opening set. The junior outside hitter from Rome scored the Rams first two kills followed by Tori Baldwin getting into the action. Georgetown responded with a service ace to stay even until VCU unleashed a 4 point rally.
During that rally, Julia Adler and Jasmin Sneed were irreplaceable at the net. The duo forced a pair of attacking errors with powerful blocks to keep the momentum on VCU’s side of the court. Sneed would sweeten the deal with a service ace to put the Rams ahead 12-6.
The deficit was too great for the visitors in Set 1. VCU was nearly flawless with 13 total kills and 2 service aces in their 25-16 opening set victory.
Hoyas’ Second Chance
Georgetown got their act together next set. While the Rams took an early 3-2 lead in Set 2, the Hoyas managed to score a service ace to stay ahead by one point. From there Georgetown and VCU traded kills while staying notched at 10-10.
Baldwin and Tuzzolo took over the later portion of Set 2 for the Black & Gold. The alarm was indeed ringing in Siegel as these two Rams pelted the Hoyas with kill after kill. Trailing 16-19, Georgetown turned things around with a 4 point smash that included 2 service aces for the visitors.
Coach Rogers called a VCU timeout for a restart and it worked successfully in the version of a Georgetown attacking error. Baldwin and Tuzzolo sprung into action again with a team block that showed the green light for the Rams at 22-22. Georgetown would play a major spoiler by winning three consecutive points to tie the match at 1-1 with a 25-22 win in Set 2.
That Looks Familiar…
Set 3 was the encore that Ram fans were hoping to see after halftime. Things got underway with VCU taking the first three points followed by Georgetown taking the next 4. During that stretch, Kenzie Higareda scored three consecutive service aces.
Errors from both squads took a toll in the middle of the set. Georgetown had numerous attacking errors that turned into points for the Rams. Even with the lead, VCU couldn’t fully put the Hoyas away with kills going straight into the net or out of play.
Paula Neciporuka got a great set-up by Dajah Ard as she slammed the kill the Rams needed. VCU would score the next 6 consecutive points including an ace by Neciporuka to come within striking distance. Tuzzolo turned into Sasha Fierce as she spiked down the kill to tie the set at 20 apiece.
The final points of Set 3 were a party on the court. Giommarini launched another quick run of points for VCU that was stopped by a kill from Georgetown’s Alyssa Sinnette. Notched at 24-24, Sinenette made a critical service error to give VCU set point. Dajah Ard capitalized with the set winning service ace to collect the 26-24 Set 3 win.
Curtain Call
As Set 4 got underway, Giommarini and Tuzzolo showed the Hoyas who ran the world on this night. Tuzzolo started the Set with a pair of kills and Giommarini teamed up with Sneed to deny Georgetown at the net.
Even with that thunderous start, Georgetown countered with a 5 point run only to be countered by the Rams on a 4 point rally right after that. Giommarini had the hot hand with kills and a pocket ace up her sleeve. The queen from Italy finished the night with a team-high 15 kills versus Georgetown.
There was more buzz around the Siegel Center with VCU’s version of the beehive storming to the finish. Tuzzolo would finish the night at a 12 kill tally along with 6 digs. Her second ace of the night put VCU in position at 19-13. Neciporuka and Sneed continued adding room between the teams while Georgetown struggled to find another counter.
Julia Adler would set VCU up for match point at 24-17 via a kill. Adler & Baldwin leaped up one more time for a team block to put the Rams on top with the victory. VCU won set 4 25-17 to solidify their second win of the season at the Stu. The Rams defeated Georgetown 3-1 in a much-needed bounce back on Bey Day. Sweet Dreams.
Stats On Stats & What’s Coming Up!
VCU out-blocked the Hoyas 13.0 to 5.0 during the match. The trio of Adler, Baldwin, and Sneed collected 6 blocks each. Dajah Ard had 19 assists and 12 digs on the night. Next up for VCU Volleyball is the Seminole Volleyball Invitational at Florida State. The Rams will take on the Seminoles to start things off on Friday, September 7th at 6 PM. #LetsGoVCU 🐏
