The GW women’s volleyball team lost a non-conference match to cross-town rival Georgetown in three quick games Tuesday night. Head coach Jojit Coronel said while the match was not important in conference standings, a win would have been a nice step after his team’s loss to Temple last Saturday.

“We’re at a point in our season where we’ve played a lot of volleyball and our learning curve is evening out,” Coronel said. “We have to find ways to get back.”

One step back on the winning track, Coronel said, will be the full return of sophomore middle blocker Britta Stroman, who will challenge sophomore Katie Downey for playing time when she is 100 percent back from shoulder surgery rehabilitation.

Stroman, named to last season’s Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team, played in two games Tuesday, registering no kills and one dig. Coronel said her return would give the Colonials some much-needed depth.

“We don’t have a lot of depth,” he said. “Everyone has to get better at every position.”

Big East Conference power Georgetown (12-7, 3-3 Big East) proved GW’s lack of depth, beating the Colonials (10-8, 2-2 A-10) handily the first two games, 30-25, 30-18. The Hoyas out attacked the Colonials .262-.196 and .400 to .206 respectively.

The Colonials mustered their strength in game three, however, making it significantly tougher for the Hoyas to finally take the game 31-29.

Both teams traded leads the entire game until the score was tied at 28. The teams volleyed for nearly a minute, each countering fine offensive attacks with brilliant defensive maneuvers. But Georgetown’s Molly Healy shot a kill down the line, escaping the outstretched arm of sophomore Molly Law to put the Hoyas up by one.

Junior Sarah Hokom kept the Colonials alive a bit longer with a kill in the next possession, but Hoya Laura Warner tied it at 29 with her kill and Natasha Nguyen finished the Colonials off, 31-29.

Hokom’s consecutive double-double streak was stopped Tuesday at seven, as she only amassed nine digs to compliment her 19 kills. Teammate junior Ruth Lazzari did pull one off however, with 10 kills and 14 digs.

Coronel said just the experience of playing against a high caliber team such as Georgetown is a good opportunity, especially because his team’s next two opponents, Saint Francis and Duquesne, should not be as dominating.

Coronel said beating the local rival was not his team’s primary focus. Georgetown he said, is much more intent on beating GW.

“Georgetown could go 1-27 and the season highlight would be they beat GW, but for us it doesn’t matter. It’s just another opportunity to play a high caliber team,” he said.

The rivalry against this Georgetown team may have been even stronger because Li Liu, Georgetown’s fourth-year coach, is a GW alumna. Liu, who said she was excited to comeback and play at GW, expressed her dual allegiance to both schools.

“I want to win because (Georgetown) is my team, but I want (GW) to do well too,” she said.

The Colonials look to stop their two-game skid Friday at Saint Francis (Penn.) before taking on conference rival Duquesne Saturday in Pennsylvania.