Tigers suffer 1st loss of 2023

6th-ranked Georgetown faced its stiffest test of the young season on Friday night at Davis-Reid Alumni Gym. 8th-ranked Menlo came to town with a purpose and came away with a 3-1 match win over the Tigers, handing GC its first loss of the season.

The Tigers (4-1) came out the gates strong against the Oaks (3-0), leading 9-4 in the opening set, causing Menlo to burn an early timeout in front of a raucous crowd. The timeout would prove to be no match for Georgetown's early play as the momentum stayed with the orange & black, leading the Tigers to an 18-10 and the 2nd Menlo timeout of the set. Out of this timeout, Menlo slowly began settling into the night and chipped away at the deficit. Georgetown needed 5 set points to close out the opener by a 25-23 score.

Set 2 tightened up and slowly swung momentum more in Menlo's direction. While the teams traded points for most of the set, it was clear Menlo had established its offensive rhythm, while Georgetown began to struggle with its own offense. With Georgetown leading 15-14, Menlo scored 4 straight to take the lead for good in the 2nd set. The Oaks would close the set on an 11-5 run to take the set, 25-20, and level the match at a set each.

In the third, the teams split the first 10 points but again, Menlo scored 4 straight and would never trail again in the set. The struggles of the Tiger offense hit its peak in the 3rd. 10 errors on 27 attacks compared to only 3 Menlo errors set the tone. Georgetown struggled often going up the lines, while Menlo continued to show success going cross-court on offense. Menlo would take the set, 25-18, and go up 2-1 in the match.

The 4th set looked like a Menlo runaway early as the Oaks offense surged and gave the team a 10-6 lead. The lead would grow to 19-12, forcing Tigers Head Coach, Andrew Palmer, to use a timeout to rally the troops. Behind a big crowd on Greek Life Night, the Tigers came to life. They would fight all the way back to a 23-all tie, and then 24-all, but Menlo had an answer. The Oaks 20th kill of the 4th set put them up 25-24 and then on match point, the Tigers committed their 23rd and final error of the night to give Menlo the set, 26-24, and the match 3-1.

Finn Heinemann led the Tigers with 35 assists. Krzysztof Kowalski tallied 11 kills, while Miguel Vega and Ryan Gunn added 10 each. Unfortunately, the Tigers ran into a strong Menlo team that held the Tigers high-powered offense to a hit percentage of just .165, while the Oaks swung at a .291 clip with 20 more kills.

The Tigers will look to bounce back on Saturday at 4:00pm against Lourdes at Davis-Reid Alumni Gym.