Tigers win 5-set thriller over Lourdes
Coming off the first loss of the season to Menlo on Friday night, Head Coach Andrew Palmer was as curious as Tiger fans to see his team's response on Saturday against Lourdes. Things looked grim early as Lourdes took the 1st 2 sets in Davis-Reid Alumni Gym. The Tigers found a groove going into set 3, needing extra time in set 4, before closing out Lourdes in a 5-set classic.
Lourdes raced out to a 4-0 lead in the opening set, immediately putting the Tigers on their heels. The lead would grow to 11-5 before Georgetown mounted a rally. The Tigers would score 5 of the next 6 points to close within 12-10. Lourdes maintained pace and further extended its lead late in the set to 21-17, forcing a Tigers timeout. An assist and 3 straight serve points from Kacper Dobrowolski tied the set at 21, forcing Lourdes to regroup for the first time. Georgetown would maintain momentum immediately out of the timeout, working its way to a set point at 24-23. Lourdes would stand tall one last time, scoring 3 straight to win the set, 26-24.
Early in the 2nd, it was Georgetown that came out firing, taking a 9-3 lead and forcing the Gray Wolves to come from behind for the first time. With Georgetown continuing to lead at 19-15, Lourdes toughened up with 5 unanswered to move into a 20-19 lead over Georgetown. The teams would battle to a 22-all tie, and again, Lourdes would tally the final 3 points to win the set, 25-22 and go up 2-0 in the match.
The first 2 sets were played at a high level by both teams. Lourdes hit over .400 in both sets with 25 kills and just 6 errors. Georgetown hit over .330 in both sets with 28 kills and 11 errors.
Set 3 saw a Tiger team with desperation in its game overwhelm its opponent as the set went on. Lourdes led 10-9, threatening to sweep, but the Tigers answered with the rally it needed at the perfect time. Miguel Vega came back onto the floor and everything changed. The Tigers went on a 16-5 run the rest of the set. Georgetown hit .500 in the set with 13 kills and only 2 errors. The defending was championship level as Lourdes could only find 5 kills in the set with a hit percentage of .040. Georgetown cruised to a 25-15 win to get back into the match.
The 4th set turned into a marathon with neither side willing to give an inch. While Georgetown did lead for most the set, Lourdes always stayed within striking distance, not allowing the the Tigers an advantage of more than 4 at any point. Georgetown would work its way to a 24-22 lead and a chance to square the match. Lourdes would stave off the point and level the set at 24. The teams would exchange points on the next 9 services, before Georgetown was finally able to close out the set on its 6th try, 30-28.
After surviving the 4th, Georgetown looked for the early knockout blow in the 5th and nearly had it, taking an 10-5 lead in the race to 15. As had been the case all night, Lourdes had a response. The Gray Wolves would go on a 5-1 run to tie the deciding set at 11 each. Errors would ultimately be the undoing for Lourdes. With a chance to go ahead and on serve, the Gray Wolves sent the ball out of play, giving Georgetown a 12-11 lead. 2 straight attack errors by the Gray Wolves would give the Tigers a match point at 14-11. Lourdes would get the serve back, trailing 14-12, but the final Gray Wolves swing of the night sailed well wide of the sideline, giving Georgetown a 15-12 win in the 5th to take the match.
Kacper Dobrowolski turned in a brilliant performance. The junior from Poland tallied an incredible 50 assists, 9 digs and 4 aces in the marathon match. Ryan Gunn finished with 18 kills, while Krzysztof Kowalski added 15 of his own. The duo of CJ Bride and Sean Bohler combined for 25 digs, while Miguel Vega added 7 kills and 7 total blocks.