Bak's 24 kills lead Tigers past Pomeroys

After a dominant win over Brescia on Friday, Georgetown looked for more on Saturday against Saint Mary of the Woods. The Pomeroys had been in strong form of late and brought the fight to the Tigers the entire afternoon. Michal Bak proved the difference as he tallied 24 kills in leading Georgetown to a 3-1 win to keep the Tigers in a 1st place tie in the RSC.

Saint Mary of the Woods started with 2 of the 1st 3 points of the match. Georgetown got going with kills from the Polish tandem of Adam Szewinski and Michal Bak. It kickstarted a 7-1 run that was punctuated by a block from Bak and Miguel Ariza Vega to give Georgetown an 8-3 lead. The lead stayed true up to an 11-7 edge. At that point, the Pomeroys went on a 5-1 run to tie the set at 12. The teams split the next 4 points to keep it tied at 14. Robin Puss then put a ball away for the lead, then went on serve as part of a 5-0 run to send Georgetown surging to a 19-14 lead. As was the case the entire day, the Pomeroys refused to back down and went on another run of their own to come back to level the set at 22. A kill from Kristjan Unt put Georgetown back up 1, but SMWC countered. The back-and-forth continued until the set was tied at 25. Georgetown turned to the middle, where Miguel Ariza Vega put the Tigers up and on its 4th set point. Michal Bak then went back to serve and delivered a ball the Pomeroys could not handle as Georgetown closed it out, 27-25. Georgetown's offense clicked the entire 1st set as the Tigers had 19 kills, just 2 attack errors and hit a blistering .567 to go up 1-0.

SMWC took the early momentum in the 2nd set as they scored 6 of the first 9 points. The lead continued up to an 11-8 advantage. Georgetown then grabbed the momentum as Bak and Szewinski started a run of 4 straight to push the Tigers on top, 12-11. The match remained tight until a 19-18 lead for Georgetown. Robin Puss put a ball away, followed by 2 straight kills from Bak. An ace from Kristjan Unt capped another 4-0 run as SMWC called a timeout trailing 23-18. The Pomeroys got 2 back before Bak delivered again for a possible set point at 24-20. SMWC spoiled 2 straight chances and Georgetown called a timeout. The third time proved the charm for the Tigers as Miguel Ariza Vega delivered the goods with the final point of the set to give the Tigers a 25-22 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.

The 3rd set continued to raise the bar in this exciting contest. The teams split the first 16 points with neither side having a lead of more than 1 throughout the start. SMWC finally grabbed the momentum. With the score tied at 8, the Pomeroys score 5 of 6 to take a 13-9 lead. Georgetown called on its Polish power again as the pair teamed up for kills to start another Tiger surge. Robin Puss made his presence felt with a block and kill as part of a 5-0 run to give Georgetown a 14-13 lead. SMWC did not relent as the Pomeroys came right back with the next 3 to retake the lead at 16-14. Michal Bak kept coming as he punched back with a kill and block on consecutive plays. An error by the Pomeroys gave Georgetown the lead at 17-16. SMWC scored the next 2, but the Tigers were there as Bak and Unt came up big to push the edge back to the Tigers at 19-18. Moments later, Unt and Szewinski scored up front to give Georgetown a 22-20 lead. With its collective back against the wall, the Pomeroys roared back with 3 straight to go up again. The set needed extra points as the teams traded back-and-forth. SMWC worked itself ahead but could not close out as Georgetown staved off 5 set points. The 6th could not be stopped as a Pomeroy block of Robin Puss closed out a marathon set. SMWC took a 30-28 win to extend the match to a 4th set.

The Pomeroys started the 4th the same as the 2nd with a 6-3 lead. Georgetown fought back to tie at 7-all. SMWC countered with another 6-3 run for a 13-10 lead in the set. Michal Bak was called upon again and delivered again. A kill and block assist from the junior were part of a 4-0 run that sent the Tigers to the lead at 14-13. The trading of points continued until Georgetown had a lead of 19-18. Adam Szewinski then found space up the middle for a kill, then teamed with Bak for a block to give GC a 21-18 lead. SMWC got a point back but still had no answers for Bak. The outside hitter smashed 2 straight for a 23-19 Tiger lead. He put another away to give Georgetown a match point at 24-21. 2 points later, a Pomeroy serve error closed out a thrilling 3-1 win for the Tigers.

The day belonged to Michal Bak as he finished with those staggering 24 kills, while hitting an efficient .381. He also was a big factor on defense with 9 digs, 3 block assists and a solo block. Kristjan Unt and Robin Puss combined for 25 kills on the outside. Finn Heinemann dished out 62 assists to go with 3 aces and 8 digs. Ben Meyers paced the back line with 14 digs. Miguel Ariza Vega finished with 9 kills and hit .667.

The Tigers keep pace with Campbellsville ahead of their rematch on Tuesday night. First serve in Campbellsville is set for 7:00pm.