Tigers beat Blue Devils in 5-setter to open pool play

Georgetown began the defense of its national title and exacted a measure of revenge on Tuesday, as the Tigers took down 3-seed Lawrence Tech to start pool play, in a 5-set thriller.

Lawrence Tech came to Georgetown on March 10th and took out the Tigers in straight sets. In set 1 of pool play, Georgetown grabbed the first 2 points and never trailed. Leading 4-3, the Tigers' defense forced 2 attack errors with a tandem block from Adam Szewinski and Finn Heinemann to take a 7-3 lead, sending Lawrence Tech to a timeout. The Blue Devils scored 2 straight out of the timeout, but Georgetown's defense continued to cause issues. Another tandem block, combined with 2 serve errors and 2 attack errors, sent the Tigers on a 7-3 run to take a 14-8 lead as Lawrence Tech burned its last timeout. The teams traded points down the stretch as Georgetown never let Lawrence Tech within 5. Kristjan Unt put the capper on a strong opening set as the Tigers held the Blue Devils to a .100 hitting clip to win it, 25-18.

Set 2 was tight in the early going with the teams splitting the first 10 points. Michal Bak then started a rally for Georgetown with a kill and ace in succession. The Tigers' D sent 2 more blocks down as part of a 7-2 run to surge ahead, 12-7, forcing the Blue Devils to a timeout. Lawrence Tech scored 4 of 5 out of the timeout to get within 2. Georgetown scored the next 2 before the Blue Devils went on another 4-1 run to get within 1 at 16-15. An attack error and Kristjan Unt kill again gave the Tigers some breathing room. Moments later, Miguel Ariza Vega came up with a big solo block and after a Michal Bak kill, Georgetown had a 21-18 lead with eyes on a 2-0 match advantage. Lawrence Tech again came with a 4-1 run to tie the set at 22-all. A service ace then gave the Blue Devils their first lead of the entire match and would lead to a 25-23 win to level the encounter at a set each.

Set 3 took a similar start to set 2. The teams split the first 12 points before Georgetown made another run to grab control. Michal Bak dialed up the kill-ace combo again, followed by an LTU attack error and a tandem block from Adam Szewinski and Finn Heinemann, to give the Tigers a 10-6 lead as the Blue Devils called for time. They got 1 back out of the break, but the errors kept piling up and Georgetown was more than happy for the free points. Leading 10-7, Georgetown was gifted 4 points via errors to take a 15-10 lead and another Lawrence Tech timeout. Bak and Robin Puss tag-teamed on kills for a 17-11 edge. The Blue Devils finally came to life with 4 straight. Another error and another Bak kill stopped the run to give Georgetown a 19-15 lead. Lawrence Tech never drew closer than 3 until the end as Miguel Ariza Vega punctuated a dominant defensive set. Georgetown held Lawrence Tech to .091 and forced 8 attack errors in a 25-21 win to go up 2-1.

Set 4 started with something yet seen on the day: Lawrence Tech scoring the opening point. It mattered none to the Tigers, and in particular, Miguel Ariza Vega. The Colombian blocked 2 straight and killed another, igniting an 8-3 run for the Tigers in the early going. As was the case most of the match to this point, Lawrence Tech put another rally together. The Blue Devils answered with a 6-1 spurt to take a 10-9 lead as Georgetown took a timeout. Vega went right back at it with another kill out of the break. Kristjan Unt followed suit to put the Tigers back on top by 1. After each team scored 2 straight, the Tigers had a 13-12 lead. The teams would then go 1-for-1 on the next 12 points. Another Unt kill put Georgetown up, 19-18. The Blue Devils kept fighting as they scored the next 3 for a 21-19 lead, as the Tigers took their final timeout of the set. The move paid off in the short-term as kills from Unt and Robin Puss sandwiched an LTU error to give Georgetown a 22-21 lead. Lawrence Tech took another timeout and committed another error out of it. An exchange of points put the Tigers up 24-22 with match points in hand, but the Tigers could not close out. A serve error from Santino Zucchiatti and attack error from Michal Bak leveled the set at 24. Bak bounced back with a kill for another match point. His ensuing serve went into the net to keep the Blue Devils alive. They took advantage and scored the last 2 to steal the set, 27-25, and send the match to a 5th.

The Blue Devils took the icebreaker in the 5th, but Georgetown went back outside as Unt and Puss delivered to give the Tigers a 3-1 lead as LTU called for time. After a Blue Devil kill, Georgetown took command again. Another Unt kill, followed by 2 LTU errors, put the Tigers up 6-2. The Blue Devils came back with 3 of 4 to get within 7-5, so Georgetown turned to its Polish power. Michal Bak delivered back-to-back kills. Adam Szewinski then swatted away an attack up the middle to give GC a 10-5 lead and a breather as LTU burned its last timeout. The teams exchanged the next 5 points as Georgetown eyed the closeout with a 12-8 lead. Bak delivered again to put the Tigers 2 points away. The rotation flipped to Georgetown's AVCA 1st Team All-American, Finn Heinemann. The senior delivered a powerful ace to put the Tigers on 6 match points. He wasted no time as another serve was too much for the Blue Devils to handle as Georgetown closed out a 3-2 win.

Georgetown's defense was the story on this day. The Tigers held the Blue Devils to a hitting clip of .094, compared to .324 when LTU swept Georgetown in mid-March. Georgetown finished with 4 solo blocks and 16 block assists to go with 59 digs, along with forcing the Blue Devils into 36 attack errors. Michal Bak was dominant on the outside, finishing with 21 kills on a .367 clip to go with 8 digs, 3 block assists, 2 aces and 2 assists. Kristjan Unt showed poise beyond his freshman status with 18 kills and 10 digs. Finn Heinemann turned in another virtuoso performance with 45 assists, 19 digs, 4 aces and 3 block assists. The 45 assists put him at 1,005 on the season.

Georgetown is now 1 win away from clinching Pool C and getting back to the tournament semifinals for the 2nd straight year. To do it, the Tigers will have to take down 6-seed Missouri Valley, starting at 11:00am on Wednesday.