Posted: Dec 05, 2009

Tigers Fall in National Championship Final

Sioux City, Iowa - The Georgetown College Tigers finished the season as the NAIA Volleyball National Runner-Up, falling 3-0 to Fresno Pacific in the championship finals on Saturday at the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena.

Georgetown lost the match with scores of 16-25, 18-25, 12-25 in the school's first appearance in the finals.

The Tigers end the year with an overall record of 45-4 under first year head coach Nick Griffin. Fresno Pacific was crowned the champion for the third straight year and completed a perfect season at 38-0.

Fresno Pacific sophomore outside hitter Martina Gregusova led the Sunbird attack with 11 kills on 27 swings, hitting .333. Erika Adachi and Emily Carroll teamed together to direct the offense, dishing out 22 and 12 assists, respectively. Defensively it was Mariah Mandelbaum with 16 digs, followed by a dozen from Gregusova and Adachi.

Even though Georgetown's offense was limited, senior middle blocker Kristy Hock registered 11 kills on 23 attempts to lead her team's efforts. Freshman setter Amanda Philpot had 20 assists and fellow senior Amy Barmore had 14 digs. Barmore also holds the career digs title, scooping up 2,794 over her four years as a Tiger.

Barmore broke the school's career aces record with an ace she recorded in the first set. The libero ends here career with 270 perfect serves. The Louisville native takes the lead over Erin Monnier whose record stood since her playing days in 1992-95.

The Sunbird defense limited Georgetown to a .097 hitting percentage in the match, registering only 29 kills while committing 18 attack errors. On the opposite side, Fresno Pacific closed out the match with 41 kills, hitting .286.

The Tigers were able to take 6-3 lead in the first set, but lost their rhythm and finished the set with a -.024 clip. Fresno Pacific took advantage and would at one point hold a nine-point lead in the first set. In the second stanza, Georgetown was able to move into positive hitting percentage at .226, but fell behind by as many as 10. With the victory in sight, the Sunbirds cruised through the third set, going up by as many as 13 to capture the set and the match.

Freshman setter Philpot and senior outside hitter Janszen represented Georgetown on the Tachikara - All-Tournament Team.

Shown above, the National Runners-Up receive their trophy during the awards ceremony following the championship finals. (Photo courtesy of Richard Davis.)