Tigers knock off Cumberlands in 4 sets

Georgetown celebrated its home opener in grand fashion with an impressive 4-set win over Cumberlands on Tuesday night, in front of a raucous crowd at Davis-Reid Alumni Gym.

The Tigers (3-10, 2-1) fed off the energy from the home crowd from the get go in the match and turned in one of the more complete performances of the season to date. Georgetown came out swinging aggressively in the opening set, catching Cumberlands (12-4, 2-1) off guard and never allowing the Patriots to find a rhythm. The Tigers finished the opening set with 17 kills, en route to a 26-24 win.

Cumberlands used the set break and side change to refocus. The Patriots dominated set 2 with an impressive stat line. 10 kills, 0 errors, and a .500 hitting percentage allowed UC to run away with the 2nd, 25-12, to level the match. Georgetown Head Coach, Felicia Pace, now found it her turn to rally the troops and respond. The Tigers did. Set 3 saw the Tigers ramp up the offensive aggressiveness to another level and saw the emergence of a budding star, sophomore Gareth Bruce. Her attacking and athleticism became overwhelming for Cumberlands as she helped lead the Tigers to 18 kills in set 3 and a 25-21 set win.

In the 4th, the Tigers sensed the opportunity to end the match quickly, buliding a 13-6 lead midway through the set, forcing Cumberlands to use both of its timeouts. The Patriots tried to rally back, but the Tigers offense was too good again in the 4th. The combination of Hunter Keller, Makena Walker and Gareth Bruce could not be stopped by the Patriots, leading GC to 15 more kills in the 4th for a 25-20 win, and the match victory.

Georgetown turned in 59 kills for the match, marking the 4th time this season the Tigers eclipsed 55 kills in a match. Hunter Keller and Makena Walker led the way with 14 and 13 kills each. Gareth Bruce finished the night with 9 kills and 7 digs. The spectacular setting duo of Kayla Mantell and Viannie Kazan combined for 47 assists. Defensively, the Tigers were strong to boot. Four players turned in double digit digs, led by 25 from Reese Speed.

The Tigers are next in action on September 20th at Thomas More University. Opening serve is set for 7:00pm.