Gunn's 22 kills push Tigers past Cougars

Georgetown entered Saturday night's match against #11 Saint Xavier knowing it was a quality opportunity for a strong win. Ryan Gunn led the Tigers to that win with 22 kills and a .439 hitting percentage in a 3-1 win over the Cougars.

Both teams came out roaring in the 1st set. SXU scored 4 of the first 5 to grab early momentum and force Georgetown to play from behind. The Tigers clawed back and took their first lead at 12-11 on a kill by Adam Szewinski. Gunn followed a moment later for a 13-12 edge. The Cougars countered with a 5-1 run to move ahead, 17-14. Fighting from behind again, Georgetown would eventually take a 23-22 lead on a solo block from Szewinski. Tyree Wesley followed with a kill to give the Tigers their first set point at 25-24, but SXU would not go away. Wesley had to deliver again moments later to negate a Cougar set point and extend the set further. Georgetown's final chance came after a Krzysztof Kowalski kill that gave GC a 34-33 lead. Saint Xavier answered back with a final flurry to win the marathon first set, 36-34. The Cougars offense was the story in the set as they hit .395 to go up 1-0.

Georgetown bounced back in the 2nd set and took its offense to another level. The Tigers swung at a .480 clip with just 2 attack errors. The defense also turned up as the Cougars cooled off to just .200 in the 2nd. With the Tigers leading 8-7, Georgetown got the next 3 and forced a Cougar timeout. SXU countered and got back within 12-11. Georegtown took the momentum back and a kill from Ryan Gunn pushed the lead back to 16-11. After a Cougar run and a 19-17 Tiger lead, Georgetown got another kill from Gunn, followed by 3 straight SXU attacking errors and the Tigers led 23-17. Kills from Michal Bak and Adam Szewinski off assists from Finn Heinemann closed out the 2nd at 25-18 to level the match.

Saint Xavier again came out flying to start and scored the first 5 points of the 3rd set. GC Head Coach, Jim Dwyer, stayed calm on the bench and let his veteran team figure things out on the court. The run Dwyer was waiting for came minutes later. While trailing 9-7, Georgetown called on Ryan Gunn to stem the tide. LC Newton, the super-serving sub, then came in and delivered 3 more to send the Tigers to an 11-9 lead and to the bench thanks to a Cougar timeout. The teams then traded the next 18 points, keeping Georgetown ahead. Finn Heinemann ultimately closed out the tight set with an ace as the Tigers took it, 26-24, to go ahead 2-1 overall.

In set 4, the teams split the first 14 points. Enter LC Newton again. With ball in hand, the Louisville native set Georgetown off on a run of 5 straight to break the set open. Saint Xavier never got closer than 3 points again. Newton came back in with GC leading 20-15 and promptly put 4 straight on the board. Appropriately, it was Ryan Gunn who polished off the convincing win with his 22nd kill.

Georgetown's offense delivered 56 kills, hit .342 and tallied 6 aces. In addition to 22 kills from Ryan Gunn, the Tigers got 8 from Adam Szewinski, who hit a strong .571. Tyree Wesley was a factor on both sides all night long, making life difficult for the Cougars up the middle. Krzysztof Kowalski and Michal Bak combined for 16 kills on the outside. Finn Heinemann was excellent again with 48 assists. Kowalski also finished with a match-high 15 digs.

Georgetown will stay home next Tuesday night and get back into MSC play against Rio Grande. First serve is set for 7:00pm.