Tigers take down Saint Xavier in 5, to play for 1st National Title

After an exhausting, exhilirating 5-set win over #2 Vanguard on Thursday, Georgetown met a familiar foe in the National Semifinals on Friday. For the 3rd time this year, the Tigers met Saint Xavier. The rubber match proved the best of the trio as the teams turned in another classic, with Georgetown coming out on top in 5 sets to advance to the national championship for the first time in program history.

Georgetown got off to a quick start in set 1 with 3 straight kills from Tyree Wesley, Ryan Gunn and Krzysztof Kowalski for an early lead. With the edge at 6-5, Georgetown rolled off 4 in a row thanks to 2 Cougar errors and kills from Kowalski and Gunn. Saint Xavier used its first timeout to try to settle down. Georgetown's lead swelled to 14-8 before SXU began chipping away. The Cougars methodically got back in the set, scoring 10 of the next 15 to get within 1 of Georgetown at 19-18. A serve error followed by a Michal Bak kill gave Georgetown breathing room again as SXU called its 2nd timeout, down 21-18. Georgetown maintained the pressure, not allowing the Cougars to get closer than 2 the rest of the set. The clincher came on a serve error from Saint Xavier as the Tigers took the opener, 25-21.

Set 2 saw the teams trade points and momentum. With the score tied at 3, Georgetown picked up a kill from Ryan Gunn and an ace from Michal Bak for an early 2-point edge. Gunn and Bak kept the pressure on, eventually forcing 2 SXU attack errors to give the Tigers a 13-9 lead and a breather as Saint Xavier took a timeout. The Cougars scored 2 out of the timeout to halve the deficit, but errors continued to mount as 3 more came soon after. Saint Xavier took its 2nd timeout after finding itself down 17-12. Kacper Dobrowolski kept the pressure on with a rare kill from the right side to give the Tigers their largest edge at 19-13. Saint Xavier would not go away. The Cougars ratched up the pressure and Georgetown could not respond. SXU rolled off 6 points in a row to tie the set at 19. Krzysztof Kowalski had the answer with a cross-court kill to momentarily halt the run. Kowalski would do it again with the set tied at 21. He then followed with a block, alongside Tyree Wesley, to put the Tigers ahead, 23-21. Kowalski proved to be the closer as he dished out another kill from Dobrowolski for a 25-23 set win to put Georgetown up 2-0 in the match.

Early on, the 3rd set looked like it would be a walk for Georgetown as the Tigers raced out to a 5-2 lead. Saint Xavier had other ideas as it rattled off 3 straight for the tie. With the set tied at 9, Georgetown had its turn for a 3-0 run and the edge. The Cougars countered by scoring 7 of the next 9 to vault into a 16-14 lead over the Tigers. 2 kills from Miguel Ariza Vega kept the Tigers with 1 and a solo block from Ryan Gunn tied the set at 18. With the set tied at 19, Saint Xavier took the next 3, thanks in part to 1 of its 24 blocks on the night. The Cougars took control and closed out the set, 25-22, to extend the match to a 4th set. SXU's defense proved the story in the set win as Georgetown hit a match-low .062 in the 3rd, while the Cougars swung at a .400 clip.

In the 4th, the offensive woes for Georgetown continued as the Tigers committed 9 attack errors. 2 of those came in a 6-0 Saint Xavier run with the score tied at 5. Michal Bak brought Georgetown back within 3 at 14-11, but the Cougars scored the next 3 to re-establish the 6-point lead. The Tigers fought back as Krzysztof Kowalski and Miguel Ariza Vega led a 5-1 run to get GC with 2 at 18-16. The Tigers got within 2 twice more but never closer as the Cougars closed out the 4th, 25-21, thus sending the match the distance.

With all the momentum on the Saint Xavier side, Georgetown dug deep and flipped the arena on its head. After an opening SXU serve error, the Tigers got kills from Krzysztof Kowalski and Ryan Gunn, and then another block from Kowalski. Stunningly, Georgetown had secured the 1st 4 points of the 5th set and sent a shocked Cougar side to its bench for a timeout. SXU settled in by re-igniting the block party as Gunn and Kowalski were twice denied, in a 4-0 Cougars run to tie the set right back at 4 each. With the set tied at 5, Michal Bak put GC in the lead and after 2 errors and another block from Kowalski, Saint Xavier burned its final timeout as it fell behind, 9-5. After a Cougar serve error gave Georgetown a 10-6 lead, Saint Xavier got back-to-back kills from Jan Lopuch to halve the deficit. Kowalski was there once more for the answer and after an error from Lopuch, Georgetown went back up by 4 at 12-8. Ryan Gunn then made his presence known again with a tandem block alongside Miguel Ariza Vega, followed by a kill and Georgetown had match point at 14-9. SXU got one back, but the Tigers called on Kowalski again. The senior continued his brilliant run of play with his 19th and final kill of the night to close out a 2-hour, 15-minute marathon and send the Tigers on to the championship with a 15-10 win in the 5th.

Percentage-wise, Krzysztof Kowalski didn't have his best night against a formidable Saint Xavier front. He did finish with those team-high 19 kills, along with 6 digs and 3 total blocks. Ryan Gunn did a little bit of everything once again: 12 kills, 9 digs and 3 total blocks. After a strong performance off the bench against Vanguard, Kacper Dobrowolski started this night at setter and delivered a virtuoso performance: 44 assists, 9 digs and 2 kills. Miguel Ariza Vega also got the start in this one, finishing with 9 kills and hitting .600. CJ Bride paced the back line with 13 digs. The Tigers also benefited in a big way from 29 Saint Xavier serve errors in the match.

Georgetown plays for its 1st National Championship against either #1 The Master's or #5 William Penn. The title match goes off at 6:00pm ET on Saturday and will be carried live on ESPN3.