Men's Volleyball captures 2024 National Championship

Coming off 2 grueling 5-set wins, some wondered whether Georgetown had the legs to stay with #1 The Master's in Saturday's National Championship. It was beyond fitting on Derby Day that Georgetown ran like thoroughbreds to bring home the trophy and red banner in a 3-0 sweep to capture the program's 1st National Championship.

After watching The Master's need 5 sets to win in the semifinals, Head Coach Jim Dwyer felt his team could compete with the group said to be the uncrowned champs all year long. The Tigers went right to work. Miguel Ariza Vega and Michal Bak started the match with consecutive kills, setting a theme that would see Georgetown dominate the net all night long. Leading 3-1, The Master's fought back to score 7 of the next 8 for an 8-4 lead. Georgetown faced its first test of the title match and responded with a 5-1 run of its own to tie the set at 9. After an exchange of points to see the set knotted at 11, The Master's put another 3-0 run together to move ahead.

The Tigers countered with the front line as after a kill from Krzysztof Kowalski, Georgetown got 3 straight blocks from Miguel Ariza Vega to send the teams to a media timeout with GC up, 15-14. The Master's regrouped and went back at Georgetown with 4 of the next 5 before a serve error and another Kowalski kill tied the set at 18. Vega came through again with the set tied at 22 as he delivered his 5th block of the set to move the Tigers ahead. He would ultimately seal the deal with a kill from Kacper Dobrowolski to give Georgetown the opener, 25-23.

Set 2 was tight early but would not stay that way. A back-and-forth saw The Master's take a 7-6 lead. A combination of strong overall defending, and timely serving from CJ Bride, saw Georgetown erupt for an 8-1 run to rocket the Tigers to a 14-8 lead. After a block from The Master's, the Tigers kept the foot on the gas with 3 more in a row, thanks to a kill and block from Miguel Ariza Vega and kill from Krzysztof Kowalski. The Master's never got closer than 6 the rest of the way as Georgetown cruised to a 25-18 win in the 2nd to put the Tigers a set away from the championship.

Georgetown came out in set 3 like a team determined to finish off the sweep in a rout. 3 kills from Kowalski led GC to an early 4-1 lead. The Master's settled in to get back within 5-4, before Ryan Gunn started another 3-0 run that gave the Tigers an 8-4 lead and sent The Master's into a timeout. The move paid off for TMU and led to a 5-1 run to tie the set at 9. Krzysztof Kowalski reintroduced himself with 2 straight kills to start a run for GC that gave the Tigers a lead of 13-10. TMU countered with 3 straight followed by 3 straight from Georgetown, which summed up this entire match. Every time The Master's put a run together, Georgetown stayed poise and punched right back. Kacper Dobrowolski pushed a ball through the TMU wall to punctuate the run and give GC a 16-13 edge and a breather as TMU called a timeout.

The Master's would not go down without a fight as it scored 5 of 6 out of the timeout to surge ahead, 18-17. It was TMU's first lead since 7-6 in the 2nd; however, Georgetown was not to be denied on this night. After a TMU serve error, Georgetown got an ace from Kacper Dobrowolski and kill from Ryan Gunn for a 20-18 edge. TMU got 1 back before Gunn answered right back. Tyree Wesley and Krzysztof Kowalski paired up for blocks on the next 2 points. Ryan Gunn punctuated a 6-1 run with an ace to give Georgetown a 24-19 lead and 5 championship points. The Master's saved one, but the next serve for TMU went straight into the net to clinch the title for the Tigers, 25-20.

The Tiger bench stormed the floor in Cedar Rapids. The players on the floor either collapsed or screamed in excitement. Head Coach Jim Dwyer sat in stoic disbelief on the bench at what his team had pulled off in his first year at the helm.

Krzysztof Kowalski finished the title match with 15 kills on a .444 hitting clip and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. In 4 tourney games, the senior tallied 72 kills, hit .333, along with 17 digs and 11 blocks.

Miguel Ariza Vega was dominant in the middle with 5 kills and 8 blocks. Kacper Dobrowolski paced the offense with 29 assists, 2 kills, 2 aces, 6 digs and 3 block assists. He and Kowalski were named to the All-Tournament Team. CJ Bride covered the back line to perfection and ended his career with 12 digs. Ryan Gunn finished off his incredible GC career with 9 kills, 3 assists, 2 digs, 2 block assists and an ace.

In total, Georgetown took down 10-seed, Lawrence Tech, 2-seed (and 2023 National Champion) Vanguard, 6-seed Saint Xavier (the last team to beat Georgetown in 2024), and The Master's, who had been ranked #1 all-season long and were considered the heavy favorite entering the tournament.

It was never easy, but this team would not have it any other way, and in the end, they will forever be known as champions.