Tigers take 5-setter from UC Merced

After a rough open to the 2025 season, Georgetown had little time for worry as the Tigers were back in action on Friday against UC Merced. The back-and-forth match went the full distance, but the Tigers made just enough plays to scratch out a 3-2 win for their first under Head Coach Jack Stark.

UC Merced started the match with 3 straight points. Georgetown countered with the next 3, which proved an omen for how this match would be played. Later in the set, the Bobcats had a 12-9 lead, but Robin Puss started a run of 3 straight to tie the set once again. The Bobcats countered with a run to take a 17-14 lead. Jose Acuna Yepes then stepped up with a kill and ace that sparked a Georgetown run that saw the Tigers take a 22-19 lead. UC Merced fought back with 2 straight, but another kill from Robin Puss and a Bobcat error put the Tigers at set point. Moments later, Adam Szewinski had the final say with the defining kill as Georgetown took the opener, 25-22.

The Tigers started set 2 with the first 2 points, but it was virtually all Bobcats from there. With the set tied at 7, UC Merced took the lead on a kill and then pulled off 3 straight blocks to surge ahead by 4. Georgetown never got closer again as the Tigers committed 12 attack errors in the set, leading to an easy 25-14 win for UC Merced to level the match.

Georgetown turned up its defense early in the 3rd with blocks from Robin Puss and Santino Zucchiati for an early 3-1 lead. The Bobcats got the next 2 for the tie, but 2 straight kills from Puss put Georgetown back in control. The Bobcats played from behind for most of the set as Georgetown was able to maintain a small lead throughout. The set would see a late tie at 22-all, but 2 Bobcat errors put Georgetown on match point. The Tigers closed it out with a tandem block from Jose Acuna Yepes and Miguel Ariza Vega for a 25-22 win.

Set 4 was tight early as the teams split the first 8 points. UC Merced then took off on a 6-2 run to take a 4-point lead at 10-6. Santino Zucchiati got 2 back via a kill and tandem block with Adam Szewinski. From there, the teams traded point-for-point as Georgetown was forced to play from behind. Trailing 19-17, Georgetown saw UC Merced take 6 of the final 8 for a 25-19 win to send the match to a 5th set.

The 5th started similar to the 4th as the teams split the first 10 points. Georgetown subbed Zucchiati back in at that point and after a Bobcat error, he came up with a critical solo block to give GC a 7-5 and force the Bobcats to a timeout. The timeout worked as UC Merced scored 3 of 4 out of it to tie the 5th at 8-each. Another error combined with a Robin Puss kill gave the Tigers a 2-point edge again. Leading 11-9, Georgetown doubled the edge thanks to kills from Yepes and Szewinski. The Bobcats used their final timeout to try to regroup. They got one point back, but Yepes was there on the next to put Georgetown on 4 match points. The Tigers only needed 1 as the Bobcats committed their 7th attack error, thus closing out the set, 15-10 to Georgetown, and the match, 3-2.

Finn Heinemann was dominant on both sides the senior finished with 39 assists and 16 digs. Robin Puss tallied 16 kills and 7 digs. Adam Szewinski was a force up the middle with 12 kills and a combined 4 blocks. Jose Acuna Yepes finished with 10 kills and 2 block assists.