Volleyball wins wild 5-setter at Freed-Hardeman

After letting a 2-0 lead slip away at Bethel on Thursday, the Georgetown Tigers were looking for a different story against Freed-Hardeman, while also going for the regular season sweep of the Lions. It nearly turned into a deja vu day for Georgetown as the Tigers raced to another 2-0 lead, had a match point in the 3rd, only to see FHU fight back and send the match to a 5th set. Georgetown saved 2 match points in the 5th and rallied for a 16-14 win.

It was a slow start for the Tigers in the opening set as Freed-Hardeman scored the 1st 4 points of the match. Georgetown soon after scored 4 in row itself to take a 6-5 lead. The Tigers kept momentum and built the lead to 13-7. FHU scored 3 straight to draw closer, but Georgetown steadied the ship all the way to a 22-18 lead. The Lions would not stay down and countered there with 5 straight points, 4 off GC errors, to storm into the lead. Georgetown remained undaunted, tied the match, then got an ace from Reese Speed and a final kill from Giara Ferrari for the 25-23 set win.

The 2nd set was a better start for Georgetown as the Tigers sprinted out to a 5-2 lead, only to see FHU fight back to take an 8-6 lead. With the deficit at 10-7, Olivia Mitchell put a ball away that would spark an 8-0 Georgetown run, led by 3 aces from Maria Tarazona. Freed-Hardeman never got closer than 4 points for the remainder of the set and Constanca Rosas put the set to bed and a 25-20 Tiger win.

Set 3 was tight early on. With Georgetown leading 8-7, the Lions took their turn with 8 unanswered points to storm into the lead. The Tigers chipped back to within 22-17 and turned up the pressure once more. 4 straight points brought Georgetown within 1 at 22-21, FHU. Thanks to a Lion attack error later in the set, the match was tied at 25. Maria Tarazona came back on the floor and ripped an ace to give Georgetown the lead and match point at 26-25. Freed-Hardeman called a timeout to try to break the GC momentum. Olivia Mitchell had a chance to put the Tigers back up, but her kill attempt was blocked down to put FHU up 27-26. A Lion serve error tied the set at 27, but Georgetown gave the point right back and FHU answered with a final kill to take the third, 29-27, and stay alive in the match.

The 4th was back-and-forth with the teams splitting the 1st 28 points. Freed then made its move with 4 straight. Georgetown scored the next point to get within 18-15 but would draw no closer. The Lions built the lead to as high as 7 before closing out the 4th with a 25-20 win.

The deja vu feeling from Thursday came back strong for those watching as the Lions sprinted out to a 5-1 lead in the 5th, which typically is enough to close out a match. Georgetown came roaring back with 5 straight points, the last 4 with Viannie Kazan on serve to surge to a 6-5 lead. With the score at 7-6, Georgetown, Freed-Hardeman countered with 4 straight to up, 10-7, putting the Tigers against the wall again. With the deficit at 12-9, Head Coach Felicia Pace called a timeout to deliver a final message to her team. Giara Ferrari and Makena Walker responded out of the timeout with consecutive kills to bring Georgetown within 1. It would stay at a 1-point deficit with FHU on match point and a 14-13 lead. Gareth Bruce kept the Tigers alive with a smash to tie the set at 14 and send the Lions into a timeout. The timeout proved to be of no consequence. Bruce delivered another kill on the other side to put Georgetown at match point. She decided the first two were so fun that she would do it again. Bruce delivered her 3rd straight kill to pull off the stunning rally, 16-14.

Gareth Bruce finished with a match-best 14 kills. Makena Walker and Olivia Mitchell delivered 13 and 10, respectively. Viannie Kazan finished with 23 assists, 8 digs and an ace. Ines Marques tallied 22 assists, while Reese Speed paced the back line with 21 digs.

The Tigers return home for Senior Night on Monday against Asbury. First serve is set for 6:30pm at Davis-Reid Alumni Gym.