WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – The No. 3-ranked Indiana Tech men's volleyball team fell to No. 14-ranked Georgetown College, 3-2 (26-24, 25-16, 23-25, 13-25, 7-15) in their opening match of the NAIA National Championship inside the MidAmerican Energy RecCenter.
Mason Milan had a team-best 12 kills to go along with three blocks and three digs while
Daynte Stewart had 11 kills, seven digs and six blocks.
Brandon Jones dished out 32 assists while
Joey Hermes had 14 digs.
Chase Christiansen and
Raekwon Rogers each finish with five blocks.
The two teams were evenly matched in the first set with 10 ties and six lead changes. Georgetown went up 20-17 following a 4-0 run to force the Warriors to call a timeout and came out firing with a 4-0 run of their own to take the 21-20 lead and force the Tigers to call a timeout. Tech eventually got up 24-23, but a service error allowed the Tigers to tie it up, only to have a service error of their own while Hermes served up an ace to give the Warriors the 26-24 win.
Tech raced ahead 4-0 in the second before building an 8-2 lead and never looked back as they led wire-to-wire. The lead grew to 18-7, but the Tigers clawed their way back in with a 7-1 run to cut the deficit to 21-16. The Warriors stood tall though and won the last four points to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set featured 12 ties and four lead changes with the Warriors trying to complete the sweep and the Tigers fighting for their lives. A 4-0 run by Georgetown put them ahead 16-13 and they held on to the lead until the Warriors went up 23-22. The Tigers got back-to-back kills from Ryan Gunn, who finished with a match-high 21 kills, to get to set point and eventually won the set to stay alive.
Tech took an early 2-1 lead in the fourth, but an 8-2 run from the Tigers put them ahead 9-4 and they never looked back as they dominated the set with a 25-13 win and holding the Warriors to a -.172 hitting percentage.
Georgetown let the Warriors take the first point of the fifth, but rattled off the next five points to grab the momentum, riding it to a 15-7 win to complete the comeback.
Tech (29-2) rounds up pool play action Thursday as they take on No. 8-ranked Benedictine University at Mesa, who plays Georgetown Wednesday morning. The Warriors need the Tigers to fall to Benedictine Mesa to have a chance at winning their pool. The winner of the pool will advance to the national semifinals Friday.
