CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — After five sets, the Campbellsville Tigers stunned the #7 Georgetown Tigers in Gosser Gymnasium Friday night, handing the rival Tigers their first conference loss of the season.
The match started with a block party from Campbellsville with denials from
JoVeaun Banks and
Karil Adeh. More blocks from
Diego Betancourt and
Alvaro Grande followed them. Campbellsville then forced Georgetown to overpass with their lethal serve, and
Jakob Zum Kolk scored a kill for Campbellsville. Campbellsville kept up their momentum, propelling them ahead 23-22 and forcing a Georgetown timeout. Campbellsville took set one 25-23, making Georgetown lose their first set in conference play of the year.
Campbellsville kept it moving in set two with intentions of improving their lead, and they did just that and more. Campbellsville went on an 8-2 run with two kills from
Reza Tahnasebi. Campbellsville played the cleanest and most organized volleyball of the season in the set. Campbellsville deployed its offensive weapons effectively as Banks hit a solid 1.000 in the second frame. The CU Tigers applied the pressure needed at the service line as Adeh tallied two aces, pushing the score to 18-7. Georgetown struggled with a slippery floor from their attempts to dig up the rockets that Campbellsville was launching. The home team Tigers didn't allow the rival Tigers a chance to stop bleeding as Campbellsville won the set 25-13.
Set three was a crazy game of tug of war as both Tigers teams fought for the lead. Campbellsville took control of the match at five, and then the Tigers got three kills split between the two hitters Adeh and Tahnasebi. Georgetown got a grip on the game and responded when called upon as they went on a four-point run. Georgetown took the third set 25-22 due to taking advantage of Campbellsville's errors.
The fourth frame started the same as the third, with an ongoing battle of which team was the more ferocious. Banks demolished an overpass straight down, launching the momentum in Campbellsville's direction. Banks and Betancourt, time after time, solidified their connection consistently. Georgetown responded with five unanswered points that forced a Campbellsville timeout at 17-13. Campbellsville began to fight back, but their inconsistency caused Georgetown to keep control. The Georgetown Tigers kept the ball moving, which forced another Campbellsville timeout at 22-16. Campbellsville was scraping at any comeback possible, but they would lose the fourth set to Georgetown 25-18.
Frame five consisted of Campbellsville with a 2-0 start. Tahnasebi came up big for the Tigers as he found Betancourt to achieve the needed kill. Adeh returned to the service line and added two aces to his resumé, which shifted the score to 11-6 in Campbellsville's favor. Georgetown started to wrestle their way back as communication errors from Campbellsville granted them a chance. However, with the massive roof, Banks gave Campbellsville match point at 14-11. Campbellsville won the match 15-12.
The Tigers silenced Georgetown in five sets with 43 kills on 97 attempts. Betancourt led the team with 37 assists. The winning Tigers had an overall team-hitting percentage of 0.216. Banks finished the day with a 0.750 hitting percentage with no errors. He also tallied three blocks on the night.
Fernand Morales added nine total digs to the stat sheet, and Adeh had five aces.
Campbellsville will next face Rio Grande tomorrow at home for Senior Night at 4 p.m. ET. This will be the last home match of the year as the Tigers progress into post-season play next week.
