BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — The #4 Tigers entered the postseason with a dominant Mid-South Conference Tournament opener against the #5 seed Rio Grande RedStorm, sweeping and recording season-high aces. However, facing the #1 Georgetown Tigers in the semifinals proved too much as Campbellsville was then swept themselves.
GAME ONE: Campbellsville 3, Rio Grande 0
This was the third meeting of these teams for the year, and Campbellsville had won the other two matches by operating efficient offense and limiting their errors early on. However, set one opened up with unforced errors from the Tigers. This gave the RedStorm an advantage, forcing the Tigers to find a comeback early on. Kills from both
Jakob Zum Kolk and
JoVeaun Banks pushed the Tigers back ahead 11-10.
Fernand Morales rotated back to the service line and added an ace to the stat line for the Tigers. Rio Grande mounted a four-point run, placing them back into the match. The Tigers put a quick end to it as they concluded the first set with a final score of 25-22.
The second frame started with a game of tug of war between the two teams, as no team pulled ahead by more than two points until the score was 10-7 in Campbellsville's favor. The Tigers were making the most of their pin hitters this set as they continuously were set by
Diego Betancourt. The connection between Betancourt and his hitters was constantly developed throughout, as he had 17 assists. The Tigers applied service pressure at the line to keep the RedStorm out of system.
Andres Laboy tallied an ace to raise the score to 23-13. Campbellsville battled off the Red Storm 25-14 in the second set through their emphasis on playing aggressively at the service line and cleaning at the net.
The final set began with heat from Betancourt from the service line as he aced Rio Grande on the first point. The RedStorm responded with six back-to-back points credited to Campbellsville's errors. Morales responded and put up another ace, followed by
Jannick Bachman and
Denzel Madrigal kills. Zum Kolk posted back-to-back kills himself to keep the pressure on the Red Storm to respond. The Red Storm crumbled because of the lethal offense Campbellsville created. Laboy even got to post a kill from the front row toward the end of the set. The Tigers finished off the Red Storm 25-14 and advanced to the next round of the MSC Tournament.
The Tigers ended the match by hitting 0.235 and had 32 kills. Zum Kolk hit 0.450 with ten kills and only one error.
Fernand Morales had an impressive game with five assists, two aces, and 12 digs. Betancourt posted 23 assists, two aces, and five digs in the match.
GAME TWO: Campbellsville 0, Georgetown 3
Campbellsville had a short layover, hitting the court at 6 p.m. ET against #1 Georgetown College at Bowling Green High School.
The first frame couldn't have begun much better for Campbellsville as they took advantage of early Georgetown errors on a 3-0 run. Georgetown was #1 seed for a reason and, seeking revenge for their loss to Campbellsville in the last week of the regular season, Georgetown wasn't going to leave that run answered.
Denzel Madrigal put one away for the Tigers from the outside to keep it an even battle. Alavaro Grande rotated to the back row and picked up an ace for the team, bringing the Tigers within three. Later in the set, the tides turned, and Georgetown feasted on Campbellsville's errors, running away with the lead. Campbellsville took a timeout to cool the server, hoping to shift the momentum. Georgetown won the first set 25-14.
Set two was a different start for Campbellsville as Georgetown struck first and took a 4-1 lead over the Tigers. Zum Kolk made a dent in the floor with a much-needed kill for the Tigers.
Leonel Fernandez came in clutch for the Tigers as he also put one way to pull up the score to 4-5. Georgetown responded to Campbellsville's comeback and went on a run of their own, expanding the lead even more. Fernandez put one into the floorboards to again try and change the game in their favor. Still, Georgetown put away the second frame 25-16.
At the beginning of the final set, the ball bounced in Campbellsville's direction as they were up 4-3 early.
John-Marcos Gonzalez put back-to-back balls to the floor, and Trevor Grunner tallied an ace. Campbellsville never took the lead but always kept it a close game trailing the rival Tigers by a few points. Campbellsville were on their heels the whole match, unable to establish an effective offense. Georgetown was ready to make the most of Campbellsville's errors. Georgetown won the set 25-21 and eliminated the Tigers.
The game ended with Campbellsville hitting 0.065 as a team with 23 kills on 77 attacks.
Leonel Fernandez led the team with five kills, one error, and two blocks. Betancourt had 17 assists, three digs, and one block during the match.
