CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa —The 2024 NAIA Men’s Volleyball Semifinals went to five sets and two programs advance to the championship for the first time.
No. 7 Georgetown (Ky.) (27-6) def. No. 6 Saint Xavier (Ill.) (23-9), 3-2 (25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 21-25, 25-10)
- Saint Xavier was first on the board in the opening set but Georgetown went on a 7-2 scoring run after a tie score of three sparked by a kill off the hand of Krzysztof Kowalski to put the Tigers up by five points. Georgetown maintained that lead for a first set win of 25-21.
- Georgetown took an initial lead in the second set at 7-4 after a 4-1 scoring run, but Saint Xavier stayed right behind and closed the scoring gap at 19. Once again, after a kill from Kowalski, the Tigers went on a 6-4 run to close out the second set 25-23.
- The third set started similarly to the second set, where Georgetown captured the initial lead, but SXU remained close behind. In this set, though, at 19 all, it was the Cougars that went on a 6-3 run to win the set 25-22.
- Georgetown’s only lead in set four was at 2-1. From that point, Saint Xavier went on a 10-3 scoring run to solidify its lead and tie the match at two sets apiece with a 25-21 set four final score.
- The Tigers opened the fifth set with the first four points. The teams matched each other, scoring run for run until a GC 5-1 scoring run gave the Tigers the space they needed to win the match with a 15-10 set five score.
- Â Jan Lopuch of Saint Xavier led all scorers with 21 kills. Lopuch was followed by Kowalski of Georgetown with 19 kills.
- Miguel Ariza Vega of Georgetown posted an outstanding attack percentage of 0.600 with nine kills, 15 total attempts, and zero errors.
- This is the first time that Georgetown has advanced to the championship.
FINAL SCORE
No. 1 The Master’s (Calif.) (24-1) def. No. 5 William Penn (Iowa) (23-7), 3-2 (21-25, 28-26, 25-17, 18-25, 13-25)
- The teams battled for the lead in the opening set until a tie score of four, at which point The Master’s went on a 4-1 scoring run sparked by a kill from Braden Van Groningen. The Mustangs maintained the narrow lead to 25-21 set one win.
- The teams went back and forth through seven scoring ties before a 5-3 run by William Penn to hold the lead. TMU remained close behind and tied the score once again at 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26 before two errors from The Master’s gave William Penn the second set, 28-26.
- The teams went point for point until 12 all WPU went on an 11-2 run for a scoring deficit that could not be overcome for a 25-17 set three win.
- The Mustangs took the initial lead in the fourth set and controlled the set from that point on to tie the match score at two sets apiece.
- The Master’s opened the fifth set on a four-point run. William Penn made its advance and tied the score at nine. The teams matched each other point for point until a tie score of 12 when the Mustangs went on a 3-1 run to win the match 15-13.
- Ike Papes of WPU led all scorers with 17 kills. Isaac Seltzer of TMU followed with 14 kills.
- This is the first time that The Master’s has advanced to the championship.
The championship match will be streamed live on ESPN3 at 5 p.m. CT.
