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By Jeff Vorva
Correspondent
The Saint Xavier men’s volleyball team made history by advancing to the semifinals of the NAIA Men’s Volleyball National Championship.
But the Cougars fell to eventual national champion Georgetown (Kentucky), 25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 21-25, 15-10, on May 3 at Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Although there was no third-place game, the Cougars were awarded a third-place trophy.
SXU (23-9) entered the national tournament seeded sixth; Georgetown, coached by former Brother Rice standout Jim Dwyer, was seventh. The teams met in Chicago in a non-conference matchup on March 29 and the Cougars won in four sets.
But the semifinal nail-biter went to Georgetown, aided by the Cougars’ 29 serving errors.
Jan Lopuch led SXU with 21 kills and had a .447 hitting percentage. Sean Carey added 15 kills and Matt Pennala added 10. Marist graduate Jake McClain played in two sets.
The Cougars reached the semis with a 25-17, 25-15, 25-20 win over third-seeded Grand View (Iowa) on May 2. It was the first time the Cougars beat Grand View since 2012.
Pennala had 13 kills and Lopuch 10.
They opened the tourney with a 27-25, 25-16, 22-25, 25-21 win over Westcliff University (California). Pennala had 20 kills and Sean Carey finished with 13.
