Butler has earned a spot in the BIG EAST championship match after taking a 4-3 win over Georgetown Saturday morning in Cayce, S.C. For the second day in a row, the Bulldogs' match came down to the final court and the heroics of senior Mikheil Khmiadashvili.
 
With the match tied at 3-3, Khmiadashvili pulled out his three-set match, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 to propel the Bulldogs into Sunday morning's championship match. It will be the first BIG EAST championship match appearance for Butler, which actually entered the 2017 tournament having never advanced beyond the quarterfinals.
 
Georgetown, which upset second-seeded St. John's in a quarterfinal match Friday, opened play by taking the doubles point. Repeating the series of events on Friday, Butler then took three straight-set matches as Mason Dragos (No. 2), Spencer Lang (No. 4) and Ari Gerstein (No. 5) gave Butler a 3-1 lead.
 
Villanova would win the No. 5 singles match in two sets and the No. 1 court in three sets to knot the match at 3-3, leaving the team result in the hands of Khmiadashvili and Georgetown's Marco Lam. And the senior stepped up for the deciding win.
 
Butler is now 17-5 on the season.
 
Sunday's match-up is with Marquette, the fifth seed in the championship. The Golden Eagles have defeated fourth-seeded Xavier and top seed DePaul on their way to the championship match. Butler and Marquette played April 9 in Indianapolis, a match that Butler won, 6-1.
 
Tennis Match Results
Georgetown Men's Tennis vs Butler Men's Tennis
Apr 29, 2017 at Cayce, South Carolina
(Cayce Tennis & Fitness Center)
 
Butler Men's Tennis 4, Georgetown Men's Tennis 3
 
Singles competition
1. Peter Beatty (GUM) def. Aviv Ben Shabat (BM) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
2. Mason Dragos (BM) def. Jordan Portner (GUM) 6-2, 6-2
3. Mikheil Khmiadashvili (BM) def. Marco Lam (GUM) 6-2, 6-7, 6-3
4. Spencer Lang (BM) def. Mike Chen (GUM) 6-2, 6-4
5. Ari Gerstein (BM) def. Mac Rechan (GUM) 6-3, 6-3
6. Ian Witmer (GUM) def. Temilope Adelakun (BM) 6-4, 6-4
 
Doubles competition
1. Aviv Ben Shabat/Mikheil Khmiadashvil (BM) def. Peter Beatty/Mac Rechan (GUM) 6-3
2. Jordan Portner/Marco Lam (GUM) def. Mason Dragos/Spencer Lang (BM) 6-2
3. Mike Chen/Ian Witmer (GUM) def. Temilope Adelakun/Ari Gerstein (BM) 6-4