Contact: Drew Sauer, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

Marian Box Score

Cardinal Stritch Box Score

Mar. 5, 2016 – Wrapping up a stretch of four home matches in three days, the North Central College men's volleyball team dropped a 3-1 decision in the opener to Marian University in a Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) match, before dropping the nightcap by an identical score to NAIA foe Cardinal Stritch University.
 
In the opener against Marian, the two teams were virtually identical in the opening set as both team finished with 17 kills and seven attack errors, while both attempting 37 attacks to finish with a .270 attack percentage.  The score was tight the whole set, but North Central found itself down 28-27 late before Jacob Zemba evened the score with a kill set up from Raymond Kraus.  The Cardinals used that momentum to their advantage, as a Jake Braceros kills set up set point before Andrew Bergstrand put home the set-winning kill the following point, again set up from Kraus, to give North Central a 30-28 first set win.
 
Things took a turn for the worse for North Central after the first set, as Marian jumped out to a 11-7 lead in the second set thanks in part to a 6-0 run and held the lead the rest of the way to even the score 1-1 with a 25-20 second set win.
 
The third set featured some of the same woes for the Cardinal attack, as the Sabres (9-5, 5-2 MCVL) used a 11-2 run midway through the set to take a commanding 18-11 lead.  North Central finished with a -.065 attack percentage in the set, committing 10 errors.
 
The Cardinals never led in the fourth set and faced a 20-14 deficit late, but managed to shrink the Marian lead to 23-22 and force a Sabre timeout.  The Marian lead proved to be too much however, as a kill from Jon Sattersten right out of the timeout set up match point for the Sabres and two points later Jon Smallpage sent home the match-winning kill, securing the final set 25-23 in favor of the visitors.
 
Braceros led the Cardinal attack with 14 kills in the opener, while Zemba added 10 to go along with 12 assists and six digs.  Kraus handed out a team-high 27 assists and five total blocks, while Kevin Messer led the team with nine digs.
 
Marian's offensive attack was led by Smallpage's 18 kills, while Sattersten finished with 14, hitting .565 on the match, and Aaron Wendels added 13 kills.  Joey Dittman led all players with 50 assists, while Wendels and Cullen Liberski each finished with 10 digs.
 
The first set was one to forget in the nightcap against Cardinals Stritch (13-7), as the Cardinal attack was slow getting out of the gate and never recovered, falling 25-8.
 
Changing up the lineup in set two, the Cardinals hung in with the Wolves and held a 21-21 tie late, but a kill and block on consecutive points from Jason Bowles gave Cardinal Stritch a 23-21 lead.
 
After a North Central timeout, a Cardinal Stritch service error gave the Cardinals hope, but another kill from Bowles gave the Wolves set point and Blake Janz capitalized two points later to seal the 25-23 win for Cardinal Stritch.
 
North Central found its groove in set number three, jumping out to a 10-5 lead thanks in part to back-to-back blocks from Kraus, while Anthony Kluzak teamed up with Kraus on the latter.
 
Extending the lead to six points midway through the set, another block from Max Lawrence gave North Central a 16-10 lead while forcing a Cardinal Stritch timeout.  The rest of the set was all Cardinals as Zemba eventually finished things off with a kill to give the Cardinals a 25-17 third set win.
 
The Cardinals did not carry that momentum into the fourth set however, as the Wolves jumped out to a 17-10 lead midway through and the Cardinals never recovered from there, falling 25-20.
 
Zemba finished with a team-leading nine kills in the nightcap, while Kraus once again led the team with 16 assists.  Defensively, Kyle Harty led the team with 12 digs, while Kraus added four total blocks.
 
Three Wolves finished with double-figure kills, led by Janz's 14, while Bowles added 13 and Scott Fabian finished with 10.  Nick Bartlett led all players with 40 assists, while tying Patrick Ronan for the team-lead with 12 digs.
 
North Central returns home on Friday, Mar. 11, taking on Wittenberg University a 7 p.m.  Links to live coverage are available HERE.