Contact: Ava Yurchison, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302
 
Results
 
Jan. 20, 2017- The North Central College men's volleyball team opened up their second campaign and the 2017 season with a 3-1 loss on Friday evening, falling to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) engineers at Dupont Athletic Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  
 
MIT were swift on the offense in the beginning of the match, though after falling to MIT in the first two sets, the Cardinals entered the third set with tenacity. Following a two-point run by MIT, North Central setter Raymond Kraus contributed a kill towards a 6-1 run to gain the lead. MIT returned going point-for-point, with the lead volleying between the two teams. As the set winded down, North Central was down by two and rallied to tie the score for the 11th time this set to a score of 24 overall. North Central sided out for the lead due to an attacking error from MIT's Tavish Smith to take the lead and win the set 28-26.
 
MIT started the match going on 6-3 run in the first 10 sets of the match. From there they maintained the lead. A serving ace from freshman Nick Lilley brought the Cardinals within two points, though the engineers maintained the lead. Following a timeout from the engineers, Lilley gained another kill from freshman setter Michael Trunzo to tie up the score of 17 -17. The engineers rallied and ended the set 25-21.
 
The second set began with a back and forth, point-for-point set between the Cardinals and the engineers, until MIT gained an eight to one point run to take the lead. A kill by Jake Braceros helped gain some cardinal momentum, yet it was not enough for North Central to make the comeback.
 
As the fourth set began North Central and MIT remained deadlocked tying the score with each point. MIT gained momentum going on a 7-2 point run forcing a North Central timeout. North Central failed to side out and could not close the deficit from MIT's offense and lose the match 17-25.
 
The Cardinals travel to Rhode Island on Saturday, Jan. 21 to face Johnson and Wales at 12 p.m. (ET).