Contact: Ava Yurchison, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302

Marian Box Score
IIT Box Score

CHICAGO (Feb. 25, 2017)- After playing eight sets between two matches, the North Central College Cardinals men's volleyball team fell to the Marian University Sabres and conquered the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) Hawks Saturday afternoon.

The first set started out close with North Central and Marian keeping it within three points. Though, the Cardinals found their rhythm when sophomore Anthony Kluzak scored three straight blocks and sparked a 7-1 point run bringing the Cardinals to comfortable 19-12 lead. The Sabres were not going to go down without a fight and went on their own two point run though the Cardinals remained on the offense shutting out the Sabres 25-18, hitting .429 with only five errors.

Set two began with the Cardinals on their heels, which opened the space for the Sabres to climb to a quick 10-3 lead. In an effort to find their offensive momentum, North Central used both of their timeouts early but continued to trail. Freshman Jason Eslinger found a light for North Central and went on a late 6-point service run bringing the Cardinals within two points. However, the early deficit was too much for the Cardinals to dig themselves out of and they lost the set 22-25.

Determined to re-ignite the spark from the first set, the Cardinals opened the third set swinging. A kill from sophomore Jacob Zemba started a three-point gain for North Central, to which the Sabres responded with their own four-point run and a tied score of 12. The battle for the lead remained close but a kill from sophomore Jake Braceros and an attacking error on the behalf of the Sabres gave North Central a two-point edge and forced a Marian timeout. North Central held the offensive momentum and ended the set 25-20 on a stellar kill from Braceros.

Both North Central and Marian opened the fourth set hungry for the advantage. With the score tied 16, the Cardinals looked to stimulate their offense but were unable to do so effectively allowing the Sabres to control the attack. North Central displayed their resiliency and fought with a kill from Eslinger and two blocks. In the end, Marian edged out the set winning 25-21 and forcing a fifth set.

With each team up two sets and no clear momentum determined, the final set went point-for-point. North Central found themselves down three-points and decided to take a timeout. Upon resuming play, a bad set, and an attacking error for Marian warranted a Marian timeout on match-point. The timeout worked in Marian's favor and they won the set 15-12.

Braceros ranked first for the Cardinals in kills, and sophomore Kevin Messer earned 14 digs. Freshman setter Michael Trunzo and sophomore setter Raymond Kraus tied for the most assists.

After some time to reorganize and set up a new line-up, the Cardinals opened play with the Hawks. The Cardinals rose to an 11-6 lead over the Hawks with Eslinger serving for five straight points. With North Central on the attack, IIT took a timeout. The Cardinals' momentum wasn't interrupted and they held control of the scoreboard. An attacking error for IIT closed out the set for North Central winning 25-18. North Central tallied 15 kills with a hitting percentage of .370.

After losing the first set, the Hawks entered set two with a more offensive mindset taking the advantage quickly though the Cardinals kept the score within two points. An IIT service error found the score even at 13. Sophomore Andrzej Kubinski responded with a kill, and was followed by a block from sophomore Bozhidar Kolev to give North Central the advantage pressing an IIT timeout. A kill by Eslinger and two attacking errors heightened the Cardinals' lead yet the Hawks were not out of the count yet and went on a 3-point run. Kills from sophomore Sean Brzoska, and Kubinski respectively followed by an IIT attacking error won the set for North Central 25-17.

In third and final set North Central found itself down 9-13 to start. Two Zemba kills and a Kolev block brought the score to 16-all. The Hawks welcomed their first time out of the set. When play re-opened the Cardinals and Hawks power went back and forth until an IIT service error and bad set triggered a North Central match point. The battle of the birds ended with a Kubinski kill and the Cardinals soaring to a 25-23 win.

North Central was led by Brzoska and Kubinski with 10 kills apiece. Defensively, sophomore Ben Cartwright held together the team with nine digs.

The Cardinals earned zero reception errors and nine blocks to help them move to a record of 7-5.
North Central hosts MCVL foe Benedictine University this Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Gregory Arena.