Contact: Emily Zadny, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302
(Written by Allysson Schellhase, Student Sports Information Assistant)
Box Score
Jan. 20, 2018 – One day removed from its season opener, the North Central College men's volleyball team hosted No. 5 New York University (2-1) and Marian University (1-2) for the annual North Central Triangular.
The Cardinals began with a tough matchup, facing ranked opponent New York University. North Central competed with the Violets in the beginning of the first set going point-for-point and captured a 13-9 lead early after three attacking errors and three service errors from New York. As the match advanced the Violets trailed by five points after two kills from outside hitter Jacob Zemba and a kill from middle hitter Brendan Crawford. A kill from New York outside hitter Alex Li sparked a series of points, only putting the Violets two points behind the Cardinals at 22-20. Unfortunately, the Violets' efforts did not phase the Cardinals, as North Central claimed the first set 25-23, thanks to a match-high .474 hitting percentage that contributed to the win.
The Cardinals attempted to keep the momentum from the first set, staying neck-and-neck with New York for the majority of the second set. Three attacking errors for North Central pushed New York to a three-point lead of 19-16, forcing a Cardinal timeout. The 30-second break proved to be uninspiring as the Cardinals accumulated three more attacking errors, falling to New York 25-17.
Tied 1-1, the start of the third set got off to a rough start for the Cardinals, finding themselves falling behind five points midway through the set. The deficit did not last for long after a kill from middle hitter Casey Hiller and two kills from outside hitter Nick Lilley put the Cardinals down only 20-19. Hiller and Lilley gained two more kills but two North Central attacking errors forced New York to take the third set, 25-22.
The Cardinals were not going to lose the match without a fight. New York suffered four straight attacking errors early in the set to tie it 11-11. The Cardinals followed in the Violets' footsteps, making three attacking errors and putting New York in the lead 19-15. Middle hitter Anthony Kluzak put North Central back on track with three kills, narrowing the gap 22-20. The Cardinal defense could not prevail against the Violets after three kills from Li, and New York won the set 25-22, closing out the match with a 3-1 victory.
Kluzak had a stellar fourth set going five for five in kills assisted from setter Michael Trunzo. Kluzak had a team high .538 hitting percentage and tied Lilley for a team high of eight kills. Joining Kluzak was Violets outside hitter Andrew Zhu who had a .556 hitting percentage. Li led all players with a total of 15 kills.
North Central returned to the court that evening to take on Marian University, who were coming off of a 3-2 loss against New York earlier in the afternoon. Marian outsider hitter Jon Smallpage tallied three kills in the beginning of the set to keep up with the Cardinals, but Lilley answered back with four kills to tie the match at 10-10. The Sabres struggled with two service errors and one attacking error, putting the ball back into the Cardinals' hands. Zemba went on a seven-point run to put his team in the lead 20-13 and after three more attacking errors, the Sabres dropped the first set 25-17.
North Central went into the second set swinging with a pair of kills from Kluzak and Zemba off the hands of Trunzo. The Cardinals continued to dominate the match causing Marian to take a timeout after trailing 18-12. The timeout did not slow North Central's offense as they went on to close out the game with a kill from Crawford, winning the set 25-17.
Coming off of a two-set loss, the Sabres opened up the third set with a three-point run by Joey Dittman and two kills from outside hitter Aaron Wendels. But their momentum did not last long as kills from setter Raymond Kraus and outsider hitter Kevin Messer caught the Cardinals back up with the Sabres, tying the set 14-14. North Central gained the lead after two service errors and two attacking errors from Marian. Another pair of unforced errors and a kill from Messer finished off the set 25-20, giving the Cardinals their second win of the season.
Crawford and Lilley led the team in kills with nine followed by Zemba with seven, thanks to the help of Trunzo's 28 assists. Outside hitter Bozhidar Kolev and libero Samuel Kharasch tied with seven digs.
The Cardinals (2-1) next match is against Benedictine University on Saturday, Jan. 27 at Gregory Arena at 1 p.m. A link to live in-match coverage can be found HERE.
