Contact: Emily Zadny, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302
(Written by Allysson Schellhase, Student Sports Information Assistant)
Box Score
Jan. 27, 2018 – The North Central College men's volleyball team suffered a tough loss to ninth-ranked Benedictine University (4-2) after four intense sets at Gregory Arena on Saturday.
The Cardinals started out slow in the first set after the Eagles went on an eight-point run, putting them in the lead 8-1. Thankfully the run came to an end with a kill by middle hitter Brendan Crawford which sparked some motivation for the Cardinal offense. Outside hitters Jake Braceros and Bozhidar Kolev totaled four kills for North Central, putting them only four points behind Benedictine at 17-13. The Cardinals suffered three attacking errors while the Eagles collected five kills to win the set 25-20.
Dropping the first set lit a fire inside the Cardinals, taking the lead early in the second set. North Central's offense stepped up with five kills, while the Eagles had a series of serving and attacking errors, falling behind the Cardinals 11-7. Service aces by outside hitter Nick Lilley and setter Raymond Kraus put the Cardinals further into the lead, 19-12. Benedictine went on a six-point run forcing two Cardinal timeouts but eventually lost the ball after a service error. A service ace from Braceros and a pair of service errors from the Eagles closed out the game in the Cardinals favor, winning the set 25-23.
Going into the third set tied 1-1, the Cardinals and the Eagles fought for every point. Kills from Braceros and Kolev kept the game close but a kill from opposite hitter Jacob Zemba put the Cardinals in the lead, 10-9. The set continued to go point-for-point with kills by middle hitters Anthony Kluzak and Crawford. Benedictine setter Markus Riemer gained three consecutive kills for the Eagles but North Central answered back with kills from Crawford and Kraus, putting the Cardinals in the lead 20-18 and forcing a Benedictine timeout. The Eagles offense followed the short break with five kills to tie up the set 25-25. The fight to the finish continued in extra points with kills from Braceros and Benedictine outside hitter Nick Malak, tying the game 27-27. Another kill from Malak and a Cardinal attacking error gave Benedictine the set, 29-27.
The Cardinals fell behind by three at the start of the fourth set, but an ace from Kolev put North Central on the board. Though Kolev followed with a service error, he responded with a kill on the next point from Kraus to make the score 3-4. The Eagles capitalized on two kills from Reimer and Eric Kerber, but North Central fought to keep the set close, eventually tying the set at 9-9. Both teams continued to trade points for the rest of the match, but the Eagles would find their momentum at the end. Medlock would tally a kill and an ace from Adriel Rivas to give the Eagles a 19-17 advantage that they would ultimately build on, despite giving up a service error and a kill from Braceros. Benedictine would seal the win off of a setting error from Kraus and win the match by taking the fourth set, 25-19.
Braceros led all players with four services aces. Braceros tied Benedictine's Malak with a match high of 16 kills. Kluzak lead all players in hitting percentage at .462 and blocks with five.
The Cardinals (2-2) travel to Dominican University to take on the third-ranked University of California-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs on Sunday, Jan. 28. Links to live in-game coverage can be found HERE.
