Contact: Emily Zadny, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302
(Written by Allysson Schellhase, Student Sports Information Assistant)
Box Score
Feb. 28, 2018 – Returning home after a month of road games, the North Central College men's volleyball team opened Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) action in historical fashion, defeating No. 2-ranked Carthage College (13-1, 0-1 MCVL) in a thrilling 3-1 contest in Gregory Arena, putting an end to the Red Men's undefeated season.
The Cardinals battled for the first set going point-for-point in the beginning with kills from every player on the Cardinal offense assisted by setter Michael Trunzo and kept the set tied at 10-10. Two kills from outside hitters Nick Lilley and Bozhidar Kolev gave North Central a two-point advantage and an attacking error by the Red Men forced a Carthage timeout with the Cardinals ahead 16-14. The timeout failed to slow down North Central's offense as they collected four more kills to widen the lead by four. A kill from Trunzo on the second touch, paired with a block by Brendan Crawford and Lilley won the first set 25-20. The Cardinals had a match high of .433 hitting percentage in this set contributing to the win.
North Central carried the momentum from the first set into the second set, grasping the lead right out of the gate with Kolev accumulating a kill and a service ace while the Red Men suffered two attacking errors. The Cardinals maintained the lead with a kill and a pair of services aces from Lilley, putting North Central ahead 18-12. Carthage's serving continued to deteriorate with three more errors which led to a second Cardinal win at 25-17.
Going into the set 2-0, the Red Men's offense came out swinging with five kills but the Cardinals answered back with four from Crawford and outside hitter Jake Braceros to trail Carthage by three, 10-7. North Central's defense could not keep up with Carthage's front row while the offense suffered multiple attacking errors, resulting in the Red Men taking the third set, 25-13.
North Central looked to finish off the match and entered the fourth set in another point-for-point battle with the Red Men. Middle hitter Casey Hiller and Crawford collected a couple of kills to put the Cardinals in the lead by two, 5-3. With the score remaining close, the two teams continued to battle with kills from Lilley and Kolev and three Carthage service errors assisted in a one-point advantaged for the Cardinals. But the Red Men were not giving up and answered back with four kills to take the lead 21-19. North Central took a timeout which sparked two kills from Kolev and Crawford to knot the game 24-24, forcing into extra points. With the support of a roaring crowd, Braceros went up for the kill and the Cardinals were able to force two critical attacking errors against the Red Men to win the set, 27-25, marking the first time in series history that North Central has defeated Carthage and the second victory over a nationally-ranked team in program history.
Crawford had an outstanding performance with a team high of 12 kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Kolev followed with 9 kills and Lilley with 8 kills. Lilley lead all players with 4 services aces. Defensively, libero Sam Kharasch totaled 12 digs while Braceros played a big role with 11 digs.
North Central (8-6, 1-0 MCVL) continues match play at home on Friday, Mar. 2, hosting Olivet College at 7 p.m. at Gregory Arena. A link to live in-game coverage can be found HERE.
