Contact: Emily Zadny, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302

Box Score

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (March 16, 2018) – The North Central College men's volleyball team rallied back from a loss the night before and kept its perfect Midwest Collegiate Volleyball Conference (MCVL) record in tact on Friday evening as the Cardinals secured a 3-0 victory against Augustana College (7-14, 1-3 MCVL).

The Cardinals took a 3-1 lead in the first set thanks to a kill from Anthony Kluzak off the hands of Michael Trunzo, but the Vikings were ready to put up a fight on their home court, rallying back to take a 5-4 lead. North Central responded with Brendan Crawford, Nick Lilley, and Jake Braceros to extend the lead 11-6 and force Augustana to take its first timeout. The Cardinals came out of the break with a kill from Crawford and once again took control of the set 18-11 following a block from Trunzo and Kluzak. The Vikings cut the Cardinals lead to four after Justin Murphy and Andrew Housholder scored two points, but a kill from Kolev would give North Central the first set, 25-20.

The Vikings once again struck first in the second set off of a kill from Richard Baum, but North Central would take the 3-1 lead following consecutive kills from Kluzak. The Vikings again took a 5-4 lead, but North Central's defense was ready at the net, forcing seven Vikings' errors and coming up with two blocks to regain the lead, 16-11. The Cardinals were able to hold onto the lead and tally kills from Braceros, Lilley, and Crawford to take the second set, 25-17.

North Central started the third set with a four-point run highlighted by an ace from Bozhidar Kolev and a kill from Crawford that eventually turned into a 10-6 lead and an Augustana timeout. The Vikings battled back to force a North Central serving error and cut the score 18-17, but Trunzo set up Lilley for a kill to go up by two. Augustana answered with a kill from Murphy, but Kolev responded with his third ace of the set to regain a 22-20 lead. Despite suffering two critical errors in the final few plays, a kill from Crawford sealed a 25-22 win for North Central to remain undefeated in MCVL play.

Crawford led the offense with eight kills and a .353 hitting percentage, while Kolev and Kluzak each tallied seven kills. Kluzak paced the defense with six total blocks and Kolev earned a single-game career-high four service aces.

North Central (12-7, 4-0 MCVL) is on the road for the final game of a three-match weekend and will look to continue its historic MCVL run against league-opponent Loras College on March 17. Match time is set for 3 p.m. and a link for live in-game coverage can be found HERE.