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

Box Score

March 24, 2018 – The North Central College men's volleyball team improved to 7-0 in Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) play with a 3-1 win against Fontbonne University (13-5, 4-3 MCVL) and honored its first-ever senior class on Saturday afternoon inside Gregory Arena.

Taking the court for North Central were seniors Jake Braceros, Richard Due, and Mateo Gonzalez and kills from Braceros and Due helped the Cardinals to a 2-1 lead, but both teams set the tone for a tight match in the first set as the score was soon tied 12-12. The Griffins found their rhythm and went on a four point run to take the lead, 16-13, forcing a timeout for North Central. Coming out of the break, Michael Trunzo set up Casey Hiller for a kill, followed by back to back kills from Bozhidar Kolev. Tied back at 17-17, both teams forced the other to commit costly errors and the Cardinals soon found themselves down 23-21. Despite a kill from Kolev, Fontbonne would win the first set on a kill from Mark Klusman, 25-22.

Nick Lilley put North Central on the board with a kill to start the second set that sparked kills from Kolev and blocks from Lilley and Crawford to give the Cardinals an 11-6 lead. Fontbonne called a timeout to regroup, but the Cardinals' defense was there with blocks from Raymond Kraus and Hiller, forcing three errors on the Griffins, and North Central's offense responded with kills from Braceros, Hiller, and Lilley to extend the lead, 22-17. A block from Kolev, Braceros, and Crawford followed by back to back kills from Kolev ended the second set in the Cardinals' favor, 25-19.

Fontbonne found itself at a deficit yet again in the third set as North Central's defense forced multiple errors paired with strong offense from Kolev, Crawford, and Curtis to jump ahead, 8-3. The Griffins tried to recover with kills from Emir Hadzisalihovic and Braden Woolsey, but the Cardinals' offense was too hot and took a 21-14 lead. Samuel Kharasch made a well-timed attack off of a dig from Jacob Zemba before massive kills from Curtis and Kolev helped clinch the third set, 25-19.

North Central had not played a five-set match since Feb. 2 and did not plan to see this match go to five, but the Griffins were ready to challenge, taking a 10-6 lead off of kills from Klusman, Brendon Scwartze and Braden Woolsey, forcing the Cardinals to take a timeout. The Cardinals were able to recover and tie the set 13-13 off of an ace from Crawford and kills from Kolev and Lilley and the momentum continued as North Central regained a 20-16 lead following more offensive power and aggressive defensive play at the net. The Griffins' attempt to go to five sets was unsuccessful as a kill from Lilley sealed the win for North Central, 25-22.

Kolev recorded 20 kills in the match, one shy of Braceros' 21 set back on Jan. 24, 2016. Lilley added 15 kills and four blocks. Crawford, Jason Eslinger, and Justin Curtis each had an assist and Crawford led the defense with five blocks. Braceros had ten digs in the match and Samuel Kharasch added eight.

North Central (15-7, 7-0 MCVL) takes a week off from competition before going on the road to play Wittenberg University on April 6 at 7 p.m. A link to live in-game coverage can be found HERE.