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

Box Score vs. Stevenson
Box Score vs. Aurora

Jan. 19, 2019 – The North Central College men's volleyball team split a pair of matches to close out its first weekend inside Gregory Arena, surrendering a hard-fought five-set battle to the No. 11-ranked Stevenson University (2-1) on Saturday afternoon before cruising to a 3-0 win against Aurora University (0-2) later in the evening.

In the afternoon match, the Cardinals suffered two early errors to the Mustangs to give up an early lead, but Michael Trunzo found Anthony Kluzak for a kill which led to three consecutive errors by Stevenson to put North Central ahead, 4-2. The lead did not last long as Stevenson reclaimed an 11-7 lead, forcing the Cardinals to play catch-up for the later part of the set. Jacob Zemba led the charge for a four point run late in the set to make for a thrilling 23-24 set point, but an unfortunate service error handed North Central its first first-set loss of the season, 25-23.

North Central faced an uphill battle early in the second set, trailing 7-0 to the Mustangs, but a kill from Messer put the Cardinals on the board and led to a three-point run ending with an ace from Jason Eslinger. Still down 10-3, Eslinger came to the rescue with a kill to spark a four-point run and force Stevenson to use a timeout. Despite best efforts, the Mustangs had the momentum they needed and won the second set 25-22.

Both teams kept the third set close, as the Mustangs were fighting to end the match in three and the Cardinals were playing to force at least a fourth set. Bozhidar Kolev, Messer, and Eslinger each made their attempts to keep the team's hopes alive and it paid off after two kills from Kolev put North Central ahead 16-14 late in the set. Stevenson tried to chip away at the Cardinals' lead, but it was a kill from Zemba that won the set for North Central, 25-22.

The Cardinals were ready to battle through their first five-set match of the season, taking an early 9-4 lead after two kills from Kolev and an ace from Messer. A match-high team hitting percentage of .583 was exactly what North Central needed to stay in the match and a kill from Messer on set point sent both teams to a fifth set, winning 25-18.
A close fifth set seemed an appropriate end for a hard-fought battle and neither team was letting the other pull away too far out of reach.  The Cardinals were up 8-7 when the teams switched sides, but Stevenson found new energy and scored three-straight kills which seemed to change the course of the set. Messer and Eslinger both made two last efforts to cut the deficit 11-13, but the Mustangs ultimately won the fifth 15-11, and handed North Central its first loss at home.

Eslinger led the Cardinals' offense with 12 kills and Kolev and Messer each tallied 11. Eslinger was also the team's leading blocker with four, followed by Kluzak with three. Trunzo lent a hand for 46 assists.

In the second match of the day, the Cardinals celebrated an early 6-2 lead over Aurora thanks to kills from Kolev, Trunzo, and an ace from Kluzak. Kolev and Casey Hiller teamed up shortly thereafter on a block and then added a pair of kills to extend the lead and force the Spartans to face a 13-5 deficit. Aurora could not recover from its early struggles and a kill from Zemba put the Cardinals ahead 1-0, winning the first set, 25-19.

North Central took control of the second set in similar fashion, holding a 6-1 lead with solid efforts on both sides of the play. Kills from Kluzak and Kolev and strong defensive play from Kluzak and Trunzo helped the Cardinals take a five-point run late in the set to lead 18-8 before running away with the remainder of the set to win 25-14.

The Spartans came back in the third set to challenge the Cardinals and perhaps force a fourth set, taking a short-lived 13-12 lead after a kill from Jack Fischer. Eslinger fired back two kills to help North Central take back the lead and the Cardinals' offense continued to edge ahead of Aurora to keep them at bay. It was a kill from Hiller that sealed the victory for North Central, winning the third set 25-23 and improving to 4-2 on the season.

Kolev and Aurora's Time Breiter led all players with nine kills while Messer and Eslinger both added five. Trunzo was the category leader in assists with 28 and Samuel Kharasch tallied ten digs.

North Central (4-2) travels to Union, N.J on Friday, Jan. 25 for the Kean University Clash at Kean Tournament. The Cardinals' first match is against the hosts, currently ranked fourth nationally, on Friday at 2 p.m (ET).