Contact: Drew Sauer, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

Box Score

Feb. 12, 2019 – Behind a season-high .390 hitting percentage, the North Central College men's volleyball team dominated in all facets of the game on Tuesday, rolling to a three-set win over Concordia University Chicago inside Gregory Arena.

North Central (10-5) finished the match with 42 kills to only 10 errors on the evening, doubling up the Cougars in total kills.  The defense meanwhile was stellar in service receive, not allowing an ace all match, while turning in nine on the offensive end.

Back-to-back service aces off the hand of Michael Trunzo gave the Cardinals a 13-7 lead midway through the first set while in turn forcing a Cougar timeout.  The rest of the set was all North Central, closing the opener on a 5-1 run, taking advantage of four Cougar errors to close the set 25-16.

With the score knotted 11-11 in set two, a 5-0 run proved to be the turning point of the set as Nick Lilley, Jacob Zemba and Anthony Kluzak each recorded a kill over the run.  Holding a solid lead down the stretch, Lilley, Zemba and Kluzak all teamed up to stuff the final Cougar attack of the set, one of five total blocks in the second set to secure the 25-18 victory.

The Cougars (4-4) jumped out to a 7-4 lead early in the third set, but a four-point Cardinal swing quickly turned the tables thanks to a pair of aces from Lilley and kills from each of Zemba and Kluzak to take a 8-7 lead.

North Central proceeded to score eight of the next 12 points to open up a 16-11 lead, as back-to-back aces from Bozhidar Kolev forced the final Cougar timeout of the set.

Rolling from that point forward, North Central cruised to a 25-14 win, hitting .522 in the final set recording 14 kills to just two errors.

Kolev led all players with 13 kills and three service aces, hitting .417 on the match.  Lilley finished with nine kills and a team-leading six digs, hitting at a match-high .429.  Zemba added seven kills, while Kluzak finished with six and Trunzo dished out a match-high 36 assists.

Eight kills from Nick Capers led the Cougar offense, while Matthew Geiser finished with 17 assists and Trent Weber added nine digs.

North Central hits the road on Friday, Feb. 15, taking on fifth-ranked Benedictine University in a top-10 matchup inside the Rice Center at 4:30 p.m.  Links to live in-game coverage are available HERE.