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

Box Score

LISLE, Ill. (Feb. 15, 2019) – A matchup of two top-10 teams has been in the works for the past few weeks and was finally able to play out on Friday evening as the No. 9 North Central College (10-6) men's volleyball team traveled down the road to No. 5-ranked Benedictine University (8-1). A thrilling five-set battle unfolded, but a significant misstep in the third set unfortunately left the Cardinals on the wrong end of a 3-2 score.

North Central tied the first set 4-4 following a kill from Anthony Kluzak off the hands of Trunzo, but the Eagles went on a four-point run to regain the lead. A kill from Nick Lilley and ace from Nicho Calles set up Jacob Zemba and Justin Curtis for kills to bring North Central within one, -trailing 9-10. Benedictine capitalized on three more timely offensive streaks to extend the lead beyond the Cardinals' reach, taking the first set 25-18.

The Eagles again tried to control the set early in the second, but a bad service by Benedictine set up Zemba for a kill to tie it 5-5. Lilley and Kolev went on the attack shortly thereafter to lead 9-8 and later opened up the lead following a six-point run sparked by a block from Kluzak and Trunzo. North Central had the momentum in the second set and a kill from Zemba put the Cardinals at set point before Lilley came in with the kill to take the set, 25-19.

The momentum North Central had was short lived as Benedictine forced the Cardinals to play catch up early, leaving them with a daunting 8-1 deficit. The Eagles unrelenting offense prevented the Cardinals from gaining any traction and Benedictine took a 2-1 lead following a 25-9 win in the third.

In order to stay alive, North Central needed to wipe the third set from all memory and came out in the fourth set with a 3-0 lead off of kills from Zemba and a block from the junior outside hitter and Kluzak. It was Zemba again who got the offense rolling a few points later, opening up a 7-2 lead and forcing the Eagles to take a timeout. With the score in the Cardinals' favor, 11-6, Kolev came up with a kill before smoking three-straight service aces past the Eagles' defense to put North Central ahead 15-6. Benedictine went on a late-set four-point run to tie it 17-17, but North Central was ready to take the match to five and a kill from Zemba did just that, giving the Cardinals a 25-23 win in the fourth.

Benedictine led the fifth set 3-0 to start, but kills from Zemba and Lilley tied it up. Both teams kept it close the following points, but the Eagles began to pull away, taking a 10-6 lead. The Cardinals got the ball back after a service error by Benedictine and Kevin Braceros served an ace and Lilley came up with a kill to bring the Cardinals within one, 11-12. The Eagles soon found themselves at match point and despite a kill from Lilley, won the fifth set and the match with a 15-13 score.

Zemba tallied a team-high 15 kills for the Cardinals and three blocks alongside Kluzak and Justin Curtis while Lilley had 14 kills and Kolev had 11. Kolev also added three service aces. Benedictine's Elijah Medlock led all players with 21 kills while Kyle VanStedum had six blocks.

North Central returnshome to Gregory Arena to host No. 6-ranked Carthage College on Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m., getting a glimpse of a Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) preview. A link to follow live in-match coverage can be found HERE.