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

Box Score

Mar. 23, 2019 – The No. 12-ranked North Central College men's volleyball team came out as a completely different team than the fans saw less than 24 hours prior and left it all on the court for its senior class on Saturday afternoon, winning their first five-set match of the season against an unrelenting Augustana College (9-13, 3-3 MCVL) team.

The Vikings tried to spoil the festivities by taking a 3-0 lead in the first set and slowly extending the lead from there, but senior Anthony Kluzak hit back-to-back kills off the hands of Michael Trunzo to tie it 6-6. North Central took its first lead of the day at 13-12 when Nick Lilley came up with a kill at the net. Augustana pulled away again and soon had a 23-19 lead. Trunzo connected with senior Bozhidar Kolev for a kill to momentarily stop the Viking's offense, but two attacking errors by North Central gave Augustana the first set, 25-20.

It did not look good for North Central in the second set, soon down 8-5 and forced to use one of their timeouts. Senior Jacob Zemba came out of the huddle with a kill and the trio of senior Kevin Messer, Kluzak and Trunzo denied an Augustana attack with a massive block. Messer added a kill after and followed it up with an ace to bring North Central within one, giving the Cardinals the momentum it needed to help Trunzo get a sneaky kill with help from Kluzak to tie it, 13-13. An error by the Vikings and a block from Trunzo and Kluzak helped put North Central in the driver's seat en route to a 25-23 second-set win.

The Cardinals experienced déjà vu from the second set, trailing 8-5 in the third despite kills from Kolev and Zemba and a block from Justin Curtis and Messer. North Central slowly chipped away at the Vikings' lead and a kill from Kolev tied the set 17-17, forcing Augustana to take a timeout. Augustana's Jason Szara returned the lead to the Vikings, but Kolev challenged it one point later with a kill that knotted the score again. Unfortunately for North Central, two kills each from Justin Murphy and Caleb Minnis were enough to give Augustana the win in the third set, 25-20.

In the fourth set, North Central remained calm, despite playing from behind for most of the set. The Cardinals came within one following two errors by the Vikings and a kill from Messer tied the score 11-11, forcing Augustana to take a moment to regroup. Just as Augustana began to regain control, Messer came up with another kill that sparked a strong defensive stop by Kolev, Kluzak and Trunzo, tying it again 15-15. Patience paid off for North Central as back-to-back kills from Zemba and a set-winning kill from Kluzak, 25-20, ignited the spark inside Gregory Arena and set the tone for a down to the wire fifth set.

The Cardinals have not had the best of luck in five-set matches this season, dropping one against then-ranked No. 11 Stevenson University on Jan. 19 and a second at then-ranked No. 5 Benedictine University on Feb. 15. For the first time the entire match, it was North Central in command from the get go, taking a 4-2 lead following kills from Kolev and Zemba and a block from Curtis and Lilley. The Cardinals soon found its long-overdue momentum midway through the set, scoring six-straight points to lead 13-9. The Vikings came up with a block to have one last chance to stop North Central, but a kill from Kolev and an attacking error by Augustana was enough for the win and the Cardinals took the fifth set 15-10.

Kolev tallied 18 kills and one service ace while Zemba added 13 kills. Kluzak had 11 kills and a team-high six blocks. Trunzo had four blocks and Samuel Kharasch had 13 digs. In addition to hosting Senior Day, the Cardinals also hosted a block party at the net, coming up with 11 while Augustana had only five.

North Central (14-9, 4-2 MCVL) will close out the regular season on the road, first playing at Adrian College on Friday, Mar. 29. Match time is set for 7 p.m.