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

Box Score

ADRIAN, Mich. (Mar. 29, 2019) – Led by single-match best performances by Jacob Zemba, Bozhidar Kolev and Michael Trunzo, the North Central College men's volleyball team added another win to its Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) record on Friday evening, defeating the Adrian College Bulldogs (15-12, 3-3 MCVL) in three sets.

North Central came out in the first set with an 8-5 lead following kills from Zemba and Kolev off the hands of Michael Trunzo and were able to strengthen its grasp on the lead with five straight-points and force the Bulldogs to take a timeout. Adrian cut the Cardinals momentum, capitalizing on a point off an attacking error, but Trunzo connected with Justin Curtis and Kolev for three straight kills to lead 17-10. Adrian pulled within three late in the set, but the Cardinals held on thanks to a kill and service ace from Kolev to win the first set, 25-20.

Adrian opened the second set with two straight attacking errors to help North Central take a 3-0 lead, but recouped one point after a service error by the Cardinals. Before the Bulldogs had any chance to gain momentum, Kolev, Zemba, Kevin Messer and Anthony Kluzak led a six-point attack to pull ahead, 13-3. Adrian rallied back a few points later to trail 14-8, but the Cardinals closed the door on the Bulldogs, scoring 11 points to the opponent's eight to win the second set, 25-16.

In the third set, it was North Central that found itself playing from behind with the Bulldogs leading 7-4. A kill from Kolev followed by a block from the senior, Kluzak and Trunzo cut the Cardinals' deficit to one point, but the work was not done yet. Adrian regained the lead after the Cardinals tied it, 10-10, and it wasn't until a five-point run sparked by a kill from Zemba gave North Central its first lead of the set, 20-16. Adrian called a timeout and managed to tie the set 21-21, but a pair of kills from Zemba and two blocks from Nick Lilley and Justin Curtis kept the Bulldogs at bay and helped the Cardinals win the match with a third set score of 25-21.

Zemba established a new three-set single-match record with 20 kills and Kolev is now ranked second in the same category with his 18 kills on the night, while Trunzo broke his own record for assists in a three-set match with 43. Curtis was the team's leading blocker with four and Trunzo and Samuel Kharasch tied with 11 digs each.

North Central (15-9, 5-2 MCVL) continues MCVL play at Olivet College on Saturday, Mar. 30 at 11 a.m. (ET). Links to live in-match coverage can be found HERE.