Contact: Taiah Gallisath, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Jan. 28, 2022) - Despite dropping the first set in a tight 23-25 point thread, the North Central College men's volleyball team rallied for three consecutive set wins to overtake the No. 5 ranked Benedictine University in a 3-1 victory Friday evening.

The Cardinals got off on a rocky start in set one, falling behind 2-6. In efforts to shrink the lead, a trio of kills by Ben Williams, Jake Miller, and Jeremy Cardenas was enough to tie the score at 14-14. With both teams struggling to maintain possession for more than two points, the Eagles took advantage of a Cardinal service error and a service ace by Chase Olson to take set one 25-23.

Finding their momentum, the Cardinals took an early 2-0 lead on the Eagles and managed a few back-and-forth points before heading on a five-point spree to pull ahead 11-5. Jared Moser and Cardenas tallied four kills each, and a service ace by Cardenas led to a 25-20 point win to take set two.

Set three saw two early service aces by Matt Nealon and Moser that turned into a quick 6-1 lead for the Cardinals. The Eagles made another push to narrow the score gap, with Nathan Klimisch racking in seven kills in set three to eventually take the lead 18-17. Two kills by freshman Austin Scott boosted North Central up 23-22 followed by two Benedictine attack errors. The Cardinals led 2-1 heading into set four.

A kill by Moser got North Central rolling and the Cardinals never looked back. Moser recorded four kills in set four, while this evening's crowd-favorite, Scott, had five. North Central clinched the fourth set with a perfectly executed service ace by Gabriel Aguado.

As a team, the Cardinals posted 51 kills—led by Moser with 12, and Miller and Cardenas followed with nine each. Nealon made up 41 of the team's 46 assists while Parker Nelson led the team in digs with 11. 

The Eagles were led by Nathan Klimisch with 15 kills and Kyle Vasquez with 14 digs on the evening.

North Central visits No. 2 Dominican University in River Forest, Ill. on Feb. 2. The match is set for 7 p.m. at the Igini Sports Forum.

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