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

RIVER FOREST, Ill. (Feb. 4, 2022) - A postponed match against the No. 2  ranked Dominican University was heated as the No. 15 ranked North Central College men's volleyball program challenged yet another top-five ranking team in a 3-2 victory at the Igini Sports Forum Friday night.

The start of set one saw the Cardinals and the Stars trading points until three kills by Dominican's Lucas Eggers pulled the Stars ahead 8-5. Four consecutive points brought on by Dominican attack errors and a pair of kills by Nathan Jones and Jared Moser put the Cardinals back in the lead with the score 9-8. The score remained tight through set one, but North Central clinched the set 25-23.

Set two leaned in favor of the Cardinals from the whistle, dropping the Stars into a five-point deficit they wouldn't come back from. Set two was big for Ben Williams as he tallied three kills and a service ace to help propel the Cardinals to a 25-20 set win.

Trouble loomed for the Cardinals as their hitting percentage dropped from a .370 in set two to a .188 in set three. Although Williams and Moser found their set-highs in kills--both notching four in set three--the Stars found a five-point rally of their own to take set three 25-21.

Struggling to find their ground, North Central fell early in set four to a 14-6 lead by Dominican. Three kills each by Moser and Jake Miller, and service aces by Moser and Pluskota were not enough as the Cardinals fell in set four 22-25.

A set filled with outstanding comebacks, a pair of kills by Miller and Jones shook the Stars into a fit of errors putting the Cardinals up 7-2 at the start of set five. Neither team was falling away easy as Dominican rallied with an evening-high seven-point scoring spree to take the lead 9-7. Subbing in Austin Scott proved beneficial for the Cardinals as he tallied three kills to keep the score at 11-11. A service ace by Matt Nealon was all the momentum the North Central needed to finish set five on top of the No. 2 team in the nation; 15-12.

Moser led the team in kills with 13, while Williams totaled 11 and Miller had 10. Nealon had 42 of the teams 54 assists on the evening. Five Cardinals had service aces while Moser and Michael Szews each had two. Nealon led the team defensively with 13 digs while Moser had 10. 

The Stars were led on offense by George Kougan with 17 kills, while Lucas Eggers had 10. Defensively, Danny Pacini led with 14 digs.

North Central heads to Milwaukee, Wis. on Feb. 9 for a match versus Milwaukee School of Engineering inside the Kern Center.

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