Contact: Taiah Gallisath, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302
KENOSHA, Wis. (Apr. 15, 2022) - Competing in their first-ever NCAA Tournament in program history, the North Central College men's volleyball team fought to the very end before falling to the Dominican University Stars in a five-set thriller on Friday night.
The Cardinals struggled to find their footing in set one as the Stars took an early 6-1 lead. North Central was held to one and two-point possessions while the Stars went on a four-point run to take set one 25-13.
Set two saw the Cardinals fighting head to head with the Stars, and leading the first half of the match until Dominican found three points on two Cardinal attack errors and a kill by George Kougan. North Central stayed within three, finding a four-point run of their own to take the lead 21-20. With the Stars at set point, Nathan Jones put down a kill to bring the score to 23-24, but a final kill by Kougan put Dominican up two sets to none.
With a five-minute interlude prior to set three, North Central came out with a new look, swapping their black jerseys for Cardinal red. A change in jerseys brought a change in momentum for the Cardinals as they battled 18 tied scores throughout the set and while the Stars reached set point twice, North Central rallied and recovered with kills by Jake Miller and Ben Williams to take set three in extra points 31-29.
The Cardinals trailed the Stars 14-10 at the start of the fourth set but a six-point run featuring three kills by Miller and a service ace by Michael Szews changed the set trajectory. North Central held its lead with one and two-point possessions to finish off set four in extra points, 26-24.
Keeping the score within one for most of set five, the Cardinals were set back 9-13 after the Stars score four consecutive points. Kills by Miller and Williams brought the Cardinals back within two at 13-14, but a last chance kill by the Stars shut the Cardinals down to take the match victory 3-2.
"We were going in against an opponent that has only one loss on the year [to North Central] and we had a feeling they wanted it back. They had a good scouting report in the first set and we expected to see the things that they did. This is [our] first time ever in the national tournament and I'm just so proud of the way our guys rebounded." said head coach,
Kyle Exline. "I'm proud of these guys and the program for the way they battled, their composure, and their character, it was fun to see."
"It's all trust. Everybody on that bench trusts the person next to them and it comes down to that. When you have that it doesn't matter what the score is, you know you can come right back," said junior opposite hitter, Miller, who had a career-high of 18 kills.
Jared Moser also achieved a career-high of 26 kills to claim the program record after already securing the single-season records this year in kills and service aces. Matt Nealon was a huge factor in these records, as he dished out a career-high of his own with 54 assists.
"I don't get those assists without people putting the ball away next to me," said Nealon. "That's just a testament to the program that Coach Exline has built and the discipline that the guys next to me have engrained into the program. It wasn't the outcome we wanted but in terms of projections, that's what the model should look like for future years."
Nealon finished out his senior year with 54 assists, two kills, two aces, and 12 digs in the NCAA semi-final match. Alongside Moser and Miller in kills was
Jeremy Cardenas with 11 kills and two blocks.
Parker Nelson led the team in digs with 20 while Moser had 17.
The Cardinals return their whole squad next year with the exception of Nealon and will start preparing for their next run to the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
Download the free North Central Cardinals app, available for iOS and Android devices, to receive up-to-the-minute news, scores and updates on your favorite North Central teams. Click HERE for more information
