Contact: Alex Mielcarz, Athletics Communication Graduate Assistant, ajmielcarz@notcrl.edu
CHICAGO (Jan. 15, 2026) – The North Central College men's volleyball program opened its 2026 campaign with a thriller against the Illinois Institute of Technology, crawling back from a 2-0 deficit to win the contest 3-2, riding Elijah Landeros' 24 kills and PJ Vaughan's 52 assists to the finish.
The season did not begin as coach Kevin Kustura envisioned it, with the Cardinals dropping a tightly contested first set 25-23 and the second set 25-18.
North Central (1-0) came alive in the third set, jumping out to an early 4-0 lead thanks to kills from Brannen Almarales and Landeros. The lead grew to 15-9 later in the set after Landeros finished a nifty set from Vaughan and Almarales rejected the attack of Paul Henderson, the first of his two blocks on the evening.
Up 22-16, the Cardinals rattled off three straight points to finish the set, as Almarales finished a swing, Illinois Tech's (0-1) Tyon Haufschild made a poor pass and Landeros got his fifth kill of the set, giving the Cardinals a 25-16 set victory.
The momentum continued into the fourth set, with kills from Vaughan and Almarales catapulting the Cardinals to an early two-point lead. But the Scarlett Hawks responded, using unforced Cardinal errors and three kills from Haufschild to claim a 12-8 lead. The lead never got bigger than that, as the Cardinals were able to even the score at 19 after yet another kill from Landeros, this time off a feed from Almarales.
The Cardinals would go on to score five of the last nine points of the set, punctuated by a powerful swing from Almarales, one of his 14 kills on the night, forcing a fifth set with a 25-23 fourth set win.
In the fifth set, the two squads traded blows, as kills from Landeros and Connor Davis were responded to with a kill by Illinois Tech's Maximo Dowling and an ace from Aaron Hanny. The teams would continue to trade points until a kill from Landeros and a Scarlett Hawk attack error put North Central in the lead for good. Two kills from Chris Mactal extended the lead to 12-10, with a Jeffery McEachern kill giving the Cardinals match point a few rallies later at 14-11.
Illinois Tech called a timeout and cut into the three-point deficit with a Hanny kill, but the Cardinals stopped the bleeding, calling a timeout of their own, and finishing the contest on the next point, with one last high-octane swing from McEachern, winning the set 15-12, and the match 3-2.
The Cardinals were led by Landeros in his collegiate debut, as he finished the night with the second-most kills in a single match in program history (24). He did so on a team-high 58 swings, giving him a .328 hitting percentage on the night. The freshman also started his Cardinal career with a double-double, collecting 10 digs in the affair.
PJ Vaughan had a record-breaking night of his own, dishing out 52 assists, which ties for the fourth most in a single match in program history. The sophomore, who came off the bench all of last season, also earned a double-double, accruing 15 digs. Vaughan made an impact defensively as well, assisting on three blocks for the Cardinals.
Almarales also claimed a double-double in the season opener, delivering 14 kills and 21 digs. Mactal contributed seven kills and four blocks, while McEachern put 11 swings to the hardwood and blocked two swings in his own right. Jonathan Brown, who served as the libero in the season opener, had three assists and 16 digs.
The win gives North Central a 10-0 all-time series lead over Illinois Tech, making it the longest active win streak over a single opponent for the Cardinals. Of the 36 sets played between the two teams, the Cardinals have won 30 of them.
North Central now has a week of rest, as it opens a seven-game homestand next Thursday at 7 p.m. against Concordia University Chicago.
