Contact: Alex Mielcarz, Athletics Communication Graduate Assistant, ajmielcarz@noctrl.edu

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Jan. 24, 2026) – The North Central College men's volleyball program suffered its first setback of the season on Saturday evening, falling in four sets to Benedictine University in the battle of Maple & Chicago. The Eagles retain possession of Christian's Trophy, named after Christian Slater, who had served as a coach within both programs, and passed away suddenly two years ago.

Two Cardinals turned in double-doubles in the losing effort, with Brannen Almarales turning in a 15 kill and 11 dig night (both team highs), while PJ Vaughan joined him with 35 assists and 10 digs.

North Central (2-1) fell in the first set 25-20, unable to overcome multiple six-point deficits. Early in the set, Chris Mactal put home a powerful kill on a slide play to bring the Cardinals to within one (9-8), and later on in the set, Jeffery McEachern Jr., Almarales and Mactal would team up to force multiple continuations on the Benedictine side, eventually forcing an attack error to cut the Eagle lead down to five (18-13).

The Cardinals cut the Benedictine lead down to 19-16 after an ace by Vaughan and another Eagle attack error, but kills from Chris Rodomski, Eoin O'Toole and Jaron Lindsay proved to be too much, securing the first set victory for the Eagles.

Almarales and Mactal set the tone early in the second set, blocking a swing from Radomski to go up 3-1, followed immediately by a powerful top-spinning ace by Vaughan (one of his three aces on the night) to extend the lead to 4-1. That lead would grow to as large as 10-4 before Benedictine started to chip away, keeping itself within striking distance throughout the rest of the set, but the Cardinals would keep the Eagles at arm's reach, finishing the set off with a cross-court Almarales kill to cap off a seven-possession rally, 25-20.

The third set saw Benedictine (2-2) take control of the match back. The two teams traded points early in the set before a Jacob Thomas kill created some separation between the two teams, giving the Eagles a 7-4 edge. An Almarales kill and a Radomski attack error tied the set at 11, but the Eagles pulled away again, eventually building a 20-15 advantage.

A powerful Elijah Landeros kill, and a block by Landeros and Mactal brought the Cardinals to within three in the late stages of the set, but the Eagles would finish it out, claiming the third set 25-22 with a Spencer VanEngen kill.

  The fourth set saw the two Midwest mainstays go toe-to-toe, exchanging blows and runs throughout. Benedictine built a four-point advantage in the middle of the set, 16-11, but the Cardinals rallied back with great defense, forcing two attack errors and a service error while Mactal contributed a kill to tie the contest up at 16 after a 5-0 Cardinal run. Benedictine responded with two Lindsay kills and a Cardinal error to grow the lead back to three (20-17), but the Cardinals again rallied, this time with a kill from Almarales and a kill from Vaughan to tie the set at 20.

Neither team could string together a run until the Cardinals achieved set point on a Landeros finish, but Benedictine would not be denied, and constructed its own rally, rattling off four unanswered points to secure the set and the match, using two Tucker Lambert aces on the penultimate and ultimate points to do so.

Landeros had 10 kills on 27 swings and registered two aces and two assists on the day. McEachern also found himself in double-digit kills, putting home 10 of his 38 attempts. Chris Mactal had another strong performance, swinging at a .500 clip on the evening while accruing six kills and five blocks.

The Eagles were led by Lindsay's 13 kills, Lambert's six aces and 10 digs, Jordan Cardenas' match-high 16 digs, and VanEngen's 37 assists.

As a club, the Cardinals hit .121 on the evening, while they had six aces at the service line and 16 service errors, which ties the season high.

The Cardinals are back on the court on Tuesday night as the extended homestand marches on with a non-conference matchup with future College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin member school Concordia University Wisconsin at 7 p.m. inside Gregory Arena.