Contact: Alex Mielcarz, Athletics Communication Graduate Assistant, ajmielcarz@noctrl.edu
NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Jan. 27, 2026) – Junior libero Jonathan Brown set a program record with 25 digs in a single match, while the team set a program record for kills in a match with 71 as the North Central men's volleyball program held off Concordia University Wisconsin in a five-set thriller inside Gregory Arena on Tuesday night.
Brannen Almarales also placed himself in the record books, tying the sixth-best match in program history with 20 kills on a match-high 50 swings, hitting at a .200 percentage on the evening.
Concordia Wisconsin (0-7) took the first set from the Cardinals but had to hold off a late comeback effort to do so. The Falcons led the set 20-16 before a wild save off the net from Jeffery McEachern Jr. led to a Concordia Wisconsin error, bringing the deficit down to three. McEachern aced the ensuing serve, followed by two Elijah Landeros kills to even the set at 20. The teams would tie again at 22, but a service error and an attack error from the Cardinals brought the Falcons to set point, and after an Almarales kill to bring the set to within one, Reid Scott put the finishing touches on a 25-23 first set for the Falcons with a kill.
North Central (3-1) fell behind in the second set, just as it did in the first, allowing the Falcons to build an early 11-6 advantage. Three consecutive Landeros kills and an Almarales finish from the back row brought the Cardinals to within one, 11-10, eventually tying the set at 12 on another Almarales kill.
The two squads tied at 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17 before the Cardinals could create some breathing room, using a kill and a block by Connor Davis to establish a three-point lead at 21-18.
Back -to-back attack errors by the Falcons eventually gave the Cardinals set point, with a Concordia Wisconsin service error giving North Central the set 25-21 and evening the match at a set a-piece.
North Central carried its momentum into the third set, building a 15-10 lead after Davis left a dent in the floor with a kill that landed inside the 10-foot line on a missed pass by the Falcons. An Almarales kill later in the set gave the Cardinals an 18-11 advantage while Delgado took advantage of another broken play by the Falcons, burying his first career kill to give the Cardinals a 20-14 lead.
Consecutive aces by Evan Page gave the Cardinals a 23-16 edge followed later by two McEachern kills off feeds from Delgado to give North Central the third set 25-18.
The fourth set was a much closer affair, as neither team could build an advantage through the first 20 rallies. However, after being deadlocked at 10-10, the Falcons started to grow a lead, using kills from Owen Kolozsy and Scott to build a 19-13 advantage. The Cardinals came storming back, getting to within three on a kill from the reigning College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Player of the Week, Chris Mactal (22-19). But the Falcons would only allow one more score from the North Central offense in the set, forcing a decisive fifth set with a 25-21 win.
The fifth saw the Falcons jump out to yet another early lead, quickly building a 7-3 advantage. Kills from Mitchell Hester – who was making his season debut – and Landeros brought the deficit down to three. The Cardinals ground the Falcon advantage down to one (8-7) with two consecutive Concordia Wisconsin attack errors, but two kills from Reid gave the Falcons their breathing space back (11-8).
The Cardinals proceeded to go on a 5-0 run, thanks to kills from Almarales and McEachern, giving North Central a 14-12 advantage and match point. A Kolozsy kill brought the Falcons to within one, but McEachern put the finishing touches on the ensuing rally, putting home a kill off the Concordia Wisconsin front line's block attempt to win the set 15-12, and the match 3-2.
The Falcons were led by Scott's 20 kills and 12 digs while Hayden Hurley distributed a match-high 51 assists. The Falcons hit .245 in the match and had ten aces, four of which came from Scott.
Brown's 25 digs set a new program record. He set it in the fourth set with his 23rd dig of the evening. Delgado distributed 48 assists in his first taste of collegiate action, tying the sixth-best single-match mark for a Cardinal in that statistic.
McEachern finished the match with a double-double (17 kills, 10 digs) while Almarales did the same (20 kills, 11 digs). Mactal and Connor had three blocks each, and Hester got his first three kills of the season, doing so on three swings for a perfect hitting percentage in the penultimate and ultimate sets.
The Cardinals finished the evening with a .349 hitting percentage, their highest of the season to this point. North Central tied its single-match assist record (65), set a new kills record (71) and had the sixth most digs in a match in program history (67).
North Central now turns its attention to its triangular this weekend. The Cardinals host the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at noon and No. 9 California Lutheran University at 5 p.m. on Saturday. Stevens Point and California Lutheran will play one another in between the two Cardinal matches at 2:30 p.m.
