Contact: Alex Mielcarz, Athletics Communication Graduate Assistant, ajmielcarz@noctrl.edu
NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Jan. 31, 2026) - The North Central men's volleyball program split the day in the 2026 North Central College Triangular, defeating the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in five sets in match one, and falling in straight sets to No. 9 California Lutheran in the nightcap.
Mitchell Hester had a ridiculous day, putting home 15 kills on 21 swings with just two errors in the opening match, good enough for a match leading .619 hitting percentage, a career best (minimum 15 swings).
Match One: North Central vs. Wisconsin-Stevens Point
Angelo Delgado got the nod for the second consecutive match at the setter position, and he took advantage of it, putting together another top 10 program performance, dishing out 50 assists, which ties for the seventh most in a single match in program history.
After falling behind early in the first set, the Cardinals put together a four-point run featuring kills from Elijah Landeros and Chris Mactal and a combo block from Brannen Almarales and Chris Mactal. North Central went on another run later in the set to extend its lead to five, using three consecutive kills from Hester to do so.
Stevens Point (3-5) came within two points of the Cardinals at 16-14, but kills from Jeffrey McEachern Jr. and Almarales helped extend the lead back to five at 19-14. Delgado put the finishing touches on the first set in tandem with Chris Mactal, blocking a swing from Dylan Niznik to win the first set 25-19.
The second started with the two programs going toe-to-toe with one another, trading points until a Landeros ace and a McEachern kill put the Cardinals up 11-7.
The lead was extended to 15-10 a handful of rallies later with another McEachern swing. Another block from Mactal (who finished the match with four) put North Central up 19-13.
The Pointers were able to scrape together a comeback and pull to within one at 24-23, but the Cardinals stood strong against the adversity and won the second set on a Landeros finish off of a rare assist from Almarales.
The Pointers would go on to win a competitive third set 25-22, and would pull away in the fourth set 25-19, setting up North Central's third five-set match in just its fifth match of the year.
North Central got back to form in the fifth set, thanks to a powerful Hester kill and a pair of attack errors from Stevens Point, to go up 4-1. After a Pointer response, the Cardinals would use two more Stevens Point miscues and an Almarales kill to extend the lead to 7-2. The Pointers again started to claw their way back after the two teams switched sides, but two more Stevens Point miscues and a solo rejection at the net by Hester put the Cardinals at match point, 14-8.
After a Cael Bertrandt kill cut the deficit to five, Hester took control of the situation, burying his 15th and final kill, which was also Delgado's 50th assist, giving the Cardinals the fifth set victory 15-9.
The Cardinals hit .234 as a team, including a .556 effort in the fifth set. North Central also collected 64 digs, which ties for the seventh-best mark by a Cardinal team in its program history.
Almarales put together yet another double-double performance, putting home 12 of his 38 swings and accruing 19 digs, which now stands alone as the seventh most by an individual in a single-match in program history.
Brown had 15 digs, while McEachern had ten to go along with his 13 kills and .278 hitting percentage.
Hester had just two errors in his 21 swings, 15 of which ended up being kills, giving him a career high .619 hitting percentage (minimum 15 swings).
Match Two: North Central vs. No. 9 California Lutheran
The second match of the day saw the Cardinals play host to No. 9 California Lutheran (9-1) as it continues its trip throughout Chicagoland.
The Kingsmen won the match in straight sets, improving to 9-1 with the victory. The Kingsmen have only lost three sets this season, and they all came in a loss to No. 8 New York University.
California Lutheran and North Central (4-2) traded points early in the set, but the Kingsmen took a two-point lead and were able to keep the Cardinals at arm's distance the rest of the way.
A Connor Crawford kill extended the Kingsmen's lead to 15-10, and a Cardinal miscue extended the lead to 19-13 a few rallies later. Kevin Kustura and the Cardinals did not go quietly into the night, however, getting to within three at 22-19 after a Connor Davis kill and again at 23-20 after McEachern put down a set from PJ Vaughan, but the comeback fell short as Brendan Hom put an exclamation point on the first set, giving the Kingsmen a 25-21 victory.
The second set began nearly identical to the first, with the two programs playing eachother close, with a kill from Davis tying the set at five and a block from Mactal and Vaughan tightening things up at 9-8 later.
But the Kingsmen found their groove, exploding for a 7-1 run, aided by a handful of errors, to go up 16-9. California Lutheran would not look back, going on to win the set 25-19.
The Kingsmen, as they had in each of the previous sets, developed an early lead and kept the Cardinals at arm's length for the majority of the set. Down 20-14, the Cardinals started a comeback led by Mactal and Almarales kills and three combo blocks: two from Almarales and Davis, and one from Davis and McEachern to tie things up at 23.
The Cardinals were unable to complete the comeback and fell in the third set 25-23 after a Connor Crawford ace ended the comeback effort.
Tyler Linville had 9 kills for the Kingsmen, while Keaton Hendry distributed 30 assists Matthew Wilcox contributed a pair of blocks.
The Cardinals were led by Almarales (13 kills) and McEachern (10 kills). PJ Vaughan had 26 assists in his return to the starting lineup, while Mactal and Davis both contributed four blocks to the Cardinal defensive effort. Jonathan Brown pitched in 10 digs from the libero position.
North Central hit a season high of .316 in the loss and committed 11 service errors in the nightcap.
The Cardinals now have six days until their next contest on Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. inside Gregory Arena.
