FOND DU LAC, Wis. – After a near two week layoff following their 4-0 start, the Concordia University Chicago Men's Volleyball continued the year of firsts when they opened Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play tonight on the road at Marian University. CUC fought tough, but errors proved costly as CUC fell in three sets (25-23, 25-20, 25-16).
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- Nick Capers led the team with 13 kills on the night.
- Matthew Geiser recorded his first career double-double with 10 kills and 11 digs.
- Trent Weber finished with a team high 32 assists.
- As a team CUC committed 24 attack errors and 13 service errors.
In the opening set Marian went on a 6-1 opening run to force and early CUC timeout. The Cougars responded with kills by Geiser and Capers to go along with a Capers and
Ryan Felbinger block to tie the game at seven. Marian was able to take advantage of CUC errors to take a 15-10 lead and force a second CUC timeout. The Cougars once again were able to battle back, using a Capers kill with Geiser serving to tie the set at 17. CUC was able to grab a 21-19 lead late on kills by Felbinger, Capers and
Skylar Versendaal. Marian responded though with a 6-2 run to come back and take set one 25-23.
In set two CUC grabbed an early lead once again on a Weber and Felbinger block. Marian used a 6-0 run midway through the set to build a 11-7 advantage. CUC worked to battle back with a 6-2 run that included kills by
Anthony Galindo, Versendaal and Geiser. Unfortunately the Cougars were unable to compete the comeback as the Sabres took set two 25-20.
The two sides traded points through the early part of set three. CUC grabbed an 13-11 lead with a 4-0 run that was capped by a Capers kill. Marian quickly battled back to tie the set, and then used a 12-2 run to close out the match in three sets 25-16.
The Cougars will have a quick turnaround with two matches tomorrow. They will open the day with another NACC match. This time it will be against Lakeland University at 11:00am. They will then play a non-conference match against Loras College beginning at 1:00pm.
