River Forest, Ill. — Friday night was Senior Night inside Geiseman Gymnasium, as the Concordia University Chicago men's volleyball team welcomed the Warriors of Wisconsin Lutheran College to River Forest for a conference matchup. It proved to be a great night for the seniors and their teammates, as the Cougars swept the match in three sets.
Prior to the match, the team honored its three seniors: Erickberto Perez, Virgilio Rodriguez, and Ricardo Ruiz. They are the first wave of seniors to spend four years in the program, joining as freshman during the inaugural season in 2019. Ryan Felbinger, who joined the program as a sophomore in 2019, was also honored after his senior year was impacted by COVID-19 in 2021.
Junior Luke Vozenilek (Westmont, Ill.) opened the match with a kill, setting the tone out of the gate.
Following a fairly slow start, the Cougars kicked things into gear with a 6-0 scoring one, giving them an 11-4 advantage and forcing a WLC timeout. The run was highlighted by a fantastic hustle play from sophomore David Vales (Oak Forest, Ill.), who refused to give up on the play.
The Cougars were in cruise control from that point forward. Junior Tavarus Davis-Williams (Fox Lake, Ill.) put an exclamation point on the set with a kill to give CUC its 23rd point. They'd go on to take the set 25-13.
Rodriguez and junior Tyler Holubek (New Lenox, Ill.) led the team with three kills apiece in the first set.
Things were much closer in set two. Despite an early 6-2 lead for CUC, the Warriors proved they were able to keep things close, staying alive until the very end.
Freshman Kenney McCallum (O'Fallen, Ill.) had an excellent set with four kills and a solo block. His block gave the Cougars a 13-11 advantage, and he continually found the right spot to drop the ball in.
The Cougars were finally able to create some separation with a 3-0 run to make it 16-13, forcing a Warriors' timeout.
They took their biggest lead of the set (21-16) following back-to-back kills from Davis-Williams and Holubek. It was Davis-Williams who once again had perhaps the biggest kill of the set to give the Cougars a 23-19 advantage. He had four kills in the set, tying McCallum for a team-high.
Wisconsin Lutheran fought back, however, forcing a CUC timeout after pulling within one at 23-22. Things settled down for the Cougars after the timeout, as they held on for a 25-22 win.
It was a lot of the same in the third set. The Cougars once again jumped out to an early lead, but the Warriors managed to apply consistent pressure and keep things close. Holubek opened the scoring with a kill, one of the team-high eight he'd record in the set.
The Warriors managed to take the lead on more than one occasion in the third set, and even held a lead as late as 16-15. Another kill from Holubek evened things at 16, and the Cougars went ahead for good on a kill by Rodriguez.
This was a pivotal stretch for CUC, as they scored on six of seven rallies to take control of the match at 21-17. The Warriors once again pulled as close as 24-22, but it was fittingly a kill from Holubek that ended things, giving the Cougars a sweep on Senior Night.
Inside the Box Score
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Holubek led the team with 14 kills. He added 17 assists and a team-high nine digs.
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Rodriguez was tops on the team with 24 assists and second with six kills.
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Both Vales and McCallum had solo blocks.
It's right back to work for the team tomorrow as they'll travel north to Milwaukee, Wis., to compete in the Cardinal Stritch University Tri-Match. They'll take on William Penn University at 1 p.m., and the host Cardinal Stritch at 4 p.m. Coverage will be available on cucougars.com/coverage.
