Milwaukee, Wis. – In a hard fought day filled with two non-conference games, the Cougars fell to William Penn 3-0 and Cardinal Stritch 3-2.
 
Inside the Box

• Luke Vozenilek (Westmont, Ill.) led the Cougars with 24 kills on the day while Tyler Holubek (New Lenox, Ill.) followed closely behind with 23.
• Virgilio Rodriguez (Cicero, Ill.) grabbed 30 kills between the two games.
• Blake Rosen (Aldie, Va.) led the defensive side for the Cougars with 15 digs.

 
GAME ONE
The Cougars fell behind early in their first game of the day before back to back kills from Rodriguez and a Christopher Livesay (Medinah, Ill.) ace evened the score at six. Despite the momentum being on their side, the Cougars couldn't jump ahead, falling in the first set 25-19.
 
After struggling to score early in the second set, a Concordia timeout flustered the Statesmen enough to cut the lead in half. After remaining point for point for a few, the Cougars ultimately fell behind 25-15 to close the second set.
 
Fighting to stay alive in the third set, the Cougars scored first and remained on top for the majority of the set. A late run for the Statesmen evened the score at 16 apiece, before a kill from Holubek put the Cougars back in front. Following Holubek's kill, the Cougars couldn't score again closing the set 25-20, losing the match 3-0.
 
GAME TWO
Concordia-Chicago jumped ahead of the Wolves early after a string of kills from Vozenilek and Holubek put them up 16-6. Overall high intensity from the Cougars were enough to close the set 25-16, jumping ahead 1-0.
 
Set two proved differently for the Cougars as they fell behind 4-13 quickly. Back to back kills from Colby Campbell (Brookfield, Ill.) and Vozenilek combined with a major block from Vozenilek and Perez brought the Cougars within four. A late run from the Wolves was enough to close the set, tying things up at 1 set apiece.
 
After the Wolves had the momentum from the second set, the Cougars fought to regain their footing. A back and forth battle between the two teams. Fresh out of a timeout the Cougars came out hot grabbing the next three points, as a huge block from Campbell and Matthew Lams (Brookfield, Ill.) closed the set 25-22. Jumping ahead 2-1, the Cougars looked to finish strong.
 
Heading into the third set the Cougars jumped to an early 3-0 lead led by a string of serves from Rodriguez. As the set went on, the Wolves slowly chipped at the lead, eventually overtaking the Cougars 16-14, forcing a timeout from the Cougars. Despite the efforts, they couldn't climb back after the Wolves took the lead.
 
With things all tied up at 2 apiece, the evened battle continued. Going point for point for the first few of the fifth set, the Wolves eventually pulled ahead gaining the lead 5-6 and remaining on top for the remainder of the set. Despite a hard fought back and forth, the Cougars fell 3-2.

Following their busy weekend, this team will be back in action on Wednesday as they head over to Lisle, Ill to take on the number four Benedictine Eagles at 7:00 pm. Coverage can be found at cucougars.com/coverage or on Twitter @CUC_CougarMVB.