River Forest, Ill. — The Concordia University Chicago men's volleyball team hosted their first tri-match of the season Saturday, falling to Aurora University 3-0 and California Lutheran University 3-1 in the night cap.
Aurora
The Cougars kept it close throughout much of set one before things slipped away down the stretch. After falling behind 4-1, CUC took a timeout to talk things over and responded with five consecutive points of their own.
The team's traded blows over the next several points, with neither team taking a lead greater than two until the Spartans went ahead 17-14. This was part of a 4-0 run for Aurora, and forced CUC to take another timeout.
While the Cougars did all they could to fight their way back in, including junior Tyler Holubek (New Lenox, Ill.) delivering one of his six kills in the set, the Spartans never allowed them to get any closer than three. Aurora took the first set 25-19.
Set two was competitive right down to the very end. The Cougars got on the board early with a massive kill from Vozenilek, his first of six in the set.
Neither team recorded more than two straight points over the first 18 rallies, and things sat even at nine apiece. Aurora changed this quickly however, going on a 3-0 run and forcing a CUC timeout.
Vozenilek came out of the timeout strong, with kills on two of the next three rallies. The Cougars continued to fight after this, and were finally able to pull back even at 17. This began a string of back-and-forths that resulted in CUC taking its first lead of the set at 20-19.
They took their biggest lead of the set at 23-21 following an attack error. Aurora evened things after a timeout and proceeded to take a 24-23 advantage, setting up set point. However, a kill from Holubek kept things alive and sent the set into sudden death.
Holubek once again knotted things up at 25, but it would be the last point of the set for the Cougars as Aurora won the final two rallies to go up 2-0.
The third set was very similar to the second. Trailing 3-0, Vozenilek and senior Ricardo Ruiz (Lynnwood, Ill.) got the Cougars on the board with a massive block. Holubek evened things at four shortly after with a block of his own alongside junior Colby Campbell (Brookfield, Ill.).
An 8-2 scoring run gave CUC its largest lead of the afternoon (14-10) and the Spartans decided it was time to talk things over.
Aurora responded with a 4-0 run of their own to tie things up, and the teams exchanged points over the next eight rallies to bring it to an 18-18 tie late. The Cougars took a 20-19 advantage, but the Spartans scored the final six points of the match to complete the sweep.
Inside the Box Score
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Holubek led the way with 13 kills. Vozenilek was right behind him with 12.
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Senior Virgilio Rodriguez (Cicero, Ill.) had a team-high 18 assists. Holubek added 14 of his own.
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Sophomore Blake Rosen (Aldie, Va.) had 12 digs.
California Lutheran
Neither team created much separation in the first set. The Cougars took a two-point advantage (11-9) on a kill from Holubek, and did so once again a few rallies later thanks to a service ace from the junior.
Holubek was fantastic all set, leading the team with 7.5 points thanks to five kills and a pair of service aces. Rodriguez provided another service ace for CUC.
Clinging to a 19-18 lead, Vozenilek snuck an attack in the perfect spot and caught the Kingsman off guard. This was answered quickly by Cal Lutheran, however, and with things tied at 21 the Cougars decided to talk things over.
With their backs against the wall, Holubek delivered his final kill of the set to give the Cougars the serve trailing 24-23. Unfortunately for CUC, the set ended on the ensuing rally as the Kingsmen took a close one 25-23.
As was the case with most sets on the day, the Cougars were in the battle from start to finish. After hanging close for the entirety of the set, the team tied things up at 19 on a big block from sophomore David Vales (Oak Forest, Ill.) and senior Erickberto Perez (Melrose Park, Ill.).
The Kingsmen responded with one of their biggest scoring spurts of the set, setting up set point with a 24-20 advantage. Vozenilek kept things alive with a kill, and Holubek followed with a service ace. The set ended on the next rally, however, after Cal Lutheran took a timeout to slow the Cougar's momentum.
The Cougars were finally able to push across a win in the third set to avoid a sweep. After playing their competition close all day long, the team led nearly wire-to-wire with the exception of the Kingsmen taking a 1-0 advantage.
Their lead grew as large as 13-5 in the early going and they never slowed down. Even a 5-0 run by Cal Lutheran was not enough to pull them any closer than three.
A 3-0 run by CUC that included a kill from Ruiz and a service ace from Rodriguez put the game on ice as they took a commanding 21-16 lead. Though the Kingsmen once again drew as close as two, Vozenilek quickly put an end to their hopes with his team-leading fifth kill of the set.
Ruiz eventually capped off the set with a service ace, giving the Cougars a 25-20 win.
Unfortunately, they were unable to repeat this performance in the fourth and final set. After scoring the first two points, the Cougars surrendered 13 of the next 17 points on their way to a 25-15 loss. They were defeated in the match 3-1.
Inside the Box Score
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Holubek and Vozenilek once again led the team in kills with 14 and 12, respectively. Holubek was also second on the team with 17 assists
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Leading the team in assists was Rodriguez (20), who did so for the second time in as many matches.
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The pair of Holubek and Rodriguez combined for seven service aces, four for Holubek and three for Rodriguez. Ruiz added two more of his own.
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Perez led the team with four block assists.
With the regular season winding down, the Cougars will visit Edgewood College this Friday in Madison, Wis., for one of their final contests of the season. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. and coverage will be available on cucougars.com/coverage.
