Madison, Wis. – After falling behind early in the first set the Cougars kicked things up, came from behind, and pulled another regular season win where it matters most.
Inside the Box
- Luke Vozenilek (Westmont, Ill.) led the team with 17 kills while Tyler Holubek (New Lenox, Ill.) followed with 13.
- Virgilio Rodriguez (Cicero, Ill.) had 24 assists on the night, his second highest this season.
- Blake Rosen (Aldie, Va.) had 16 digs on the night, his second highest of the season.
After falling behind 5-0 to start the match, the Cougars were forced to take a timeout to regroup. Fresh out of the timeout, a fire lit within them and they proceeded to go on a 12-7 run to jump ahead. Staying ahead for seven points, the Cougars finally fell behind after a string of Eagle attacks. Fighting to regain the lead, the Cougars dropped the first set 23-25.
Riding the momentum from the end of the first set, the Cougars scored first and continued to coast. Kills from Rodriguez and Vozenilek pushed their lead to three points before a late rally would push them even further ahead. Another string of kills from Vozenilek and Holubek pushed the Cougars up to a six point lead in the set before a final swing from Vozenilek would secure their first set of the match.
Another hot start in set three proved to be exactly what the Cougars needed to keep their fight going.
David Vales (Oak Forest, Ill.) joined in on the fun as back to back kills from the sophomore outside hitter would extend the lead 9-4. Going on another scoring streak, kills from Vales, Holubek, and Rodriguez put the Cougars within two points of closing the third set. Back to back kills from
Colby Campbell (Brookfield, Ill.) and
Matthew Lams (Brookfield, Ill.) closed the third set with the Cougars now taking the lead.
With hard to stop momentum, the Cougars opened set four with a kill from Vozenilek to take the first lead of the set. The Eagles unwilling to give up, battled point-for-point as a continued team effort kept the Cougars alive. As CUC continued to dominate, an ace from
Ricardo Ruiz (Lynwood, Ill.) would settle the score at 22-14. Shortly after a final kill from
Josh Rapley (Elgin, Ill.) would secure the winning score of 25-18, and close the match with the win 3-1.
Stepping up on all aspects, CUC led the game with six blocks, six aces, 49 digs, and 55 total kills.
With a quick turnaround as the regular season comes to a close, the Cougars will take the court in Milwaukee tomorrow as they take on MSOE at 1:00pm. Coverage can be found at
cucougars.com/coverage.
