PLYMOUTH, WIS. — Opening up their Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play for this season, Concordia University Chicago (CUC) men's volleyball team traveled to Lakeland University. They were met with a grueling battle against the Muskies, but ultimately took the win 3-2.
Inside The Box Score:
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Leading the offense was Luke Vozenilek (Westmont, Ill.) with 14 kills, two solo blocks, and 18 points.
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Vozenilek also led in digs with nine, Dionte Garcia (Aurora, Colo.) followed behind with six.
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Elijah Mosher (Clayton, Ohio) continues his impressive assist numbers with 32.
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Tyler Holubek (New Lenox, Ill.) and Colby Campbell (Brookfield, Ill.) both had three blocks each on the night.
Starting off conference play is always an exciting time for CUC athletes. The Cougars were faced with a formidable opponent in the Muskies, as the entire game was a back-and-forth battle. The first set was a tone setter, as the Muskies led the majority of this entire set. This was not until Holubek got in for a kill to bring the Cougars up 13-12. The pressure began to mount as both teams found errors in both service and kills. However, the Muskies ended up taking most of the momentum and found a way to win set one with a score of 25-23.
Moving into set two, the Cougars found themselves trailing early in points. Mosher was able to provide a kill and Holubek supplied a block to bring the Cougars in front 7-6. This spurred on a huge rally for CUC as they went up 14-7. Campbell and Jose Padron (Rockford, Ill.) being two of the Cougars to help jump start this attack. The Muskies would try to chip away at the score, but with kills from Vozenilek and Vladimir Erickson (Batavia, Ill.), as well as a service ace from Garcia, the Cougars won set two 25-16.
With the wind in their sails, the Cougars started off hot, leading 5-3 in set three. However, Lakeland began their comeback and found their opportunity to lead 13-11. Profiting off of some Cougar errors, the Muskies thought they would make their way easily through the set. However, Holubek, Vozenilek, and Erickson would help tie it all up with a score of 22-22. Unfortunately, Lakeland took set three with a score of 25-22.
The fourth set started off rocky for the Cougars as they quickly went down 4-0 to the Muskies. But it clearly lit a fire in CUC as Holubek and Andrej Moller (Naperville, Ill.) began to hammer down on Lakeland. Down by one, Moller was able to get in a huge kill to tie up set four with a score of 15-15. A couple of attack errors between both teams would bring the score up to 21-21, still tied. Campbell and Mosher took it upon themselves to finish off the Muskies with a kill and block to win set four 25-22.
For the Cougars, they found themselves in an extremely exciting fifth set to open up NACC play. They quickly took the lead 3-2, courtesy of a Vozenilek kill. Mosher then provided back-to-back service aces to pull away 7-3. The Muskies were not done yet and tied up the game all the way until 15-15. The Cougars would end up surpassing this score all the way to 20-18, where Campbell and Padron put the final nail in the coffin with a huge block to end the game. The Cougars took their first NACC victory of the season 3-2 over the Muskies.
The Cougars will be back in action tomorrow as they face off another NACC opponent, Concordia Wisconsin. This game will be on the road and is set to begin at 1 p.m. Coverage for all of our sports can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
