River Forest, Ill. – The Concordia University Chicago men's volleyball team (4-6, 1-1 NACC) hosted Roosevelt University (5-9, 2-3 CCAC) and Wabash College (7-9, 0-0 NCAC) in the Cougar Classic Tri on Saturday. The Cougars started the day off with a 3-0 sweep over the Lakers, then finished the day with a five set thriller beating the Little Giants 3-2.
 
Game One vs. Roosevelt
Inside the Box Score

• Tyler Holubek (New Lenox, Ill.) led the Cougars offensive attack with 16 kills along with six blocks and two service aces.
• Freshman Elijah Mosher (Clayton, Ohio) dished out 30 assists to go with six digs and one kill.
• Senior Luke Vozenilek (Westmont, Ill.) led CUC with 10 digs. He also had 12 kills, three blocks, and one service ace.
• Vladimir Erickson (Batavia, Ill.) led the team with seven blocks.

The Cougars were in control of the first set from the start as they rushed to a 4-0 lead. That quickly turned into and eight point lead as the Cougars got up 12-4 off of this kill from Vozenilek.
 
The rest of the set was much of the same, only giving up back-to-back points once. The Cougars took set one 25-12.
 
The second set was much closer, the Lakers stayed within striking distance, which eventually led to them going on a three point run to take a 7-6 lead. The teams traded points throughout the set, with 12 ties total.
The turning point was a kill by Vozenilek to give the Cougars a 17-16 lead. A couple of points later, Mosher came through with this ace to stretch the lead to three.
 
Holubek finished the set off with this kill to the corner and the Cougars took the set 25-21.
 
Set three started tight again, with three ties through the first six points. The Cougars opened it up with a three point run highlighted by back-to-back aces from Holubek to give them a 5-3 lead.

The Lakers were not ready to quit there, as they responded to multiple runs from the Cougars and eventually tied it at 15-15. After trading some points, CUC took an 18-17 lead off of this kill from Vozenilek and did not look back.
 
The Cougars sprinted to the finish line, getting blocks on the last three points to take the set 25-18 and win the match 3-0.
 
 
Game Two vs. Wabash
Inside the Box Score

• Mosher set new career highs with 48 assists and five kills.
• David Vales (Oak Forest, Ill.) and Holubek each had 12 digs to lead the Cougars.
• Holubek and Vozenilek accounted for 50 of the team's 64 kills in the match with 28 and 22, respectively.

Set one was back and forth to start, up till a kill from Holubek tied it at 5-5 and started a four point run to give the Cougars an 8-5 lead. After trading points, CUC found themselves up 18-14 when Wabash found some light and eventually tied it at 19-19.

The Cougars were unable to recover and the Little Giants took the set 25-21.
 
In set two, CUC was able to respond strong and got ahead 5-1 early. Wabash fought to stay close, but a four point service run from Holubek would give CUC all the momentum and a 19-11 lead. The Little Giants were able to cut the deficit, but the Cougars took the set 25-19.

Set three started out all Wabash as they quickly found themselves up 9-3. Although, the Cougars were not ready to end it there as they went on an 8-2 run, highlighted by this kill from Vozenilek.
 
The Cougars took their first lead at 13-12 and did not look back, a three point run followed by a four point run would open the game up to 21-14.The Little Giants were able to get back to within one, but did not have enough and the Cougars took the set 25-23.

Fighting to keep the match alive, Wabash came out swinging in set four and took an 8-4 lead. The Little Giants were able to stretch their lead to as many as five, but the Cougars responded to tie it with this kill by Holubek and eventually took a lead of their own at 20-18.

The Cougars were unable to close it out in four and the Little Giants took the set 25-22 to force the fifth set.

In the fifth set, the Cougars jumped ahead early behind a five point service run from Vozenilek that included back-to-back aces.

Wabash was able to claw back to tie it at 9-9, but this kill from Andrej Moller (Naperville, Ill.) gave CUC the lead right back.

After another push from the Little Giants, the Cougars were able to finish off the set with this kill from Vozenilek and take the match 3-2.
 
Next up for the Cougars is a conference match against Dominican at home on Tuesday, February 28. Coverage for that and all things CUC men's volleyball can be found at cucougars.com