River Forest, Ill. – After a thrilling win over Dominican University exactly 24 hours prior, the Concordia University Chicago men's volleyball team (6-6, 2-1 NACC) returned to their home floor as they hosted Trinity Christian College (10-7, 3-4 CCAC).
The Cougars are playing their best volleyball of the season as they extended their current win streak to four matches in-a-row after beating Trinity 3-1. Previous to tonight's match, the Cougars were 1-2 all-time versus the Trolls with the last CUC win coming on Feb. 27, 2020.
Inside the Box Score
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Tyler Holubek (New Lenox, Ill.) had another great all-around performance as he led the Cougars with 16 kills and 9 digs.
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Elijah Mosher (Clayton, Ohio) racked up 34 assists.
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David Vales (Oak Forest, Ill.) also added nine kills and seven digs on the night.
Set One
The Cougars defense was put to the test early as the Trolls jumped out to an early 3-1 lead. However, CUC did not flinch. Senior Holubek and freshman Mosher both recorded kills to help even the set at 5-5. From that point on, both teams exchanged blows in a back-and-forth affair.
Later in the set, Trinity strung together two-straight points to give the Trolls a 20-18 lead forcing CUC Head Coach Greg Manos to call the first timeout of the set. The Cougars came out of the timeout firing as they went on a four-point run to give the Cougars the lead 24-20. CUC's efforts were good enough to secure the set one victory 25-22.
Set Two
Opposite of the first set, it was the Cougars that had the hot hand early as they notched two straight points to give themselves a 2-0 lead. The script quickly flipped as the Trolls responded with four consecutive points of their own due to a couple of attack errors from the Cougars. Trinity enlarged their lead 14-9 before Coach Manos called another timeout.
The two teams battled hard coming out of the timeout as they traded point-for-point. The Cougars were able to go on 5-1 run to even the score 19-19. The Cougars regained control after a nice kill from Holubek to give CUC a 25-24 set point lead. However, the following point was won by Trinity forcing extra volleyball. In the end, the Trolls defeated the Cougars in set two 30-28.
Set Three
The start of set three was the exact same storyline as the previous two sets as both teams swapped points in the beginning of the set. Things were fairly even until an offensive explosion from the Cougars. CUC went on an 8-0 run to give the Cougars a commanding 18-12 lead.
Despite giving the Cougars a scare, CUC rallied to take set three 25-22 as junior Jose Padron (Rockford, Ill.) put the finishing touches on the set recording his fourth kill of the match.
Set Four
Looking to overcome a 2-1 set deficit, the Trolls recorded the first three points of set four. However, the Cougars were able to get on the board after an attack error from Trinity's Chris Dargan. Towards the middle of the set, the Cougars profited off of a couple of Trinity errors as the Cougars hoisted a 16-13 lead.
CUC closed the set on a five-point run to defeat the Trolls 26-24. With the match victory, the Cougars have now won four matches in-a-row.
The Cougars will be back in action on Saturday as they host the Concordia Chicago Tri beginning at 11 a.m. Coverage of the matches and everything CUC men's volleyball can be found at cucougars.com.
