River Forest, Ill. – Finishing off their marathon two weeks, the Concordia University Chicago (CUC) men's volleyball team (10-8, 3-2 NACC) fell to Marian University (11-6, 4-2 NACC) in five sets.
Inside the Box Score
- Luke Vozenilek (Westmont, Ill.) was a leader for the Cougars with 16 kills, 15 digs, and two service aces.
- Tyler Holubek (New Lenox, Ill.) also had 16 kills to go with 13 digs.
- Elijah Mosher (Clayton, Ohio) dished out another 37 assists.
The first set started out in the Sabres favor as they got out ahead 5-1. However, the Cougars were able to keep it tight, which allowed them to go on a three-point run to take the lead at 12-11.
The set then became very close as the two teams traded points, until a five-point Cougar run would make it 22-19. The Sabres would fight to get two more points, but this ace from Vozenilek gave the Cougars set one at 25-21.
The second set was all CUC to start, as they jumped to a 4-0 lead behind two aces from
David Vales (Oak Forest, Ill.). Just as the Sabres had tied the set, the Cougars answered with a kill from Holubek and this block to take back the lead.
They followed that with a four point run to stretch it to a 16-11 lead. The teams traded points until a three-point run followed by a four point run from Marian would tie it at 23-23. The Cougars responded with this kill from Mosher and would go on to take set two 26-24.
The Cougars had four aces in set two and started set three the same, with this ace from
Christopher Livesay (Medinah, Ill.) to put them up 2-0.
The Sabres were able to quickly respond with three points of their own to take the lead. The teams then traded points until a six-point run for the Sabres put them ahead 18-12. That deficit was too much for the Cougars as they fell 15-25.
Still fighting to keep the match alive, Marian took a slight lead early, until this kill from Vozenilek tied it at 5-5.
The set was close until the Sabres were able to tie it again at 13-13 and then take the next three points to go up 16-13. The Cougars were fighting to close that gap and still end the match in four sets. Following this kill from Holubek, the Cougars were able to go on a three-point run and cut it to a one point deficit.
Unfortunately, the comeback would be stopped there and the Sabres forced set five, winnign 25-22.
Set five looked to be going the Cougars' way as they got out to a 5-2 lead. However, similar to the previous sets, the Sabres responded and tied it again. After tying it, Marian got CUC stuck in rotation and took a 10-7 lead.The Cougars were able to again cut the deficit to just one point at 11-12, but did not have enough in the tank and lost the set 12-15. This ended the Cougars win streak at four games.
The Cougars are next in action on Wednesday, March 15 as they travel to Illinois Institute of Technology for a 7:00 p.m. game. Coverage for that and all things CUC men's volleyball can be found at cucougars.com.
