RIVER FOREST, ILL. – With a packed Geiseman Gymnasium, the Concordia University Chicago Cougars set their sights on the seemingly impossible as they took on the undefeated number one team in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC). For the first time in program history the Cougars took down the Benedictine University Eagles, snapping their eight game win streak.
INSIDE THE BOX
- Luke Vozenilek (Westmont, Ill.) led the night in kills with 19 kills.
- Colby Campbell (Brookfield, Ill.) led the defensive end with seven total blocks.
- Elijah Mosher (Clayton, Ohio) picked up 49 assists in the match.
- Three Cougars picked up service aces on the night in Vozenilek, Mosher, and Dionte Garcia (Aurora, Colo.)
SET ONE
With the Eagles jumping to a 2-0 lead, a kill from the right side from Vozenilek would put the Cougars on the board.
Falling behind, the Cougars and the Eagles found themselves going back-and-forth for a handful of points. The Cougars jumped out to a two point lead off a quick kill from freshman
Andrej Moller (Naperville, Ill.).
With the point-for-point continuing on the Cougars found themselves serving for set point but unable to convert handed the momentum to the Eagles. With the Eagles taking the one point advantage, a service error would keep the Cougars alive and even the score at 25 apiece. Continuing the back-and-forth trend, the Cougars capitalized on two kills from Vozenilek that would secure the first ever set win over the Eagles in program history with a score of 31-29.
SET TWO
As the story of the first set continued to write itself, the Cougars and Eagles battled for every point. Campbell put his defensive talents to work as the senior picked up three consecutive blocks alongside
Tyler Holubek (New Lenox, Ill.) and Vozenilek to bring the Cougars ahead by three.
A string of attack errors for the Cougars paired with a handful of Eagle kills, the Cougar fell in a close set two by a score of 25-21.
SET THREE
With the defensive efforts holding strong for the Cougars, back-to-back blocks from the duos of Mosher and Moller as well as Campbell and Vozenilek would give the Cougars the early advantage once again.
After letting the Eagles go on their largest run of the day with six consecutive points, the Cougars answered back with kills from Moller, Holubek, and Vozenilek with the latter being the set point to give the Cougars the 2-1 lead.
SET FOUR
The Cougars struck first in the fourth set off a hefty kill from Vozenilek before the Eagles would jump back out to a 4-2 lead. An overpass from the Eagles would set up Holubek for a perfect opportunity to send a kill straight down and steal the momentum back from the Eagles.
Entering the match for the Cougars, junior
David Vales (Oak Forest, Ill.) made his presence known by picking up three kills and bringing the Cougars back in the lead. Another massive block from Campbell and Holubek would keep drop a brick on the gas pedal and let the Cougars keep driving.
The dagger in the heart for the Eagles would come off one last kill from Vozenilek as the Cougars closed the final set 26-24 and concluding the match 3-1.
The Cougars not only secured the first win in program history against the Eagles, but handed them their first conference loss of the season and snapping an eight-game win streak. With the win, and only three conference games remaining for both squads, the Cougars now jump to fourth in the NACC with a 6-3 conference record while the Eagles remain in the number one spot with a now 8-1, breaking them of their potential conference clean sweep.
The Cougars will be back in action this weekend as they head to Aurora University on Saturday the last weekend tri of the season. The Cougars will take on Aurora a noon followed by the University of California, Santa Cruz at 2:30pm. Coverage can be found at cucougars.com/coverage and on Twitter
@cuc_cougarmvb
