River Forest, Ill. – The Concordia University Chicago (CUC) men's volleyball team (9-7, 2-1 NACC) continued their hot streak as they took down Augustana College (9-6, 0-2 CCIW) 3-2 and Baldwin Wallace University (16-5, 1-0 MCVL) 3-0 in the Maroon and Gold Tri on Wednesday.
 
Game One
Inside the Box Score

• Luke Vozenilek (Westmont, Ill.) had a double-double and led the team with 20 kills and 10 digs.
• Elijah Mosher (Clayton, Ohio) led the Cougars with 44 assists and seven blocks.
• Andrej Moller (Naperville, Ill.) finished the match with eight kills and five blocks.

 
The Cougars started slowly in the first set as the Vikings were able to get ahead early. Unable to get their offense in sync, CUC found themselves behind 7-16. After that point, the Cougars were able to find a little bit of life off this ace from Mosher.
The Cougars were able to get back to within four at 14-18 and then again at 17-21 off this kill from Vozenilek.
However, it was not enough and the Vikings took set one 25-20.
 
Set two started much closer as both teams traded leads. Although, the Vikings took the lead back at 7-6, and seemed to have taken the set in hand as they gradually built their lead, eventually going on a serving run and getting ahead 20-12. However, the Cougars were not ready to quit there as a six-point service run from Tyler Holubek (New Lenox, Ill.) would cut the deficit to only two.
 
Now with a brand new game, the Cougars were aggressive in their attempt to tie the match, trading points with the Vikings and extending the second set.
 
Eventually, a block from Mosher and Colby Campbell (Brookfield, Ill.) would put the Cougars ahead 30-29 and Vozenilek finished the set at 31-29 with a kill.
 
The third set was very tight throughout as both teams traded points and leads. Neither team was able to get ahead by more than three points, but after this block, the Cougars were able to take the lead back for the first time since they lead 11-10.
Although, following the trend of the set, the Vikings were able to limit the run to keep it close and eventually tie it back up. Augustana found themselves at set point, up 24-23 before another block from Moller and Mosher extended the set.
Unfortunately, the Cougars did not have enough after that and the Vikings took set three 26-24.
 
Fighting to keep the match going, CUC came out firing in the fourth set, jumping to a 4-0 lead behind back to back kills from Moller.
The Vikings were able to chip away at the deficit and eventually went on a six point run to take a 12-9 lead. The Cougars responded and we were back to a tight set, with 10 ties from that point. After breaking a 24-24 tie, Vozenilek went to the service line and was able to force a fifth set with this ace.
Heading into their seventh set five of the season, CUC got ahead early at 3-1. Augustana would answer, and similarly to the previous sets, there were many ties. The difference came when Vozenilek put down back-to-back kills to give the Cougars a 13-10 lead.
The Vikings would fight for a few more points, but this block ended the set at 15-13 and gave the Cougars the match at 3-2.
 
Game Two
Inside the Box Score

• The Cougars dominated at the net winning 10-3 in blocks.
• Luke Vozenilek (Westmont, Ill.) led the team with 13 kills.
• David Vales (Oak Forest, Ill.) led the team with seven digs and two service aces.

The Cougars looked to be in store for another tight match, with neither team able to get ahead by more than two points in the first set. The first three point lead did not come until a couple of errors from the Yellow Jackets gave the Cougars a 21-18 lead. That gap would be all that CUC needed as they took the first set 25-20.
 
The second set started similarly with six ties through the first 12 points. After being tied at 6-6 tie, the Cougars were able to go on an eight point run, finished off by this ace from Vales.
Although the Yellow Jackets were able to get a few more points, the Cougars kept expanding their lead and took the second set 25-14.
 
The third set started almost the same as the second, with teams trading points to start, until being tied at 6-6. The Cougars broke the tie and took their first lead of the set and were able to pull ahead by three. The Cougars would be able to push the lead to as many as eight at three different points, including off this kill from Vozenilek to make it 16-8.
The Yellow Jackets fought to get back into the match and had cut it to a four point deficit at 22-18. However, this block from Mosher and Campbell shut it down there and the Cougars went on to take the set 25-18 and sweep the match 3-0.
 
With these two wins, the Cougars have won seven of their last eight and are next in action on Friday as they start the bulk of their Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference (NACC) schedule against St. Norbert College at 7:00 p.m. Coverage for that and all things CUC men's volleyball can be found at cucougars.com.