CHICAGO, ILL. — After over a week off from regular season play, the Concordia University Chicago (CUC) men's volleyball team took a quick trip into the city for the North Park Tri. The Cougars took on both North Park University (NPU) and the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC). They would end up splitting their games on the day, beating NPU 3-2 and falling UCSC 3-0.
Game One vs North Park: 3-2 W
Inside the Box Score:
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Van Gaetto (Darien, Ill.) smashed the single-match record for digs with a total of 21. The libero broke the previous record held by Blake Rosen (Aldie, Va.) from the 2022 season
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Marcin Hoffman (Inverness, Ill.) led the offense in game one with 23 kills
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A huge day for the sophomore setter, Elijah Mosher (Clayton, Ohio) tallied 49 assists
The Cougars began with a hefty lead of 5-1, following some Viking mistakes. David Vales (Oak Forest, Ill.) and Hoffman grabbed some court to keep their lead ahead at 9-7. The two teams would trade off points, with Timothy Johnson (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Jackson Stella (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) joining the crew up front at 14-13 CUC. NPU then went on a long rally, taking the lead at 17-14. Hoffman grabbed another kill, then Stella and Hoffman joined forces for a big block, but it would not be enough to stop the Vikings. NPU took the win in set one 25-18.
Heading into set two, the two teams continued to be evenly matched. Stella and Hoffman took the reins to start, taking the lead at 6-3. The Vikings made a quick response and took the score back at 12-10. Stella assisted in tying the game back up and the two teams found themselves in a stalemate, all the way to 18-18. However, NPU separated themselves on a five-point run, making it 23-18. This kept them ahead at a steady lead, winning set two 25-20.
NPU took a quick lead in set three of 5-2. But, CUC did not falter, as Vales and Hoffman stormed forward to a score of 7-6. Hoffman picked up a huge block all on his own, and Stella would tie the game up with a kill 12-12. After NPU made some mistakes, Stella and Vales picked up back-to-back kills 17-15. With a full press from almost every single Cougar hitter, Stella would hit the final ball in to force a set four 25-23.
The Cougars were thriving in survival mode, with Vales and Hoffman snagging two kills apiece, 5-3 CUC. Hoffman slammed another two kills, and a service ace to boot, tying it back up 11-11. NPU began to feel the pressure, as Vales picked up a kill and Ayaaz Arif (Bolingbrook, Ill.) snuck in a service ace 20-16. The duo of Vales and Mosher would finish off set four and bring it to a winner-takes-all set at 25-20.
CUC struck first, as Hoffman had a kill and Stella joined him for a block 4-2. Vales would then do the same, before Arif joined him this time on the block 10-7. Vales had a kills and service ace, followed by a Hoffman kill, before NPU would begin to steal the score back 14-13. However, the Cougars were adamant on winning this game, with Hoffman grabbing back-to-back-to-back kills to win set five 16-14. The Cougars would win this opening match over the Vikings 3-2.
Game Two vs University of California, Santa Cruz, 3-0 L
Inside the Box Score:
UCSC would start off hot to start this game, with Hoffman and Vales trying to break up the rally 6-4. However, the Banana Slugs came out fiery and chugged along to a lead of 18-7. Hoffman and Stella tried to break up the rally 19-10. Johnson joined in on the scoring, slowly chipping away 20-12. Vales would join Johnson to try and change the tide, but UCSC took set one 25-15.
Stella and Johnson would be the first Cougars in set two to get them started, tying it up 3-3. However, the Banana Slugs took a huge rally of 11-3. Mosher and Johnson both found the court, but UCSC would not slow down 16-5. The block party would start with Johnson and Leon Gudzovski (Des Plaines, Ill.), followed by Stella, to have CUC behind at 18-9. Stella and Gudzovski would both be able to get some kills down, but UCSC trekked ahead to a set two win of 25-14.
With their backs against the walls, Stella continued to try and start a rally, but the Banana Slugs would not slow down 9-3. Gudzovski and Johnson joined the trial, but CUC struggled to string points together in this set 16-6. Stella and Hoffman started to break through this struggle at 23-10. However, it would be too little too late, as UCSC won set three 25-13. This would make the final score of game two 3-0 UCSC.
The Cougars will stay on the road again next week, traveling to Trinity Christian College on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. start. Coverage for all of our sports can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
