RIVER FOREST, ILL. — Opening up Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play, the Concordia University Chicago (CUC) men's volleyball hosted the Rockford University Regents in a nightcap match-up. With a fiery first set and a battle that went on between both opponents, the Regents would come out victorious over the Cougars 3-1.
Inside the Box Score:
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Marcin Hoffman (Inverness, Ill.) led the offense tonight for the Cougars with 14 kills
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Elijah Mosher (Clayton, Ohio) was a tool for CUC with 35 assists
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Defensively, David Vales (Oak Forest, Ill.) led the team with 15 digs
Set One
Ayaaz Arif (Bolingbrook, Ill.) would get it started for the Cougars, with a kill and service ace to lead CUC at 4-2. The Cougar offense became very extensive, with Leon Gudzovski (Des Plaines, Ill.) and Timothy Johnson (Indianapolis, Ind.) grabbing kills, 9-5. CUC then went on a five-point rally, including a kill from Mosher and service ace from Arif, 15-8.
Gudzovski would pick up two more kills, keeping the Cougars in front in this set 18-13. CUC would keep the ball rolling with another five-point rally, with plays from Hoffman, Mosher, and Arif 23-14.
Rockford would try and find some court to take the tide, but CUC capped it off with a kill from Vales to win set one 25-19.
Set Two
Rockford would have a fiery start in set two with a 5-1 lead. As Hoffman snagged a handful of kills, the Regents would continue to plow forward 10-6. Vales then grabbed back-to-back kills to be within one of Rockford 10-9.
Gudzovski and Hoffman got to work on the offensive end, but the Regents continued to stay ahead 16-15. The Cougars would tie it up after a Johnson kill and Arif-Mosher block 17-17. Vales, Mosher, and Gudzovski all found the court, but Rockford would again regain the lead 22-21.
With momentum on their side, Rockford took set two with a final score of 25-21.
Set Three
The Regents barreled into the third set with a quick 6-0 lead. Johnson and Hoffman found the court, but Rockford still led 14-5. Up front, there would be a Cougar triple block and a kill from Hoffman to try and turn the tide 18-8. Gudzovski and Hoffman also grabbed some kills, but the Regents kept a hefty lead at 21-12.
Unfortunately, the Cougars could not make good on the Regent mistakes and fell in set three 25-15.
Set Four
Rockford was ready to keep their energy, taking the wheel at 4-2. Johnson slammed down a kill, but the Regents marched forward at 8-4. The Cougars then got the ball back on some Regent mistakes and Vales brought down two kills 11-8. Johnson and Hoffman joined him, cutting the Regent lead to 12-10.
With the Cougars in sight of taking the score back, the Regents made a huge rally of points, carrying them to 20-11. Vales would grab the next four kills for the Cougars, still trailing 23-18. However, CUC would be unable to take this lead at fell 25-19 in set four. The Cougars lost to the Regents with a final score of 3-1.
The Cougars will be on the road this week, traveling to Calvin University on Friday for a 5 p.m. game. Coverage for all of our sports can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
