PLYMOUTH, WIS. – Continuing their push for the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) tournament, the Concordia University Chicago (CUC) men's volleyball team traveled north to take on the Lakeland University Muskies. The Cougars would fall in one set of the day, but successfully come back and secure their fifth straight win, marking their longest win streak since the 2020 season.
 
INSIDE THE BOX

• Tyler Holubek (New Lenox, Ill.) padded his stat line with 15 kills, nine digs, and two blocks.
• Elijah Mosher (Clayton, Ohio) led on both the defensive and offensive side with 41 assists and 13 digs.
• Van Gaetto (Darien, Ill.) passed another career milestone with ten digs on the night to officially write his name in the number one spot in the record book for single-season digs at 257.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET ONE
The Muskies got themselves on the board first, but kills from Jackson Stella (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) and Holubek would put the Cougars up 2-1. With the Muskies tying things back up at two, a 4-0 run from CUC would put them back ahead. After exchanging points for a few, another 4-0 run from the Cougars would double their score against the Muskies and keep Marcin Hoffman (Inverness, Ill.) serving for the fourth time. With the Muskies taking a point back, they would go on a 4-0 run of their own, but the Cougars would remain ahead. Exchanging points back-and-forth, the Cougars would hit the 20 point threshold first, but back-to-back points from the Muskies would tie things there.
 
The two teams would exchange points until they were even at 22, but a kill from Mosher and a Muskie error would put the Cougars at 24 points. A set winning kill from Holubek would send things to the second set with the Cougars ahead 1-0.
 
SET TWO
The Cougars jumped out to a 3-0 lead off kills and an ace from Stella, before extending out to a 6-2 lead with a kill and a block from Holubek. The Muskies would get right back into it with a 5-3 run to cut the Cougar lead down to one. Three errors from the Muskies would extend the Cougar lead once again, but it wouldn't last long as two consecutive errors from the Cougars would level the score at 15. A kill from Leon Gudzovski (Des Plaines, Ill.) would put the Cougars ahead by one, but the Muskies would level things right back with a block.
Exchanging points for the better half of the teens, the Cougars would once again surpass the 20 point mark after back-to-back points would put them ahead by two. The Muskies would even things up at 24 apiece and take their first lead of the day at 25-24, officially pushing the set to extra points. A string of three consecutive points for the Muskies would end the set with Lakeland jumping ahead 26-24 to even the game at one set apiece.
 
SET THREE
Keeping on a similar trend, the Cougars would jump out to an early 3-0 lead after kills from Gudzovski and Stella. The Muskies would put their first point on the board off a service error from the Cougars, but would jump right back into things going on a 5-1 run capitalized by kills from Gudzovski and Holubek. After three points from the Muskies, a kill from Alexander Ford (Skokie, Ill.) and an ace from the freshman would put the Cougars ahead by six. The Cougars would stay ahead in set three after a series of back-to-back points followed by an exchange of points between the two teams. The Cougars would stay ahead by six and take the 20-14 lead with an ace from Hoffman.
 
The final stretch of the set would see three straight points for CUC would put them within two. Kills from Ford and Stella would close out the set and give CUC their lead back, officially ahead 2-1.
 
SET FOUR
The Cougars would strike first for the third time of the day and go ahead 1-0 off a kill from Gudzovski. The Muskies would level things right back up, but a 5-0 run for the Cougars would push them ahead. In their 6-0 run, back-to-back kills from Holubek and Ford, a block from Ford, and an ace for Gudzovski would give all momentum to the Cougars. Another burst from the Cougar offense would put them ahead 13-7 with a kill from Holubek and a block from Stella and Gudzovski.
 
Keeping all momentum on their side, the Cougars would go on a 4-0 run with two kills from Hoffman and a block from Ford and Hoffman to put them ahead 20-10. The Cougars would continue to dominate in set four and pick up the remaining five points off kills from Hoffman and Gudzovski, winning set four 25-12 to take the match 3-1.
 
The Cougars have two more regular season matches as they battle for a remaining spot in the NACC tournament. With four teams already clinched, four spots remain with the Cougars sitting in sixth currently. They'll come back to River Forest for their home finale against their Division Street Rival, Dominican University. Opening serve is set for 7:00pm inside Geiseman Gymnasium with jersey theme set for the evening. Coverage can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.