Taking the No. 8 nationally-ranked team to the brink of defeat is no easy task, but the Vikings nearly did so in the third set with visiting Elmhurst College Tuesday night.

Led by the triple threat of Monalisa Fasavalu, Hayley Brake and Darby Switzer, North Park gave the Bluejays all they could handle until EC narrowly escaped with the third set victory to earn an overall 25-8, 25-15, 25-23 triumph over the Vikings in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin volleyball action.

The victory marked the third-straight for the Bluejays as they improved their overall record to 25-4 and 2-1 in the conference. North Park suffered its fifth-straight defeat.

NP seized control of the third set late as it used a combination of kills from Fasavalu, Abigail McKowen and Karina Partee as well as a service ace from Switzer to mount a 21-15 advantage. Elmhurst however fought its way back with a 6-1 scoring run to tie the set at 22-22, but the Vikings didn't lose focus. They edged ahead 23-22 after an EC attack error and nearly pushed it to set point, but Elmhurst scored the final three points on three-straight kills.

Both teams traded the lead five different times in the third set and found themselves in a deadlock 11 times. Prior to its six-point advantage, North Park also held an early 3-1 lead after two EC hitting errors and a service ace from Elizabeth Davis.

Fasavalu led NP with seven kills and seven digs, while both Brake and Sa'Vone Williams added four. Karen Rosales nearly tied her NP career-high in digs as she totaled 13 and Williams added nine. Jackie Pavilonis led Elmhurst with nine kills.

North Park (8-16, 0-3) returns to action Friday when it travels to Naperville for a 7 p.m. match with North Central College.