Mequon, Wis. -- The freshly-added North Park University men's volleyball team opened up their season with a pair of matches on Friday night; a 0-3 loss to Concordia University-Wisconsin and a 1-3 loss to Greenville University.
Match 1 – 0-3 Loss to Concordia-Wisconsin
Starting off the season in emphatic fashion, freshman outside hitter Daniel Porche sent a shot too hot to handle into the Falcons' court, as the first point of the season arrived via service ace.
After, a service error, Concordia-Wisconsin responded with a pair of service aces of their own from Connor Muff and a kill by James Althoff to capture a 4-1 lead.
Kills by freshman outside hitter Arthur Barczak cut the Falcons' lead to 6-4, but the Falcons went on to tally five of the next six points, stifling the momentum from the Vikings.
Concordia would keep their distance through the rest of the first set as the Vikings dropped the opener 18-25.
Initially a close second set at 4-7 in favor of the opposition, the Vikings fell victim to attacking errors, marking only a single kill and 10 errors, as Concordia won 25-14.
North Park began to find their groove in the final set of the night, taking a 10-8 lead after Frank Mauigoa, Nathan Nguyen, and Danie Porche carried a streak of successful attacks.
Unfortunately, the Falcons manufactured a 9-2 run, after a stretch of Viking attack errors, to pull ahead 17-12.
The Falcons went on to take the final set 25-19, earning the straight-sets victory.
Final: North Park 0, Concordia-Wisconsin 3 (18-25, 14-25, 19-25)
Quick Hits:
Match 2 – 1-3 Loss to Greenville
In their first set against the Greenville University Panthers, Frank Mauigoa marked the first kill, Colin Wong sent in a service ace, and Daniel Porche tallied both a service ace and a kill as the Vikings grabbed an early 5-2 lead.
Despite the hot start, Greenville brought themselves back into the match on kills by Nick Corrigan and a stretch of errors for the Vikings to move the score to 11-11.
The set would stay knotted up all the way to 20-20, as the team's traded one-point along the way.
Despite the valiant effort, Greenville would come out on top with a 25-22 win in set one.
Set 2 proved to be equally gritty for both teams.
Again, the Vikings and Panthers were in a nearly dead even game, with the Vikings leading 15-14.
However, Greenville took six of the next seven points, including four straight, to claim a 21-15 lead.
The Vikings battled their way back once more, marking kills from Frank Mauigoa, Moises Zavala, and Colin Wong to close the gap at 20-24.
Unfortunately, the Panthers' George Black sent in the final kill of the set to win 25-20.
In a do-or-die third set, the Vikings grabbed the lead and held it nearly the entire set.
This time, it was Greenville that closed the gap turning an 18-15 North Park lead into a 22-21 lead in favor of the Panthers.
Thankfully, the Vikings weathered the storm to take the set 25-21.
Despite the bright spot in set 3, Greenville went on to take the fourth set 25-21, winning the match 3-1.
Final: North Park 1, Greenville 3 (22-25, 20-25, 25-21, 21-25)
Quick Hits:
What's Next?
North Park (0-2) has a week off before traveling to Angola, Indiana to take on the University of Mount Union on Friday, January 25 at 6:00 PM.
Follow the Vikings on Twitter (@VikingsNPU), Facebook (North Park University Athletics), and Instagram (@npuathletics), as well as the newest release of "Around the Horn (PDF)" to keep up on all events, matches, and announcements for North Park University athletics.
