ROCK ISLAND, Ill. -- Pursuing a quick turnaround after facing a tough Loras College Duhawks team last night, the North Park University men's volleyball team fell to Augustana College 0-3 (23-25, 21-25, 21-25) on Saturday afternoon.
Both Viking teams were knotted up at 6 after Jackson Goo sent in a pair of kills and Arthur Barczak followed with a kill of his own to lead the North Park attack early on.
North Park briefly fell behind, 7-9, but then stormed back with five-straight points when Frank Mauigoa and Barczak stuffed back-to-back attacks from Augustana.
Augustana would pursue a run of their own, turning a 12-9 North Park lead into a tie match at 15 all.
The Rock Island Vikings took the lead on a North Park attack and service error to pull ahead 21-18, but North Park battled back.
Barczak sent in another kill while Augustana's attack stifled on a service error and a pair of attack errors to bring the Vikings within one at 24-23.
However, Augie's Dylan Baum sent in the final kill of the set to take a 25-23 victory.
In the second set of the afternoon, Augustana lost the first two points on attacking errors but tallied ten-straight points to hold a 10-2 lead over North Park.
North Park scratched and clawed their way back into the set, getting as close as 24-21.
Unfortunately, Augustana capped the set off on a kill from Jason Szara to win 25-21.
In the third and final set, Augustana was cruising with an 8-4 lead before Coach Michael Sopocy called a timeout.
Following the break, Augustana fell out of their groove as a service error and attack error brought the set closer at 8-6 in favor of Augie.
Next, a kill by Daniel Porche and Augie ball handling error kept North Park close at 11-10.
North Park kept pace with Augustana through a majority of the set, until a pair of NPU attacking errors gave the Rock Island Vikings a bit of breathing room.
Augustana finalized the afternoon's match with a 25-21 victory, winning in straight sets.
Quick Hits:
What's Next?
North Park (3-8) will travel to Goshen, Indiana next Friday, February 22, to face Goshen College before hosting a tri-match on Saturday, February 23.
