CHICAGO, Ill. -- The North Park University men's volleyball team ended their season with a straight-set win against Maranatha Baptist University on Friday night.
The Vikings initially trailed, 1-3, before a pair of kills from Arthur Barczak, a kill from Jackson Goo, and a service ace gave the Vikings their first lead of the game, 5-4.
Next, with the score moving in favor of the Sabercats at 8-7, the Vikings went on a 6-1 run to quickly capture a 13-9 lead. During the run, the Vikings marked kills from Daniel Porche and Barczak while the Sabercats committed four costly attacking errors.
Despite Maranatha Baptist closing within one at 12-13, the Vikings would lead the rest of the set to win 25-18.
The second set of the night featured one of the best sets the Vikings have pursued all season. As a team, North Park hit .458 with 12 kills, committed just one error, tallied a pair of service aces, and also picked up three blocks.
Powering their way to a 25-11 second-set victory, the Vikings were in the drivers' seat moving into the final set of the night.
North Park got off to a hot start in the third set, largely thanks to five-straight Sabercat attacking errors, to hold a 7-2 lead.
Maranatha Baptist was not ready to go down easy, however, and closed the gap to 12-11 when Taylor Dafoe and Joel Smith sent in a pair of kills.
Thankfully, despite the Sabercats tying the match at 21 all towards the backend of the set, North Park marked four of the next five points to win the final set of the season 25-22.
FINAL: Maranatha Baptist 0, North Park 3 (25-18, 25-11, 25-22)
Quick Hits:
- Frank Mauigoa posted a new season-best seven kills, coupled with nine kills
- Moises Zavala tallied 28 assists, his most in a 3-set match this season
- Jackson Goo carried a .615 hitting percentage with eight kills and two aces
- Arthur Barczak was the Vikings' kill leader with 11
- Daniel Porche added nine kills and a solo block
- The Vikings' .250 hitting percentage, 40 kills, and 38 assists were all season-highs in 3-set matches
That's All For 2019:
North Park men's volleyball ends its inaugural season with a 5-21 record, going out on a high note with today's straight-sets victory.
Arthur Barczak finishes the season with the kills crown, posting 222 in his freshman campaign.
The Vikings look forward to joining the newly-established College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin men's volleyball league for the 2020 season, kicking off the season next January.
