CHICAGO -- The North Park University men's volleyball team settled for a split in its second triangular of the season, topping Greenville University (25-8, 25-18, 25-14) before falling to the Penn State University-Behrend Lions (14-25, 24-26, 21-25) inside the North Park Gym on Saturday.   

First Match: North Park 3, Greenville 0 

The Vikings dominated the Panthers in the tri's opener, earning a striking 25-8 first-set victory.  The Vikings attacked at a red-hot .684 with five service aces.  Junior Frank Mauigoa and freshman Armando Quinones led the Vikings with five and four kills, respectively.   

The second set was played closer, as Greenville scored five of the first nine points and led by a 5-4 score. The Vikings fired back with four-straight points taking a 8-5 lead.

Moving to a score of 16-15, Vikings, North Park pulled away from the Panthers marking the next four points to take a 20-15 lead.  After Greenville won the next point, the Vikings topped the Panthers in the second set taking five of the next six points. Mauigoa led the Vikings with eight kills.   

North Park carried their momentum from the second set to the third set marking eight of the first 11 points.  During that stretch, Quinones and freshman Noah Salazar each contributed kills and setter Moises Zavala marked a service ace.  That run set the tone for the rest of the set as the Vikings finished off the Panthers, 25-14, to take the match in straight sets. 

Second Match: Penn State-Behrend 3, North Park 0 

The Lions got out in front of the Vikings early, utilizing a .688 hitting percentage to take a 25-14 first-set victory.

At the beginning of the second set, the Lions carried their dominate momentum from the first set as they scored 10 of the first 15 points, making the score 10-5.  However, powered by the serve of freshman Johnny Euler, the Vikings scored seven of the next eight points making the score 14-11, Vikings.  The rest of the set was back-and-forth between the two teams but, unfortunately, the Lions topped the Vikings in extra action, 26-24.

In the third set, the Lions and Vikings traded the first 20 points, tying the match at 10 apiece. The Lions broke the match open marking four of the next five points moving the score to 14-11. After the Lions stretched their lead to 20-14, the Vikings came back with three-straight points, pulling closer at 20-17.  

Unfortunately, the Lions held on to defeat the Vikings in the third set and took the match, 25-21.   

Quick Hits:  

• Mauigoa led the Vikings with 22 kills on the day

• Quinones followed behind with 17 kills

• Zavala posted 55 assists in six sets of action

• Mauigoa contributed 13 digs against Greenville and sophomore Colin Wong led the way against Penn State-Behrend with nine digs  

• The Vikings hit .368 against Greenville, which marks a new season high   

What's Next?  

The Vikings (5-11, 3-3 CCIW) welcome CCIW foe Carthage College to the North Park Gym on Wednesday, March 11.  The first serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.  

--NPU--