CHICAGO, Ill. -- The North Park men's volleyball team faced off against the Loras Duhawks on Saturday afternoon, ultimately losing 3 sets to 1 with scores of 19-25, 25-22, 17-25 and 20-25. 

The Vikings lone victory came in the 2nd set where they turned an early 3-point deficit into a 3-point win. Despite the slow start, the Vikings drew even with Loras by the 10th point—largely doing their damage through Erik Bullard who secured 3 early kills. North Park went on a multitude of runs from there to eventually bring the score to 22-16 heading down the stretch. Vicente Cabrera then picked up the Vikings 2nd ace of the set—following in the footsteps of Adrian Cales—for the Vikings 23rd point. With a 7-point lead and just 2 points to go until 25, the set looked to be in the books as a Vikings victory. The Duhawks were not on the same page though, fighting their way back into the game with a 5-point run that brought the score to 22-24. With the game on the line, it was Emmanuel Eugene who stepped to the plate and delivered the dagger—a game-winning kill set up by Teddy Gedville's assist. 

Despite eventually losing in 4 sets, the Vikings performed admirably against the Duhawks who received votes in the most recent national ranking polls. Top performers for North Park include Emmanuel Eugene, Erik Bullard, and Quinn Robinson who registered 17, 13, and 12 kills respectively. Teddy Gedville's 38 assists marked a season-high for the setter, and he along with Harrison Potts led the team with 3 blocks while Noah Salazar and Bullard recorded a team-high 12 digs. 

After facing off against 2 tough opponents their past 2 games, things won't get any easier for North Park as they'll rematch with #8 Carthage on Wednesday, February 23rd at 7:00 PM. The Vikings have taken one set each in those past 2 games—one of which came against #6 North Central—so they'll look to build on that momentum when they head out to Kenosha to take on the Firebirds.