DE PERE, Wis. -- The North Park Men's Volleyball team beat St. Norbert's in 3 sets (29-27, 25-20, 25-15) on Wednesday afternoon, improving to 6-1 in the early season.
The first and closest set of the match saw the Vikings fall behind early to the Green Knights, trailing by 5 through the midway point. Over the next couple service runs, Quinn Robinson and Vicente Cabrera matched that by piecing together 5 combined kills to even things up going into the late stretch. With the score sitting at 25-25, the Vikings struck first to take the lead but St. Norbert's responded and took it right back. Vicente Cabrera then came through for the Vikings with a kill which led to him overtaking service. He would again come up big in the clutch for the Vikings, closing the set out with the help of an Emmanuel Eugene kill followed by an attacking error from the Green Knights to secure a 29-27 victory.
The second set again saw the Vikings trailing early, but a short service run by Emmanuel Eugene evened things up after he registered two aces. The two teams went back and forth through the middle phase of the set, ultimately reaching a score of 21-20 with the Vikings barely holding a lead. Quinn Robinson registered a kill to bring it to 22-20, and from there it was smooth sailing for the Vikings who closed the set 25-20 after another Green Knights attacking error cost them the final point.
The third and final set was controlled by North Park from start to finish. Teddy Gedville took over service at a score of 2-1 and he wouldn't lose it until the Vikings had established a 9-1 lead, picking up two aces along the way. St. Norbert's made a small push but their momentum faded quickly. Christian Ayar capped the day off for the Vikings with an ace to make things final.
Quinn Robinson led the Vikings with 13 kills while Emmanuel Eugene and Vicente Cabrera tied for 2nd with 12. Eugene also had 2 aces which was tied with Teddy Gedville for the team lead, and Gedville likewise led the team with 31 assists. Parker Payne's 5 blocks were a team-high as well.
What's Next?
North Park will host North Central next Tuesday, February 15, in a CCIW contest against North Central College. First serve at the NPU Gym will be 7pm.
