CHICAGO, Ill. – The North Park men's volleyball team utilized a total team effort Saturday evening in a five-round slugfest with Augustana College. In the end, NPU escaped with a thrilling 3-2 (27-29, 25-18, 19-25, 25-17, 15-9) victory over the eastern Vikings.
To start what would become a career night for Quinn Robinson, it was fitting that he got the first kill for the first point of the contest. NPU would find themselves up 3-1 before an Augie run gave the visitors a 5-3 lead. Later in the first set, Augie held a 17-11 lead and the chance to win the set looked to be diminishing for North Park. Just then, NPU scored seven of the next eight points and the Vikings were all-even in the blink of an eye. Eventually, both sides would have two chances for set point, but it was Augustana that finally capitalized with a 29-27 set victory.
Set number two started at 11-11, before North Park seemed to take firm control on multiple errors from Augie, and highlight plays from Robinson and Vincente Cabrera. Cabrera grabbed a kill to make it 14-12, then a few points later, the two combined for a block to put NPU up 17-13. North Park would end up finishing the set after a kill from Johnny Euler, a kill by Cabrera, and an error from Augie would finish it at 25-18.
The third set was another back-and-forth affair, but the visiting Vikings would utilize a four-point run late in the frame to ensure a 25-19 set victory.
The resilient North Parkers would again refuse to let the game slip from their paws and again they clawed back for a convincing set victory. Emmanuel Eugene continued his hot stretch as one of his 15 kills made it 21-14 in favor of the hosts. Euler ended up being the NPUer that put the cherry on top of the set when he grabbed the final kill for the 25-17 win.
NPU came roaring out of the gates hot in set number five. After the sides exchanged opening points, North Park scored five straight points with Robinson serving, that included an ace and two kills from Eugene, to go up 6-1. Augie wasn't out of it yet, though, as they would later score four straight to equalize at eight. North Park decided that was enough and scored seven of the final eight points, including the final five straight to win the contest in exhilarating and exhausting fashion.
Quick Hits:
- Robinson finished with a career-high 16 kills on a .500 hitting percentage.
- Eugene had 15 kills to go with two aces, while Cabrera had 13 kills and eight digs.
- 37 assists from Teddy Gedville, and 13 from Alejandro Condoy.
- Libero Kaleb Patrick led NPU with 11 digs.
What's Next?
North Park (8-7, 2-4 CCIW) are back home for another conference matchup on Wednesday, March 9th against Illinois Wesleyan (6-9, 1-4 CCIW). That match will start at 7 PM at NPU Gymnasium.
