CHICAGO, Ill. -- The North Park University men's volleyball team faced off with the Titans of Illinois-Wesleyan on Wednesday, winning handily in 3 sets. With the victory, North Park moves to 9-7 on the season on the back of their 2nd sweep in the past 3 matches.
Although the final scores wound up showing a clear Vikings advantage, all 3 sets remained competitive early on. Sets 1 and 2 in particular were good tests for the Vikings, who managed to break away with a pair of runs in each as the scores crept closer to 25. On the day as a whole, the team recorded a stellar .287 hit percentage, well above their season average that lies just over .200. Wesleyan simply didn't have the size up front to contest North Park's hitters, with Emmanuel Eugene, Erik Bullard, and Quinn Robinson splitting duties today as they all picked up 7 kills. Robinson also managed to secure 3 aces, falling 1 shy of his season-high mark that paces the Vikings so far this year.
Defensively, the Vikings only managed 5 blocks as a team, and it was again Robinson leading with 3. They instead relied on digs to deny the Titans' attacks, putting up 47 overall. Libero Kaleb Patrick led with 11, picking up 2 consecutively at one point after his first dig found its way right back to a Wesleyan hitter. Meanwhile Erik Bullard put on a two-way performance with 10 digs to go with his 7 kills.
Next up for North Park is a matchup with #5 ranked North Central, who the Vikings lost to in their earlier matchup by a score of 1-3. They'll look to build on that performance and keep the win streak alive this Saturday at noon when they travel out to Naperville to rematch the Cardinals.
