SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – The North Park men's volleyball team opened up the 2023 season at the Banana Slug Slam on the campus of U-California Santa Cruz this past Friday and Saturday. The Vikings dropped their Friday matches against host Santa Cruz, 0-3, and Fontbonne, 1-3, before earning wins against (RV) California Lutheran, 3-2, and Edgewood, 3-1. Emmanuel Eugene was named to the All-Tournament team for his four-match effort.
In Friday's matches, North Park couldn't break the .200 attacking percentage threshold, marking .192 against Santa Cruz and .186 against Fontbonne. However, the first line of defense performed well for the Vikings marking six and seven blocks.
When the lights got brighter against Cal Lutheran, who received votes in the AVCA National Top 15 poll this week, North Park upped its game.
In the five-set win over the Lutes, North Park had red-hot second, third, and fourth set wins with .435, .323, and .389 attacking percentages, respectively. Eugene provided the juice for the offense, leading both teams with 16 kills. Sam Robinson tacked on 11 kills against Cal Lutheran's Logan Marks, who had 13. Robinson and Eugene also totaled seven blocks – Robinson with four and Eugene with three. The defense was further aided by 13 digs from Kaleb Patrick, 10 from Erik Bullard, and nine by Ty Ingrao. Setter Teddy Gedville totaled 38 assists in the five setter.
Concluding the four-match tourney with a more familiar opponent, Edgewood College, the Vikings dropped just one set to split their trip with a 2-2 record.
Once more, Eugene led the match with 12 kills. Supplementing that effort, the Vikings drove a season-high seven aces in the match – Eugene (3), Noah Salazar (2), Christian Ayar (1), and Vicente Cabrera (1).
Tournament Quick Hits:
- Eugene totals 45 kills and five aces, earning All-Tournament team recognition
- Bullard and Robinson added 27 and 24 kills, respectively
- 102 assists and three aces for Gedville, four aces for Salazar
- Robinson currently leads the Vikings with a .413 attack percentage
- Blocking efforts came from Robinson (13) and Gedville (8)
- Patrick the current team leader with 33 digs
What's Next?
North Park (2-2) hosts its first game of the season this coming Friday, January 27, against Wabash College (2-1). Tipoff in Chicago will be 7:00 PM CST.
