DUBUQUE, Iowa -- The Vikings men's volleyball team suffered a sweep in Saturday's afternoon matchup with the Loras Duhawks, finalizing at scores of 20-25, 15-25, and 19-25. North Park came into today's matchup fresh off a sweep of their own against IWU to earn their first CCIW win of the season. Now, after the loss, their record drops down to 1-3 in conference and 9-8 overall.
North Park's offense got off to a slow start through the opening two sets, marking a combined 17 kills and 10 errors across 54 attacks. Instead, the Vikings were buoyed by a strong defensive performance in the first set that saw them tally 3 blocks and hold Loras to a match-low .263 hitting percentage. That level of defensive play gradually eroded for the Vikings, who were unable to block another Loras attack for the match's remainder. After a poor overall showing in the second set, NPU got back on track offensively in the third, earning 9 kills in 18 attacks. The Duhawks similarly had their best to give in the back-and-forth final set, though, completing the sweep on the back of a highly efficient attack.
Individually, Ty Ingrao led the Vikings with 7 kills, followed by Sam Robinson who added 5 with a .500 hitting percentage. Ingrao and Robinson combined for one of NPU's 3 blocks, Bobby Vaughn and Erik Bullard combined for another, and Vicente Cabrera marked the team's lone solo block. Elsewhere defensively, Teddy Gedville led the team with 4 digs, and the junior setter also recorded 20 of North Park's 23 assists.
Next up on NPU's schedule is another conference matchup, this time against the nationally ranked #10 North Central Cardinals. The Vikings will host that contest on Tuesday, March 14th with gametime set for 7:00 P.M.
