CHICAGO, Ill. -- The Vikings men's volleyball team faced off with the #7 ranked North Central Cardinals on Tuesday evening, falling in 3 sets (12-25, 16-25, 17-25) and moving to 9-9 overall on the season with a 1-4 conference standing. 

North Park, much like the rest of the CCIW to this point in the season, could not get their attack going against an elite NCC defense. The Cardinals blocked 6 attacks on the night without making a defensive error, holding NPU to a .165 hitting percentage—their fourth lowest mark of the season. Meanwhile, the North Central offense came blazing out of the gate with 13 kills in 18 attacks in the first set for an unparalleled .611 hitting percentage. That mark gradually cooled off with each passing set though, opening the door for NPU to embark on a potential comeback. 

Early in the third set, that looked a possibility after the Vikings got off to a 5-1 start. With Teddy Gedville serving, Sam Robinson struck first to get North Park on the board with a kill off of Gedville's assist. The next four points came courtesy of Erik Bullard, tallying a block and three kills in the early going of set three. The Cardinals responded with a run of their own to earn the lead at 5-6, and while the Vikings managed to stay within one point through a score of 10-11, NCC pulled away thereafter to remain undefeated in conference play. 

North Park was led in kills by Ty Ingrao's 8, with Erik Bullard trailing just behind him with 7. Sam Robinson added 6 kills on a .357 hitting percentage as well as a team-high of 2 blocks. Setting up most of those attacks, Teddy Gedville marked 21 of the Vikings' 28 assists. Freshman Zach Hayden came through with NPU's lone ace of the night, picking up the second of his career.

After falling on the receiving end of back-to-back sweeps, the Vikings will look to rebound on Thursday when they take on the MIT Engineers. North Park makes the trip out to Massachusetts as the away side, with game-time set for 7:00 P.M.