All photos courtesy of Malik Moore

CHICAGO, Ill. – The North Park men's volleyball team faced the tall task of hosting No. 15 Dominican on Tuesday night. The Vikings fell to the Stars in straight sets (25-20, 25-20, 25-19). 

Against the taller, battle-tested opponent, North Park stayed within one point and tied the first set eight different times. Sophomore outside hitter Pablo Ocasio and junior outside hitter Vicente Cabrera led the charge, driving kills for the NPU offense all the way to a12-12 tie. However, Dominican would find a burst behind Jarod Hesse and Aaron Marrs, tacking on six of the next eight points to pull ahead, 18-14. Another kill by Cabrera, some inconsistency in attacks and serves from Dominican, and a block from Ocasio kept the Vikings close, 21-18, but fell in the opener 25-20.

The second set followed a similar course of action. This time, trailing 15-11, the Vikings closed the gap thanks to a spark from junior outside hitter Adekunle Adebayo, who drove back-to-back kills. Coupled with a service error from the Stars, NPU trailed by just a point, 15-14. However, the Stars navigated a scrappy Viking team, hitting .407 with just one error in the set, to snag the win, 25-20.

North Park ran out of gas in the final set of the night, suffering 10 attack errors while hitting an even .000. The Stars slowed down, too, having their worst set of the night with a .171 attacking percentage and seven errors. However, powered by double-digit kills from three different players, Dominican would sweep North Park.

Quick Hits:

• 33 assists for senior setter Teddy Gedvillle, the fourth-highest three-set total in NPU history
• Cabrera the only Viking with double-digit kills (10), hitting .240 on the night
• Adebayo with five kills and a ,273 hitting percentage
• Junior outside hitter Ty Ingrao with eight kills, Ocasio, and junior middle blocker Sam Robinson both with six
• Double-digit kills for Casey Goss (13),Aaron Marrs (10), Jarod Hesse (10)
• North Park aceless for the first time in two years

What's Next?

North Park (3-8) hosts another tri-match this coming Saturday, Feb. 17. The Vikings host Concordia-Chicago at noon before UC-Santa Cruz at 5pm.