CHICAGO, Ill. – In a pair of matches that showed well for individual performances, the team just could not put it together. North Park men's volleyball dropped a pair of matches to Concordia (IL) and UC-Santa Cruz in five sets and straight sets, respectively.

All appeared to be going well in the Vikings' tri-opening match against the Concordia Cougars, as they posted 14 kills in sets one and two to earn 25-18, 25-20 wins. However, after going up 5-2 in the third set thanks to a kill and ace by junior outside hitter Ty Ingrao, the two teams would not create more than a two-point distance through the rest of the set. With a 20-20 tie, the Cougars drove an ace and kill by Timothy Johnson. A kill by sophomore outside hitter Pablo Ocasio and a later kill by junior middle blocker Sam Robinson brought the Vikings closer, but the Cougars would steal away the win, 25-23.

North Park withered away after that, lowered their attacking percentage in each set of the match, to fall to the Cougars in a reverse sweep (25-18, 25-20, 23-25, 20-25, 14-16).

The third match of the tri, and the second for the Vikings, featured a team in UC-Santa Cruz that received votes in this week's AVCA National Poll. 

UCSC had the advantage in just about every category: kills (44-23), blocks (8-4), digs (52-35), and points (54-29). The Banana Slugs hit .275 with a pair of aces in their straight-set win, not allowing the Vikings to hit over .100 in any of the sets.

A number of Vikings set new career marks tonight, including: Gerald Malana (9 kills, 24 attacks, 3 digs against UCSC), Ty Ingrao (3 assists, 15 digs against Concordia),  (Kaleb Patrick (17 digs against Concordia), Parker Payne (11 attacks, 7 digs against Concordia), and Sam Robinson (4 digs and 5 solo blocks against Concordia), 

Record Book Notes:

• Ty's 18 kills is tied for 7th-best in all matches and 4th-best in five-set matches.
• Vicente's 41 attacks is the 4th-highest ever for five-set matches.
• Teddy's 41 assists is tied for 5th-best in all matches and is 4th-best in five-set matches.
• Ty's 3 aces is tied for 3rd-best in five-set matches.
• Kaleb's 17 digs is tied for 3rd-best in all matches; Ty's 15 digs is tied for 9th-best in all matches. In five-set matches, Kaleb's 17 is a new school record, breaking the old record of 16 set by Alejandro Condoy against IWU in 2022, Ty's 15 is 3rd-best,. and Teddy's 14 is tied for 4th-best.
• Sam's 6 blocks is tied for 6th-best in all matches and 2nd-best in five-set matches.
• Sam's 5 solo blocks is a new school record. The previous record was 3 (achieved by Sam three times and by Nathan Nguyen once). 
• Ty's 21 points is tied for 4th-best in all matches and is also 4th in five-set matches.
• Sam's 20.5 points is tied for 7th-best in all matches and for 5th in five-set matches.
• As a team, the Vikings' 59 kills is the 3rd-best in all matches and 3rd-best in five-set matches as well.
• Their 171 attacks is a new school record, flying past the old record of 160 set earlier this season against Edgewood. Of course, it goes without saying that it's a new five-set record as well.
• NPU's 59 assists is the 3rd-best in all matches and in five-set matches as well.
• NPU's 81 digs is a new school record, smashing the old record of 71 set against St. Norbert in 2020. It's almost 25% higher than the old total of 61 for a five-set match established against IWU in 2022.
• The 8 team blocks for the Vikings is tied for 4th-best in five-set matches.
• The 74 team points is 3rd-best in all matches and in five-set matches as well.

What's Next?
North Park (3-10) heads into CCIW play next Thursday, Feb. 22, finally stepping away from the NPU Gym for a game at Gregory Arena and the North Central Cardinals. First serve is set for 7pm.