BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The North Park men's volleyball team settled for a split at Illinois Wesleyan's Tri-Match on Saturday afternoon. The Vikings lost to the Titans 3-1 in the first match before earning a 3-0 sweep of Bethany College in the neutral match.

Match 1 – IWU 3, NPU 1

North Park and Illinois Wesleyan kept the bulk of the first set close before the Titans established a 23-20 lead, nearly pulling away. However, a pair of attack errors by IWU, kill by junior middle blocker Sam Robinson, and kill by sophomore pin hitter Pablo Ocasio tied the match up, 24-24. The Vikings would earn the next two points with assisted blocks from Robinson and Ocasio before Robinson drove the 26th point with a kill.

Unfortunately, after opening play with 14 kills and a .233 hitting percentage, the Vikings lost their groove. The Titans won the next three sets 25-18, 25-19, 25-17 thanks to superior attacking consistency. IWU hit .480 with 13 kills in the second set, .533 with 18 kills in the third set, and .273 with 14 kills in the fourth and final set to defend the Shirk Center with a 3-1 win.

Match 2 – NPU 3, Bethany (WV) 0

North Park dispatched Bethany quickly in three sets. Against the Bison, Coach Michael Sopocy had 17 players see court time. The Vikings hit .310 in the three-set match with an even 40 kills. 

Junior setter Liam Miller had 33 assists in the win, good for fourth-most in a three-set match for NPU Volleyball. 

Sophomore middle blocker Jonah Johnsamson had a match-leading nine kills, establishing a new career high, while freshman middle blocker Toby Leuciuc had three aces, the fifth-most in a three-set match for NPU Volleyball.

The day featured plenty of other noteworthy performances to update the NPU Record Books.

• NPU's 40 kills against Bethany ties for 9th-most all-time in three-set matches
• NPU's 37 assists against Bethany ties for 8th-most all-time in three-set matches
• Ocasio's 17 kills against IWU ties for 10th all-time in all matches and 4th all-time in four-set matches. It's the second time Ocasio has reached 17 kills in a four-set match
• Senior setter Teddy Gedville's 36 assists against IWU is tied for 6th all-time in four-set matches.
• Gedville's three aces ties for 8th all-time in four-set matches.

North Park (4-12, 0-2 CCIW) finally returns home with a match against No. 5-ranked Loras College on Wednesday, March 6. First serve inside the NPU Gym is set for 7:00 PM.