CHICAGO, Ill. – The North Park men's volleyball team lost to the No. 5-ranked Loras Duhawks on Wednesday night (25-22, 9-25, 9-25, 18-25), but the opening set was a bright spot for the Vikings.
Loras, who now improves to 16-0 and 3-0 in the CCIW, had lost just one set through 15 matches played before arriving in Chicago. However, with level of play and energy at their highest levels all season, North Park stole the opening set away from Loras, 25-22.
In one of their best sets played all season, the Vikings hit. 324 with 13 kills and only two errors in their victorious opener, holding a normally potent Duhawk offense to just .175. Junior outside hitter Vicente Cabrera led the Vikings with five kills in the first set, accompanied by a .714 hitting percentage. Sophomore pin hitter Pablo Ocasio and senior middle blocker Parker Payne contributed three kills each in the set while senior setter Teddy Gedville boasted a dozen assists.
Unfortunately, the Duhawks were not dormant wrong. Loras, who ranks top 15 in Division III across most of the offensive categories tracked, utilized 53 kills and 11 aces to rattle off three-straight set wins and securing the win.
- Cabrera led NPU with 10 kills and a .350 hitting percentage
- Pair of service aces for junior setter Liam Miller
- 16 digs for senior libero Kaleb Patrick, nearly tying his career high of 17
- Duhawks' Corey Mayotte and Dorian Fiorenza with 17 and 16 kills, respectively
- 42 assists for Joe Horn
North Park (4-13, 0-3 CCIW) stays home for another CCIW match this coming Saturday, March 9, against Augustana. First serve inside the NPU Gym is set for 3:00 PM.
