AURORA, Ill. -- North Park Men's Volleyball competed against a pair of ranked opponents at Aurora University's Tri-match on Friday. The Vikings fell to host and the No. 19-ranked Aurora Spartans 3-1 (27-25, 19-25, 19-25, 20-25) before forcing five sets against the Nazareth University Golden Flyers (14-25, 12-25, 25-17, 25-23, 10-15).
Against the Spartans, North Park trailed early, 7-3, before a few Aurora attacking errors, ace by Jonah Johnsamson, and kill by Gerald Malana tied things up, 9-9. The opening set featured 16 ties, four lead changes, and three different set points. A 23-23 tie scored turned to advantage Aurora, following a kill by Sebastian Ciszewski. However, a timeout by Coach Brittany Welch stalled the Spartans' momentum as Malana drove consecutive kills, set up by Liam Miller, to put the Vikings at set point, 25-24. Aurora scored a point after their own timeout but a kill by Sam Robinson and Spartan attack error gave the Vikings the opening set win, 27-25.
North Park hit .233 in the set, led by four kills from Malana and six assists by Miller.
The Vikings worked to keep that same pace in the second set in another race to 25 that showcased 15 ties and three lead changes. However, the Spartans would take that set and the ensuing two after that.
Aurora's Josh McClellan was hard to stop as he drove a match-leading 20 kills and hit .415. Ty Ingrao totaled the most kills for North Park (10) while Johnsamson and Robinson added five blocks apiece. Each team suffered 20+ service errors in the match.
The Vikings seemed positions to go away without much of a fight in the second match, totaling only 10 kills total in the first two sets. However, a do-or-die third set ended with North Park on top, powered by five kills from Malana and blocks for Robinson and Teddy Gedville.
North Park made Thornton Gym sound like a home match in set four, hooting and hollering on every point scored. Despite the energy, the Golden Flyers were ahead, 22-20, after a block from Nazareth's Max Stuver and kill by Owen Wickens. The Vikings took advantage of a service error and earned one the hard way with an ace of their own from Johnsamson, forcing a Nazareth timeout as the score was now tied, 22-22. A 23-23 tie would give way to a win for the Vikings as Malana drove point number 24 before an error moved the match to set five.
Unfortunately, things fizzled for the Vikings in the final set. Nazareth charged ahead to a 7-1 lead, including five of those points from kills. The Vikings narrowed the gap to 9-6, but this would be as close as they would get, falling in five to the receiving votes opponent, 15-10, in the final set.
Wickens led all players with 19 kills while Ingrao was the Vikings' top hitter with 13. Johnsamson and Miller had a pair of aces in the match and Robinson's eight blocks is good for an all-time second-best at NPU. Noah Chanthalangsy had 20 digs, setting a new program record for digs in a five-set match.
What's Next?
North Park (2-5) returns to Chicago next Tuesday, Feb. 4, for a match with Wisconsin Lutheran College. First serve in Carlson is set for 7:00 PM CT.
