Madison, WI., -- In a back-and-forth thriller that saw momentum swing with every serve,North Park men's volleyball came up just short in their matchup against the Edgewood College Eagles in five sets (25-22, 17-25, 25-23, 19-25, 9-15). Despite a gritty performance and several standout individual efforts, the Vikings, who now move to 0-2, were unable to close out the Eagles in the final frames.
The Vikings opened the match with confidence, taking the first set 25-22 behind a dominant service game of Jonah Johnsamson, who recorded four aces during a critical run that turned a 12-11 deficit into a 17-12 lead. His four aces ties for fourth most in a match in Vikings history and ties Teddy Gedville's 2021 record for most aces in a five-set match. Edgewood attempted a late comeback, but kills from Isaac Vroom and Josiah Walker sealed the set for North Park; Vroom finished with 9 kills and Walker finished with 11. Edgewood responded in set 2, jumping out to a quick 6-0 lead, going on to even the match with a 25-17 win.
However, North Park showed resolve in the third set as there were four ties and two lead changes but the Vikings leaned on Jan Dragan and Adekunle Adebayo at the net. After trailing 11-6, the Vikings battled back to win 25-23, capped by a clutch kill from Vroom. With a 2-1 match lead, the Vikings looked to finish the job in set four, but it was the Eagles who responded to the challenge. The score remained tight until late in the frame when Edgewood's Cade Schueller sparked a run with back-to-back aces, helping the Eagles force a deciding fifth set with a 25-19 victory. In the final set, Edgewood seized early control. A 5-0 run by the Eagles pushed their lead to 8-2, a gap that proved too large for the Vikings to bridge. Despite late kills from Walker and Dragan, Edgewood secured the 15-9 win to take the match.
Top Performers:
Josiah Walker - 11 kills
Isaac Vroom - 9 kills, 2 aces, 5 digs
Adekunle Adebayo - 8 kills, 6 digs
Jonah Johnsamson - 8 kills, 4 aces
Kevin Motallebi - 26 assists, 11 digs
North Park will have another shot at notching their first win of the season tomorrow, January 23rd, when they take on Adrian College at home with the match starting at 7pm.
