ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana downed North Park in straight sets Saturday in the first ever meeting between the schools in men's volleyball. The host Vikings improved to 4-6 on the season, while the visiting Vikings fell to 3-7.
Dillan Baum led Augustana with 15
kills Saturday, as the Vikings downed their
namesakes from North Park in straight
sets at Carver Center.
Consecutive kills by
Caleb Minnis (Downers Grove South HS, Downers Grove, Ill.),
Justin Murphy (Glenbard East HS, Lombard, Ill.) and
Dillan Baum (Warrensburg-Latham HS, Decatur, Ill.) erased a three-point Augustana deficit in game one and pulled the hosts even at 14-all. However, they wouldn't grab the lead until a 4-0 run late that featured a pair of
Luis Zavala (Lincoln-Way East HS, Frankfort, Ill.) service aces. When it was over, Augustana led 21-18. North Park would get as close as 24-23, but
Ryan Hirschel (Libertyville HS, Libertyville, Ill.) set Baum for a kill and set point as the hosts won 25-23.
The visitors could never recover from a 10-0 Augustana run in game two. After giving NPU the first two points via attack errors, the hosts ran off 10 straight points, the last nine with Baum on the serve. Baum started the spree with a kill and capped it with an ace that made it 10-2. Zavala had a kill and three blocks as well. North Park got as close as 24-21, but a
Jason Szara (Lincoln-Way East HS, Frankfort, Ill.) kill closed out a 25-21 Augustana win.
Minnis had three kills in a 6-0 Augustana run in game three that turned a 4-2 deficit into an 8-4 lead. The visitors eventually drew even at 13-all, but a kill by Zavala gave Augustana the lead for good. Match point came via a North Park attack error as the hosts claimed the set 25-21.
Baum had a match-best 15 kills and just two errors in 23 swings, good for a sparkling .565 attack percentage. Szara added 10 kills and hit .348 for the match and Minnis delivered nine kills in as many swings. Hirschel and freshman
Sanchit Khaitan (Glenbard North HS, Bloomingdale, Ill.) dished out 23 and 19 assists, respectively. Defensively,
Matthew Schiferl (Wheeling HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) and Szara contributed 11 and 10 digs, respectively, and Zavala was in on five blocks.
Arthur Barczak led North Park with 11 kills.
Augustana now heads to the state of New York, where it will play four matches in three days beginning with a contest at Vassar on Thursday, February 21.
