CHICAGO, Ill. – Augustana bounced back from a decisive first-set loss Wednesday to take the next three and defeat previously unbeaten North Park at the NPU Gymnasium. Coach
Mike Ducey's club evened its record at 3-3 on the season and moved to 2-1 in the CCIW, while the hosts suffered their first loss in six matches and dropped to 2-1 in the conference.
North Park used a 5-1 run to break a seven-all tie in the first game. After two Augustana points pulled the visitors to within 12-10, NPU ran off 10 of the next 11. Set point in a 25-15 North Park win eventually came on an Augustana service error.
Jarod Hesse (Grayslake North HS, Villa Park, Ill.) had a kill and an ace in a 4-0 run that put Augustana up 6-2 in game two.
Justin Murphy (Glenbard East HS, Lombard, Ill.) had three straight kills in another 4-0 spree that gave Ducey's bunch a 16-8 edge.
Sanchit Khaitan (Glenbard North HS, Bloomingdale, Ill.) set Hesse for a kill that finished off a 25-19 Augustana win.
Hesse had a kill and was in on a pair of blocks as the guests jumped on top 8-2 in game three. North Park whittled away, cutting the deficit to 14-12 on an Erik Bullard kill. The hosts still trailed by two (24-22) after an Emmanuel Eugene kill, but
Gary Dodovich (St. Benedict HS, Chicago, Ill.) answered with one of his own to give Augustana a 25-22 win and a 2-1 set lead.
NPU used a 5-0 run to take a 14-9 lead in set four, but Dodovich had three kills as Augustana fought back to tie it at 16-all. The margin didn't exceed one point again until consecutive North Park errors gave the visitors a 24-22 advantage. Dodovich and junior
Luis Zavala (Lincoln-Way East HS, Frankfort, Ill.) then teamed up on a block to give Ducey's crew match point.
Dodovich and Zavala finished with a dozen kills each, while Murphy added 10 and Hesse nine. Khaitan delivered 43 assists, while Murphy had 12 digs and Dodovich chipped in with nine. Dodovich, Hesse and Zavala were each in on three blocks. Eugene had a match-high 14 kills for NPU.
Next up for Augustana is a home date versus Illinois Wesleyan at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 27.
