Marian University men’s volleyball (6-9, 0-4 NACC) went back-and-forth with CUC all night long but fell to the Cougars with set scores of 25-23, 24-26, 25-22, and 25-15.
The offenses dominated in the opening set as Marian hit .324 and CUC hit .467 in the first set. Marian had the largest lead of the set, a meager three points, at 17-14. The Cougars were able to bounce back with an 8-3 run that gave them a 22-20 advantage. This proved to be the difference as CUC was able to close out the set at 25-23. The second set began similarly with the Cougars holding a 15-10 lead to open the set. Marian then scored five unanswered points to bring the set to an even 15-15. The set would be tied five more times before a kill from sophomore Liam Skinner and assisted block from freshman Marc Rey and senior Jacob DeGroot evened the sets at one apiece.
The Cougars were able to jump out to a fast start in the second eventually leading 20-13. The Sabres bounced back scoring six unanswered points eventually bringing the game to a 23-22 Cougar advantage. CUC would fend off the Marian momentum, however, using back-to-back kills to take the third. The fourth set saw Concordia Chicago jump out to another fast start leading 9-3, but this time the Cougars would hold off any threat of a comeback closing out the match with a 10-4 run.
Sophomore Jacob Jurney paced the offense for Marian with a team-high 14 kills, while DeGroot added 12 kills to go with two service aces and four assisted blocks. Sophomore Carzell Combs led the back row with 10 digs.
Marian travels to Lakeland Wednesday, March 11 for a 4 p.m. first serve in NACC action.
–FightBlueFight—
