St. Norbert Tops North Park In Windy City

From Asst. AD/Athletics Communications, February 14, 2020 | Men's Volleyball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

CHICAGO - St. Norbert College picked up a resilient 3-1 win over North Park University in a non-conference match at North Park Gymnasium. The Green Knights topped the Vikings 25-22, 25-22, 16-25, 25-23.

The Green Knights (2-8) trailed in all three sets they won, but battled back each time to pull out set victories over the Vikings (2-5).

St. Norbert trailed by four in the first set at 10-6 and was down 12-10 before going on a 6-0 run to take a 16-12 lead thanks to five consecutive North Park hitting errors. The Green Knights saw a 20-15 lead melt into a 22-21 edge, but a kill by Jake Bettag stopped the North Park run and a Morgan Wilson kill was good for set point. The Green Knights took a 9-6 lead early in the second set thanks to three-straight kills by Josh Hauke. St. Norbert trailed 18-17 later in the set but scored three-straight points, including an Eddie Pacula service ace, to take the lead. St. Norbert led 24-22 and got a North Park attacking error to go up 2-0.

The Green Knights led 6-3 early in the third set but North Park went on a 6-1 run to take control and eventually the set. North Park led the fourth set 4-0 to start but the Green Knights would work their way into an 8-8 tie, getting a pair of kills from Ben Rinella and one each from Hauke and Jake Bettag. The set was tied 19-19 before a North Park service error and a pair of Jake Krueger service aces put St. Norbert ahead 22-19. The Green Knights led 24-21 but North Park would score the next two points to get to within 24-23. Hauke finished the match with a kill off a Pacula assist.

St. Norbert hit .150 in the match, getting 43 kills with 22 errors in 140 attempts. Hauke led the Green Knights with 11 kills, while Bettag had eight and Krueger and Rinella seven apiece. Pacula finished with 19 assists, while Rinella had 16. Bettag finished with five blocks, while Hauke totaled four. Rinella had a team-high 11 digs, with Brent Hatfield adding 10.

North Park hit .139 for the match, with 50 kills and 29 errors in 151 attempts. Noah Salazar finished with 17 kills, while Frank Mauigoa and Armando Quinones had 13 apiece.