Falcons Beat Scarlet Hawks in Battle of the Birds

CHICAGO, Ill. – The CUW men's volleyball team headed to Chicago to take on the Scarlet Hawks in their first NACC matchup in March.

The first set saw the Falcons strike first with a kill from freshman Kellen Gonzales (Waukesha, Wis.). 

The Falcons and the Scarlet Hawks battle pretty even through the first ten points with a 5-5 tie. The Scarlet Hawks went on a four-point run to take the 6-9 lead. The Falcons went on a three-point run to tie the matchup back up at 10. The Scarlet Hawks went on a 15-10 run to close the set at 25-20.

The Scarlet Hawks struck first in the second set, but the Falcons retaliated with a 7-3 run with a pair of kills from senior James Althoff (Kenosha, Wis.) as well as an ace. 

The Falcons pushed out even further with another four-point run to take a 16-11 lead off of the arm of sophomore Spencer Herman (Appleton, Wis.). The Scarlet Hawks looked to mount a comeback but were unable to match up the Falcon offense with a final set score of 25-22 where CUW tied up the match at one set apiece.

The Falcons struck first again with a kill from freshman Logan Kebisek (Brookfield, Wis.) off a setter dump to take the 1-0 lead. It didn't take long for the Falcons to get in a groove with a 10-1 run in the middle of the third set to take the 18-8 lead. The Falcons finished off the set with a 25-19 victory to take the 2-1 set lead.

The Falcons did what they do best and snagged the first point of the set in the fourth set as well with an ace from senior Turner Fuhrer (Kenosha, Wis.). The Falcons went on a 9-5 run to start the fourth that was capped off with a pair of aces from Althoff. The Falcons put the match out of reach with a nine-point run from the Falcons to take the 20-8 lead in the win or go home set for the Scarlet Hawks. 

The Hawks went point for point with the Falcons but fell short with a set score of 25-13 in favor of the Falcons and a 3-1 match win.

The Falcons hit a .417 in the fourth set with 10 kills and no errors on 24 swings. They hit .323 on the match with 52 total kills.

Kebisek led the Falcons with 34 assists. He added 12 digs for the double-double as well as four kills.

Herman also snagged a double-double with a match-high 16 kills hitting .317 and 10 digs.

Junior Andy Ellingham (Burlington, Wis.) led the Falcon attack hitting .692 on 13 swings with 10 kills and one error. Althoff matched him with 10 kills as well as four aces.

The Falcons head back to the R. John Buuck Fieldhouse on Thursday evening to take on the Aurora Spartans in their first home contest of March.