Falcons Fly Past Illinois Wesleyan in Record-Breaking Night

MEQUON, Wis. – The CUW men's volleyball team improved to 3-5 on the season with a 3-1 victory over Illinois Wesleyan with scores of 22-25, 27-25, 25-15, and 25-15.

It was also a record-breaking night for the Falcons as senior Spencer Herman (Kimberly, Wis.) set the CUW men's volleyball career record for digs, passing the record set by James Althoff, who had 502 digs in his career. 

In a narrow first set, the Falcons and Titans remained tied at the 19-19 mark, until IWU scored four straight points to eventually secure the set, 25-22.

The second saw CUW get their revenge as they competed in another close contest, with neither team building a large lead.

Concordia eventually broke through towards the later half of the set, scoring two straight points on back-to-back kills from senior Andy Ellingham (Burlington, Wis.) and sophomore Tate Miller (Anthem, Ariz.), on assists from junior Logan Kebisek (Brookfield, Wis.) to propel them to the 27-25 victory to level the match at one apiece.

Unlike the previous two sets, CUW established a sizeable lead early in the third frame after going on a 3-0 run to take the 17-12 lead as junior Kellen Gonzales (Milwaukee, Wis.) recorded a service ace.

After a point from Illinois Wesleyan, the Blue and White put together another 5-0 run, which featured a kill from junior Lucas Beres (Germantown, Wis.) and an ace from Logan Kebisek to push CUW to the convincing 25-15 victory.

The fourth and final set played to a similar tune as the Falcons went on a 3-0 run to take the 15-10 lead. CUW would hold their five-point margin as they found themselves up 20-15.

CUW would score five unanswered to take the match in four sets, as Tate Miller recorded four kills in that run to cap off his 11-kill performance.

Spencer Herman led all players with 21 kills and 22.5 points, along with eight digs.

Meanwhile, Logan Kebisek had 45 assists in the effort.

Sophomore Parker Pearson (Keller, Texas) led the flock with 11 digs, while Tate Miller had 10.

From the service line, Lucas Beres had five aces.

The Falcons will continue their home stint and look to make it two-straight wins as they will host the Green Knights of St. Norbert College to open their conference season on Friday, Feb. 16th at 7 p.m.