Stars Top Falcons in NACC Battle

MEQUON, Wis. – It was a showdown of two of the top teams in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) on Saturday afternoon. The Stars came out on top with a 20-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-20 victory to improve to 11-7 on the year and 6-1 in the NACC and send Concordia to 8-7 and 4-2.

The Falcons used a 5-0 run behind the serve of junior Lucas Beres (Germantown, Wis.) to take an early 6-2 lead in the first set and apply pressure. A kill from sophomore Will Wood (Savage, Minn.) pushed the CUW lead up to 18-12 and the Falcons took the first set with a 25-20 victory off a service error. Senior Spencer Herman (Kimberly, Wis.) went off for seven kills in the first set.

Dominican flipped the script and took an early 5-1 lead in the second set. Concordia fought back and tied the set at seven with a kill from senior Andy Ellingham (Burlington, Wis.). The Stars earned some separation and reached set point at 24-13. The Falcons showed determination and fought off eight set points before Dominican finally won at 25-21. Lucas Beres had two service aces in the run.

The Stars never trailed in the third set, the Falcons hung close and chiseled the deficit to 20-23, but the Stars scored the last two points to take the set at 25-20.

Concordia claimed an early 3-0 lead with the serve of Spencer Herman in the fourth set, but the Stars responded with a run to take an 11-6 lead. The Falcons continued to fight and a kill from sophomore Tate Miller (Anthem, Ariz.) sank the lead to 21-18, but the Stars snuck away to secure the victory.

Spencer Herman led the contest with 18 kills against the Stars. Junior Logan Kebisek (Brookfield, Wis.) also led the match with 39 assists.

The Falcons finished with six service aces, including four from Lucas Beres to lead the match.

Andy Ellingham led the flock with five blocks on the afternoon.

The Falcons look to return to the win column on Wednesday as they will fight to retain the Highway 57 Cup against Lakeland.